Originally Posted by Verdell

Sure, so you agree that, for any given investor, some balance exists for risk tolerance. Surely you would never borrow money on a large scale at one rate just to throw it into a bond at a lower rate, just to keep it "accessible."

Everybody's risk tolerance is different. I'd put extra towards my 6% mortgage before I'd ever put it into 4% bond, as part of a balanced strategy that suits me, for example. Max 401k into ETF types, a nice cherry on top to each mortgage payment, and everything leftover into a brokerage/crypto which is where I get to play and get risky. It works for me, and I lose zero sleep over wishing I paid less into the mortgage and more into my risky brokerage/crypto plays.

"Balanced" is not one-sized-fits-all, nor is it all-or nothing.