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Just got my annual statement - only £13K and some change left to pay and I will once again be a free man:eek:...about 4 more years should do it - seems like an eternity though.
chris@panteg
11-02-2013, 16:44
Sounds good Martin , if I were in your shoes , I'd be looking to pay it off in 2 years with overpaying , but that's me , all the best with it .
Rare Bird
11-02-2013, 16:47
I'm too old now to be starting with a Mortgage, besides we both work at the same place which is trickey to start with ..
chris@panteg
11-02-2013, 17:05
Have you always rented Andre ?
Rare Bird
11-02-2013, 17:12
No Chris
Covenant
11-02-2013, 18:52
I have about the same amount and time left as you Martin. I could pay it off with an endowment policy that isn't linked to the mortgage but then I would loose the terminal bonus-that's if they decide to give one.
Decisions, decisions.
Haven't had one for years :)
isuckedmandelsonslemons
11-02-2013, 19:04
What's the big deal with having/not having a mortgage.
We have a reasonable mortgage but here's what the problem is: all of the following are more or almost as much as the mortgage.
Running two cars - much, much more.
Gas and electric- much more
Council tax - almost as much
Food- about the same.
TBH the mortgage is the least of my worries.
Covenant
11-02-2013, 19:11
You must have a huge and very energy inefficient house Harry.
isuckedmandelsonslemons
11-02-2013, 19:22
Jerry, it's insulated to the eyeballs but as far as country piles go, it's fairly modest ;-). I couldn't stand having feckin neighbours that's for sure.
guyhayton
11-02-2013, 19:22
Just got my annual statement - only £13K and some change left to pay and I will once again be a free man:eek:...about 4 more years should do it - seems like an eternity though.
BOO HOO! I'm just starting out all over again this year. I will finish paying the mortgage in 25 years when I am 67 !!!!:eek:
Jealous me..... YES :beer:
You must have a huge and very energy inefficient house Harry.
..and two Lamborghinis parked on the drive
hifinutt
11-02-2013, 19:59
I have about the same amount and time left as you Martin. I could pay it off with an endowment policy that isn't linked to the mortgage but then I would loose the terminal bonus-that's if they decide to give one.
Decisions, decisions.
after all the ho hah over endowments ours just matured and it was worth hanging on for the terminal bonus . did exactly waht it said on the tin and more
Just got my annual statement - only £13K and some change left to pay and I will once again be a free man:eek:...about 4 more years should do it - seems like an eternity though.
Nice one, Martin. When the time comes, I'm sure you'll enjoy the freedom it brings you :)
We've been mortgage-free since 2001 (and have no other debts whatsoever). It's a great feeling knowing that YOU *actually* own your house, rather than the bank!! ;)
Marco.
Well I've got about 10 times that amount and 16 years to go. :(
If I hadn't split with my first wife then we'd have paid off our mortgage in the next 5 years - still, some things are worth the expense! :lol:
Mark Grant
11-02-2013, 22:15
What's the big deal with having/not having a mortgage.
We have a reasonable mortgage but here's what the problem is: all of the following are more or almost as much as the mortgage.
Running two cars - much, much more.
Gas and electric- much more
Council tax - almost as much
Food- about the same.
TBH the mortgage is the least of my worries.
Mainly because if the house is mortgaged and you fall on hard times for any reason you can easily lose the house.
If the mortgage was paid off and you miss a few payments on the Gas bill etc the house will still be there when you get back on your feet.
A few months of ill health can happen to anyone at any time.
I know what you mean though, all the other direct debits add up to more than a Mortgage :eek:
Mark Grant
11-02-2013, 22:28
Well I've got about 10 times that amount and 16 years to go. :(
Just when you get that paid off the two cuties in your avatar will want cars buying :D
See if you can over pay slightly each month, makes a huge difference if you could chip away at it with an extra £100 a month.
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mortgages/mortgage-overpayment-calculator
Check the terms and conditions of your mortgage as there can be a penalty for overpaying with some companies and they are never worded in plain English.
If I hadn't split with my first wife then we'd have paid off our mortgage in the next 5 years - still, some things are worth the expense! :lol:
Avatar pictures looks like life is good for you :)
Yep, I ain't complaining! :) Cheers Mark.
That's a good way of looking at things, Mark! :)
Marco.
Mainly because if the house is mortgaged and you fall on hard times for any reason you can easily lose the house.
If the mortgage was paid off and you miss a few payments on the Gas bill etc the house will still be there when you get back on your feet.
A few months of ill health can happen to anyone at any time.
:
This is the main thing for me - since taking out the mortgage I've been made redundant twice - and the first time I didn't have a penny in the bank - I always managed to find more work straight away but I was probably lucky. Once you own the house outright they can't touch you.
sq225917
12-02-2013, 09:10
We have about £127k to go but live a frugal life, we'll have that fecker paid off in 10 years.
chris@panteg
12-02-2013, 09:34
Yep , pay that mortgage off as quickly as you are able to ! That's my advice .
