Should I pay off my mortgage of $102,000 vs keep the mtg (and interest deduction of $4,500. Without the house pmt of $1,000/mo, I would likely purchase a Roth IRA)?

[LTCTerry]

Assuming you have a mortgage in the typical 3-4% range, mathematically people will tell you it's better to have you money invested in the stock market at 10% than pay off a 4% mortgage.

However, with the new higher standard deduction and your relatively low annual interest you are getting little in the way of "tax savings" - if any - by having the mortgage. The interest/dividends you are earning are taxable. There is great emotional value and pride in paying off your mortgage. Very few people do that.

The money you free up from your monthly cashflow by paying off the mortgage can be used to replenish those savings/investments - including funding an IRA as you mentioned - fairly quickly. This is because since you're no longer paying interest on a mortgage balance it all goes to you each month instead of just the equity portion of a month payment. The savings balance will increase far faster than a mortgage balance would decline over the same period.

Yes, you might lose out on a bit of stock market growth, but still a great opportunity.  I don't regret having done the same thing a couple years ago! I don't think you will regret it either.