My reasoning is If I am making 9% easily and the loan is 3.45% money is staying invested.
Plus making and paying loans has given me the highest credit score.
Today's Market for the average investor is flipped now - so the cash or loan decision is a wash I suppose.
But it is nice (or important actually) to have cash for emergency expenses. I don't want to trigger the TAX Man when having to pull pre-tax invested monies from the IRA.
This is even more of a shell game in retirement than I imagined it would be. Even Medicare thinks you are rich if you take some money out for a DP to buy real property - they will jack up your part B cost at some cutpoint.
And I have been getting hammered with "surprises" this first year of retirement
So much "fun" so little time!