The plan is to have it paid off by retirement and stay. After that who knows what will happen and by just about everybody that knows what they are doing,a house is the number 1 investment you should do. Now i got in when it was 80,000 and now that its woreth 600,000,i call that a investment that i can sell if i need to for money,leave to my kids to help them or stay there and not worry about a landlord. BTW,what are you doing for money when your 60? If i buy for 80,000 and sell for 600,000,i'm thinking thats an investment but maybe i have this all wrong. BTW,anyone that would rather be in an apartment and pay for nothing then a house to own is nuts. I've lived in rented houses,apartments and mobil homes and it sucked,but hey,thats me.