No hurry to pay off the mortgage
Discussion
Took a 35 year mortgage out 5 years ago, sounds like an awful idea on paper but while mortgages are so cheap and I'm in my prime I thought id keep the payments down and enjoy the cash in the here and now.
Plus I can always pay more, I can never pay less.
As soon as rates increase I'll make paying it off more of a priority.
Anyone else?
Plus I can always pay more, I can never pay less.
As soon as rates increase I'll make paying it off more of a priority.
Anyone else?
Some interesting replies!
You see for me I spent my younger years saving and being a boring when I should have really been partying. This allowed me to buy my house aged 23 (back when you needed a massive deposit) and now I'm 28 I just want to make up for lost time.
Maybe when I hit 30 I'll put some effort into paying it off faster.
The house is worth £170k and I owe £90k on it.
You see for me I spent my younger years saving and being a boring when I should have really been partying. This allowed me to buy my house aged 23 (back when you needed a massive deposit) and now I'm 28 I just want to make up for lost time.
Maybe when I hit 30 I'll put some effort into paying it off faster.
The house is worth £170k and I owe £90k on it.
Welshbeef said:
SkinnyPete said:
Some interesting replies!
You see for me I spent my younger years saving and being a boring when I should have really been partying. This allowed me to buy my house aged 23 (back when you needed a massive deposit) and now I'm 28 I just want to make up for lost time.
Maybe when I hit 30 I'll put some effort into paying it off faster.
The house is worth £170k and I owe £90k on it.
You could clear that before 40yo. Worth considering if your planning a family when that sucks up cash v you have a roof over your head and nothing can be done to take it awayYou see for me I spent my younger years saving and being a boring when I should have really been partying. This allowed me to buy my house aged 23 (back when you needed a massive deposit) and now I'm 28 I just want to make up for lost time.
Maybe when I hit 30 I'll put some effort into paying it off faster.
The house is worth £170k and I owe £90k on it.
This is where in 20 years I find they have removed me from their will
Robertj21a said:
SkinnyPete said:
Took a 35 year mortgage out 5 years ago, sounds like an awful idea on paper but while mortgages are so cheap and I'm in my prime I thought id keep the payments down and enjoy the cash in the here and now.
Plus I can always pay more, I can never pay less.
As soon as rates increase I'll make paying it off more of a priority.
Anyone else?
What happens if, later on, you're taken ill and can't work ?Plus I can always pay more, I can never pay less.
As soon as rates increase I'll make paying it off more of a priority.
Anyone else?
Anyway my car is worth 50% of my outstanding mortgage and paid for in full, so worse case I could always sell and the funds raised would pay my mortgage for 11 years.
SkinnyPete said:
As soon as rates increase I'll make paying it off more of a priority.
News today that interest rates will rise in the near future.My fixed term ends in 6 months or so, no doubt interest rates will have increased then. If so I may sell my car to pay a lump sum off which will reduce my mortgage in half.
It was nice while it lasted.
TLDR: changed my mind, decided to overpay
Well, I thought this would be an interesting thread to update, over three years later.
So in one of my original posts, I said I had £90k left to pay, and that I was more interested in living in the here and now than paying it off.
A few months after that post, I was made redundant, not the end of the world as I was looking for a new job anyway. Fortunately, I was able to start a new higher-paying role the following week.
Unfortunately, the joke was on me, as the environment was toxic, and I wouldn’t wish colleagues like that on my worst enemy. My happiness was severely affected, and I realised I couldn’t be held hostage to working in a job I hated, just because I had bills to pay.
I started to focus on clearing my mortgage and getting the hell out of there. After two years, I secured a new role (which I’m still thrilled with), and I have continued to overpay, sucking up the 3% early repayment charge.
The good news is my mortgage is now down to about £35k, and I feel very content with that.
Sure I could have blasted the cash on my dream of owning an F430, and who knows what else, but I’ve still had a reasonably decent quality of life and have not lived on beans and rice.
Maybe I’ll update this thread in another couple of years to congratulate myself on being mortgage-free, we’ll see.
Well, I thought this would be an interesting thread to update, over three years later.
So in one of my original posts, I said I had £90k left to pay, and that I was more interested in living in the here and now than paying it off.
A few months after that post, I was made redundant, not the end of the world as I was looking for a new job anyway. Fortunately, I was able to start a new higher-paying role the following week.
Unfortunately, the joke was on me, as the environment was toxic, and I wouldn’t wish colleagues like that on my worst enemy. My happiness was severely affected, and I realised I couldn’t be held hostage to working in a job I hated, just because I had bills to pay.
I started to focus on clearing my mortgage and getting the hell out of there. After two years, I secured a new role (which I’m still thrilled with), and I have continued to overpay, sucking up the 3% early repayment charge.
The good news is my mortgage is now down to about £35k, and I feel very content with that.
Sure I could have blasted the cash on my dream of owning an F430, and who knows what else, but I’ve still had a reasonably decent quality of life and have not lived on beans and rice.
Maybe I’ll update this thread in another couple of years to congratulate myself on being mortgage-free, we’ll see.
SkinnyPete said:
TLDR: changed my mind, decided to overpay
The good news is my mortgage is now down to about £35k, and I feel very content with that.
Maybe I'll update this thread in another couple of years to congratulate myself on being mortgage-free, we'll see.