StanleyB
12-02-2013, 09:37
I paid mine off last June after realizing that the endowment mortgage interest repayment was far more than the interest on the money sitting in the bank. I might be broke again, but at least I no longer have to worry about how to pay the landlord or mortgage company. The last time I was in that situation was when I was living at home with my mum.
Covenant
12-02-2013, 09:40
after all the ho hah over endowments ours just matured and it was worth hanging on for the terminal bonus . did exactly waht it said on the tin and more
That's cheered me up a bit Phil. I have been sticking £90 a month in it for the last 21 years and it's not worth much more than I have put in so the terminal bonus is a major factor. It's all so uncertain-the way they calculate the bonus is a total mystery.
Crikey! Doesn't seem like a year since I posted this thread. Just had the statement through, down to just over £11K. I could pay about half that off now and not leave myself too short but that would diminish my hi-fi slush fund a bit too much :) Interest rate is only 2.5% so it wouldn't save me much as I'm paying less than £300 a year to service the debt. Thinking about it, though.
chris@panteg
10-02-2014, 11:50
Haven't spent much on hifi in the past year except for the T10 sut, concentrated on getting my mortgage down! Think I've down well.
You're in a good position, maybe just chip away at it over the next year or so?
I was just totting up what I had spent on hi-fi last year and it is over 2 grand...although most of that was worth it - I think. On that basis If I quit buying hi fi and smoking and drinking I could pay it all off in two years...never going to happen though :)
chris@panteg
10-02-2014, 12:17
I was just totting up what I had spent on hi-fi last year and it is over 2 grand...although most of that was worth it - I think. On that basis If I quit buying hi fi and smoking and drinking I could pay it all off in two years...never going to happen though :)
You have to have some comforts in life ;)
I don't smoke but enjoy a pint or three , in the last year I have paid 10 grand off my mortgage ,just think of all the kit I could have bought :eek: Think I've shown great restraint or maybe common sense even :scratch:
I think my expectations are lower regarding the hifi ,think a relatively modest system is all I really need .
Coming up to a year since we paid off our mortgage. Unfortunately house repairs still need to be paid for!
I don't smoke but enjoy a pint or three , in the last year I have paid 10 grand off my mortgage ,just think of all the kit I could have bought :eek: Think I've shown great restraint or maybe common sense even :scratch:
I think my expectations are lower regarding the hifi ,think a relatively modest system is all I really need .
Extreme common sense even. Not difficult to lose your job these days and the older you get the less likely it is you can get something else. So a good idea to have the 'roof over your head' side of things boxed off. I just don't have the self discipline.
Joe - my house could use quite a few repairs but I am hoping that I will fall down before it does. ;)
Covenant
10-02-2014, 13:04
Crikey! Doesn't seem like a year since I posted this thread. Just had the statement through, down to just over £11K. I could pay about half that off now and not leave myself too short but that would diminish my hi-fi slush fund a bit too much :) Interest rate is only 2.5% so it wouldn't save me much as I'm paying less than £300 a year to service the debt. Thinking about it, though.
I owe about the same as you Martin. I don't want to pay it off as the interest rate is 0.75% above base and I get an overdraft facility that I could buy an Aston Martin with (offset mortgage). Thank God I have reached the age when a little VW will do nicely!
mr sneff
10-02-2014, 13:07
Restraint and common sense are overrated :)
My father is about to go into residential care because of his dementia, where there care home will strip him of everything he owns at the rate of £32000 per annum. If he'd spent it on hi fi, booze or whatever the council would pick up the tab. Spend it while you have the chance and enjoy it.
Gordon Steadman
10-02-2014, 13:08
Its the mortgage that is the difference between Micawber- and Micawber+. Mine lasts until I'm 70 although the actual sum outstanding doesn't look too bad in UK terms, its still more than we have in the bank.
As ever, the advice should be to pay it off as soon as possible and don't marry the wrong person. If I hadn't made that last mistake, I would have been mortgage free for the last 15 years!!
It always used to be that we were advised to keep it going for the tax relief. I always thought that was accountant speak (sorry Richard) and a load of nonsense. Debt is bad.
If you want something (and there are very few things you actually need rather than want) save up and pay cash. Sadly, needing a roof over your head usually needs a major borrow. How I wish property wasn't treated as investment and money. It shows how stupid this attitude is every time there is a depression.
Thing is that property, especially in UK is a bloody good long term investment and always has been. I was in a position 14 years ago now where I could have bought a second house as a buy to let. In the end I didn't but if I had it would be worth now £150% of what I would have paid and the rental would have covered the whole mortgage easily in the interim.
The Barbarian
10-02-2014, 13:30
If i were to be honest Mortgage scare the crap out of me.. At least when i do loose my Job i still have a roof over my head paid for. However after Christmas we took a few decisions. The wife is learning to drive. Cut out buying things we really don't need, cut the shopping down, drinking anything that can be cut out has been. Banking everything. It works out that over £10K a years goes on crap we dont need to be spending on. Don't even bother with Hi-Fi as such anymore.
