Why? Being unemployed is a cash-flow problem. You've got no money coming in, yet you've got this $1400+ bill due each month. Having the deed to your house means you have a (mostly) free place to live, and your cash-flow problem becomes significantly smaller.
If you have the cash to pay off your mortgage, that savings will last longer if you save it and pay down the mortgage under the standard schedule than if you blow it all on the mortgage straight away. Your mortgage is a loan, after all--one that you've already pre-qualified for, which comes with tax advantages as well as a subsidy courtesy of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The tax advantages don't matter if you have no income!
Also, with main tax advantage I know of (interest deduction) you still pay more money if there is more interest.
i.e. if you have 20k of interest a year, the income tax deduction makes it seem like ~70% of that, depending on your tax bracket, or 14k. But if you're only paying 15k of interest per year, then it's 70% of 15k, or ~10k. 10k is less than 14k.
1. Housing doesn't grow as fast as other asset classes.
2. You're concentrating all of your assets into a single object.
Instead of paying off your mortgage, you could put that money into other asset classes that grow faster, and you can distribute it to reduce your risk.
If you were laid off, you would have more money than if you had paid off your mortgage. Then if you wanted to get rid of your mortgage, you could and you would still have more money than if you had paid it off earlier. (Although even in that case, it's still generally better to leave the money invested, and just draw it down to pay the monthly payment.)
If you're really intent on exposing your savings to the real estate market, invest it in a REIT.. at least they can distribute your risk over a larger area and more buildings. And they'll invest it in markets that are growing faster than the average house.
Though the S&P 500 is beginning to finally decline now and interest rates are rising (even bitcoin is not rising all that fast now), so this advice may be getting outdated.
There are more asset classes than a primary residence, stocks, and bitcoin. As the parent comment stated, a REIT is typically a less risky investment than a single house, even if you want to invest in real estate.
What tax advantages? I'm going to get exactly zero benefit this year for all the mortgage interest I've paid; I'm probably going to take the newly increased standard deduction whereas last year I saved thousands by itemizing.
In my comment above, "tax advantages" is short for "tax advantages that may or may not apply depending on your individual financial situation, but should be carefully considered before making a huge financial decision like paying off a mortgage".
