A recent study published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago verified that most Americans can benefit from funding tax-deferred accounts rather than paying down mortgage balances. Homeowners sometimes use interest-only loans for freeing up monthly cash to fund retirement accounts. 3.4 million households don't contribute at all to their retirement but do accelerate the paying down of their mortgages. "Those households are losing from 11 to 17 cents for each dollar they put into a faster mortgage payoff", per a Chicago Federal Reserve study reiterated in the "Chicago Tribune".