I thought it was worth posting an update. The good news is my mortgage is now down to about £35k, and I feel very content with that.
Maybe I'll update this thread in another couple of years to congratulate myself on being mortgage-free, we'll see.
The good news I now owe only £12,500, which I should be able to clear in the next few months.
It has felt like a bit of a bottomless pit at times, as no matter how much I earn and no matter how much I save, the mortgage just swallows it up.
The problem now is to clear the mortgage; the ERC is coming out a few hundred quid more than the interest over the remaining course of the loan. Technically it makes sense to wait for the term to finish and then pay off the remaining balance, but for the sake of a few hundred quid, I think I'll just get rid of it when I can. This is very much an emotional decision.
Overall though, I'm very happy, and can't wait to live life mortgage free.
SkinnyPete said:
SkinnyPete said:
TLDR: changed my mind, decided to overpay
The good news is my mortgage is now down to about £35k, and I feel very content with that.
Maybe I'll update this thread in another couple of years to congratulate myself on being mortgage-free, we'll see.
I thought it was worth posting an update. The good news is my mortgage is now down to about £35k, and I feel very content with that.
Maybe I'll update this thread in another couple of years to congratulate myself on being mortgage-free, we'll see.
The good news I now owe only £12,500, which I should be able to clear in the next few months.
It has felt like a bit of a bottomless pit at times, as no matter how much I earn and no matter how much I save, the mortgage just swallows it up.
The problem now is to clear the mortgage; the ERC is coming out a few hundred quid more than the interest over the remaining course of the loan. Technically it makes sense to wait for the term to finish and then pay off the remaining balance, but for the sake of a few hundred quid, I think I'll just get rid of it when I can. This is very much an emotional decision.
Overall though, I'm very happy, and can't wait to live life mortgage free.
I am absolutely ecstatic, but I think it’ll take a couple of months to fully sink in, when I realise, I don’t have a significant direct debit going out every month.
This isn’t the type of news you can share freely, except for with strangers on the internet, so I’m quietly celebrating on my own tonight with a takeaway and some JD
Edited by SkinnyPete on Friday 24th September 18:41
Welshbeef said:
Fantastic - very well done.
Now it’s time to put more into pensions
- and ISAs so that you can drag forward the date when you financially could retire. Financial freedom day.
You're not wrong.Now it’s time to put more into pensions
- and ISAs so that you can drag forward the date when you financially could retire. Financial freedom day. I am very much aboard the 'FIRE' train. I've already increased my pension contributions slightly and my standard monthly repayments which were going to my mortgage provider are now finding their way to Vanguard
Thanks for the replies and comments all
I’m probably a couple of decades away from true FI. Although my pension is on track, I can’t access it until I’m 58. Then there's the fact I won’t qualify for full NI contributions until I’m 52.
I’m not sure what my target figures are yet, but I’m investing in my S&S ISA to bridge the gap between 52 and 58.
Chicken Chaser said:
Wow well done. Just out of interest, will your family position change as you get older or is this the forever home?
I’m single, and the house is a three-bed semi, so big enough for a small family. If I ever meet someone I think is the one, I’d be open to buying a house together, but until then, its my forever home. Stu-nph26 said:
Congrats I’m also aiming for fire. All being well I should be able to do it before my 40th. Any idea when you’ll be FI?
FI before your 40th would be fantastic, so good luck with that.I’m probably a couple of decades away from true FI. Although my pension is on track, I can’t access it until I’m 58. Then there's the fact I won’t qualify for full NI contributions until I’m 52.
I’m not sure what my target figures are yet, but I’m investing in my S&S ISA to bridge the gap between 52 and 58.
67Dino said:
Congratulations SkinnyPete, I am full of admiration for your determination and discipline to achieve this aim.
That said, I’ll be honest, personally I find your choice really hard to comprehend. I definitely get the idea of retiring early if what you do for a living isn’t also what you like to do for fun (I’d just end up starting another business, which rather undermines the idea of retirement…).
But what I don’t get is why pay off the mortgage so early in your life? If I were you I’d be looking across at all that cash piling up in investments and just wishing it was doing more for me both financially and in terms of my living space.
Am I right in thinking that for you the experience of debt is a burden, and that the release from it outweighs those benefits? Or is it some other reason? Genuinely curious.
Thanks for the comments. That said, I’ll be honest, personally I find your choice really hard to comprehend. I definitely get the idea of retiring early if what you do for a living isn’t also what you like to do for fun (I’d just end up starting another business, which rather undermines the idea of retirement…).
But what I don’t get is why pay off the mortgage so early in your life? If I were you I’d be looking across at all that cash piling up in investments and just wishing it was doing more for me both financially and in terms of my living space.
Am I right in thinking that for you the experience of debt is a burden, and that the release from it outweighs those benefits? Or is it some other reason? Genuinely curious.
Edited by 67Dino on Saturday 25th September 08:12
You definitely have a valid point, and I’m not disputing that a investing in a low cost global tracker would probably have put me in a better financial position in terms of NET worth.
Like I think I said earlier on though, this is very much an emotional decision. I felt like the mortgage and the environment around it (interest rates, recessions, fear of job loss etc.) took up space in my head and distracted me from other things.
Investing a random £5k in Crypto is a gamble I can now afford to take, and if it goes to 0 then oh well. Investing £5k in Crypto, for it to go to 0, while I’m still working to pay for a roof over my head would make me like a chump.
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