The perfect MP3 player

[Shane Hathaway]

Grant Robinson wrote:
> The mortgage calculator I was using puts that loan at $1073 a month P&I, 
> but for the sake of argument, let's just assume that works out to be 
> $1000 a month.  Now, lets assume you take that $500 a month pre-payment, 
> and invest it instead.  Let's assume a modest growth rate of 10%, over 
> the life of the loan (which now is ~15 years).  At the end of 15 years, 
> if you invest $500 a month earning 10% a year, your investment will be 
> worth ~$210,000.00

Annual growth of 10% is a big assumption.  How do you do that?  Over the 
past five years, I've lost a little money in retirement investments and 
gained nothing substantial.  My savings accounts and CDs have done 
better!  I even got help from a financial advisor.

 From what I can tell, making money as an investor requires a large time 
commitment.  I know some investors, and reallocating investments is 
their full time job.  They spend their time reading about their favorite 
companies and guess at the market's reaction to announcements.  They 
look for ways to outsmart the market.  If they skip a beat, they could 
lose a lot.

I couldn't match that kind of commitment without giving up things I like 
to do.  Thus investing doesn't look like a productive use of my time, 
and paying off my house in a creative way looks like a very foolish idea.

Shane