Any debt that makes money or provides a benefit worth the debt is a good debt. Here are some examples of good debt and why they are good to obtain, even if it is only for a short time.

A. A home mortgage: You can write off the interest on your taxes. You get to live in the home. You have a tax advantage.
B. Investing in a small business, or rental property so that you can gain income from the debt that you are incurring.
C. If you take out a home equity loan at a 6% interest rate that will pay off your 15% interest rate for your credit cards, that is a good debt.

With the idea in mind that anything you borrow and are obligated to pay back is debt. Then, the mortgage on your home is a debt. Though the debt has more benefits therefore, it is considered a good debt.

Bad debt is things that are not benefiting you at all. Most of the time we have several thousands of dollars in debt and a good portion of that is bad debt. The bad debt I am talking about is the kind of borrowed money that is not saving us money or making us money. This is like a car payment, furniture loan, credit card payments, medical bills etc. These are not necessarily unnecessary, however they are not good debt either.

Bad debt is that of disposable goods. These are items that do not carry any long-term value and cannot be considered an investment. Though we need these things they are a debt that takes us to the negative side of the debt realm.

To stay on the good side of debt, it is a good idea to have as little bad debt, or debt of disposable goods as possible. Even though we need some debt in our lives, it is better to have debt that can be paid off that billing cycle, or something that is an investment like your mortgage debt.

The best kind of debt is probably the home mortgage. The house values have increased at least 6% over the last few years. So therefore even if you are living in your home, you are incurring a financial benefit. A home that has a mortgage of $100,000 and appraises at $130,000 due to raising home values, but you only owe $90,000, you have an equity in the home of $40,000 dollars and you are making money if you ever chose to sell your home.

A mortgage or investment into a couple mortgages is definitely a debt, however it is a good debt that in the market now days can make you a great deal of income. You can set up your financial future by investing in a few houses.

If you are going to have some debt in your life, the better of all debt is likely the home mortgage. With debt being something that you borrow for and then are obligated to pay back, then a mortgage fits that description. Though, there are plenty of reasons to incur the debt of a home mortgage.