If i were to be honest Mortgage scare the crap out of me.. At least when i do loose my Job i still have a roof over my head paid for. However after Christmas we took a few decisions. The wife is learning to drive. Cut out buying things we really don't need, cut the shopping down, drinking anything that can be cut out has been. Banking everything. It works out that over £10K a years goes on crap we dont need to be spending on. Don't even bother with Hi-Fi as such anymore.
Yep scared the crap out of me when I bought this house but I had a steady job with a very successful,rapidly growing company at the time and I could not see the logic in paying £300 a month rent when I could be buying an identical house in the same area for £200 a month. It is scary when you get made redundant, that has happened twice since plus one job I just quit without having another one to go to. Still, it has all worked out so far.
Gordon Steadman
10-02-2014, 14:44
Thing is that property, especially in UK is a bloody good long term investment and always has been. I was in a position 14 years ago now where I could have bought a second house as a buy to let. In the end I didn't but if I had it would be worth now £150% of what I would have paid and the rental would have covered the whole mortgage easily in the interim.
Yes it is true but I still don't think it should be. A home is too important to just be part of an investment portfolio. Its the one area that my values edge toward left of centre. A home should be a basic not only available to those who have the right credentials. Luxuries are too cheap and the essentials are too expensive nowadays.
Gordon Steadman
10-02-2014, 14:45
Restraint and common sense are overrated :)
My father is about to go into residential care because of his dementia, where there care home will strip him of everything he owns at the rate of £32000 per annum. If he'd spent it on hi fi, booze or whatever the council would pick up the tab. Spend it while you have the chance and enjoy it.
Over here, the monthly cost would be €350 per month! This is about the same as our mortgage payment. I can't believe the actual costs are a tenth of the UK rate. Someone is making a whole lot of cash out of the old.
If you mean a home as opposed to a property bought in addition to your home then I agree. But I have nothing against investing in property any more than I do investing in gold. It is just another commodity. I agree in a society as wealthy as ours there should be decent housing available for everyone and for those wanting to own their house then there should be housing they can afford buy. The high UK prices are simply due to supply and demand.
We don't have enough housing, we won't build on green belt and developers don't want to build on brown field sites of which there are plenty even in the south-east. What could have been done and what could still be done is for the government to build masses of wholly public owned housing on these sites. That would generate an income stream from day one, employ a lot of people in the construction and peripheral industries and also would give the nation an appeciating asset which could be cashed in at a later date for a profit and at both stages it would stabilise the prices of houses at least at the starter end of the market. They have printed enough money since 2008 to do it 10 times over, instead they use it to bail out busted banks. Stupid.
mr sneff
10-02-2014, 17:14
Over here, the monthly cost would be €350 per month! This is about the same as our mortgage payment. I can't believe the actual costs are a tenth of the UK rate. Someone is making a whole lot of cash out of the old.
Are care homes state run in France?
Gordon Steadman
10-02-2014, 18:25
Are care homes state run in France?
Not entirely sure but probably. The health system actually seems to care about health rather than profit. Strange lot the French.
Oldpinkman
11-02-2014, 06:52
Not entirely sure but probably. The health system actually seems to care about health rather than profit. Strange lot the French.
France is a care home. A place to retire to. The young who might pay for it all emigrate. Have you seen the ni their working population pay. And having created the state they can no longer fund and driven themselves to the peak of international uncompetetiveness they are running up the fastest growing unaffordable national debt. I speak as one who would like to move their now but may need to wait to retire :(
Oldpinkman
11-02-2014, 06:58
Its the mortgage that is the difference between Micawber- and Micawber+. Mine lasts until I'm 70 although the actual sum outstanding doesn't look too bad in UK terms, its still more than we have in the bank.
As ever, the advice should be to pay it off as soon as possible and don't marry the wrong person. If I hadn't made that last mistake, I would have been mortgage free for the last 15 years!!
It always used to be that we were advised to keep it going for the tax relief. I always thought that was accountant speak (sorry Richard) and a load of nonsense. Debt is bad.
If you want something (and there are very few things you actually need rather than want) save up and pay cash. Sadly, needing a roof over your head usually needs a major borrow. How I wish property wasn't treated as investment and money. It shows how stupid this attitude is every time there is a depression.
Just spotted this one. That is crap accountant speak. More usually client speak. The number of times I have to remind clients the name of the game is wealth maximisation not tax minimisation. Nobody pays tax on a loss.
Thing is that property, especially in UK is a bloody good long term investment and always has been. I was in a position 14 years ago now where I could have bought a second house as a buy to let...
Indeed. Buying and selling properties is (largely) how we've made our money and achieved financial security for life, if we're reasonably careful.
At around the age of 28, not long after we were married, we both realised that the best 'pension fund' of all was to invest our cash in the property market, rather than boosting the coffers of some insurance company.
Even though property prices have fluctuated massively throughout the years, we've definitely gained more than we've lost! :)
Marco.
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