Which debt 1st?

[snafu]

Congratulations on reducing your mortgage debt so quickly. It took us 13 years to pay off our mortgage [when rates @ 12%] and by then we were in our 3rd house since DH's employer linked career advancements to moves at new locations. Suggest you make a plan for how you will use sums currently directed to mortgage in the future, and carry on paying your mortgage at an accelerated rate as circumstances and sums permit.
How are you doing with retirement savings and ROTH? With year end coming up quickly how does Net Worth compare with December 2016? What is your forecast for 2018?

Expect other views because in spite of risk, we all see how equity investments have increased in value for the past 5 years. Is it a 'bubble' or is it supported by Russian money as gossip suggests? Who knows?

[rockrv22]

Roth is maxed out for the year!! Would love to have house paid for in 2018. What you think I need for an emergency fund? Rite now we have over a year worth of living stashed away. Plus if we knock the house out that will free up more $ also

[snafu]

The big question 'free up more to cash to do what?' Are you aiming to be 'The Millionaire Next Door'? Or 'Smart Couples Retire Rich?' Have you read either of these books? You might like them, likely on line, free from your local library.

There are many theories for EF, D Ramsay suggests 1 month, easy access like saving account for those unanticipated problems that regularly fly up out of the blue like tire replacement, tooth ache, help out MIL, fly to a funeral etc.

In hopes of being helpful, I mention...The 2nd EF part depends on how secure you feel about employment. Funds needed to keep your family secure for 3 - 8 months of your most basic expenses until you get another job [rent, electric, heat, phone, water/sewerage, transportation, vehicle loan payments, basic clothing, life, health, home insurance, food for example.

I took the view that it was important to have more than one stream of income. If I lost employment, DH would still have a job. 3rd source of income results from combo of non retirement Dividend stock, Dividend Mutual Fund. Foreign MF and more recently Bank ETFs [Exchange Traded Funds]. If I needed to raise more monthly income, I'd likely rent our meagrely outfitted basement to a college student. In our area these mini suites are called MIL suites to keep them legal.

I keep $ 1K in chequing as a 'float' mostly because it gives me free services from the bank + I never fear miscalculating incoming bills.

I notice a lot of SA folks have developed hobbies that earn some cash.

[Gailete]

Unless you have other bills that you owe on a monthly basis, credit cards, school loans, etc. at those rates, whatever makes you happiest. I would suppose that once the house is paid off you can dump the money from what was being set aside each month for the house payment into the car payment.

The posters that mention the depreciating asset, are completely right. I got up from my nap today to hear my son had called and someone turned left and creamed the car DIL was driving. Thanking God that she is okay, but the car was totaled and apparently the accident was completely the other guys fault. No one ever plans to get up in the morning and have a totaled car by nighttime, but it happens far more often than houses being burned down, or airplanes flying into them, or even tornadoes destroying them.

I got our car paid off last summer and it was a wonderful feeling. Working on paying off rental property now, then a combo of mortgage and credit card bills, all of which have been getting extra payments as possible for months now.

[Gonzo]

Mathematically you should always pay off the highest interest rate.

Emotionally you should usually pay off the smallest debt.