Dreaming of being mortgage free, how old were you when you paid yours off?

[Smarshian]

We are early thirties with 2 pre school DC in nursery 4 days per week. I’ve just taken a better paying job which will hopefully lead to more progression moving forwards.
We have 32 years to pay on our £230k mortgage and it just seems so daunting! We haven’t been able to overpay as we are pretty stretched with nursery fees but now I’ve got this new job that should hopefully change.
When did you pay yours off? How did it feel?

[ScrapThatThen]

I was lucky. DH got his first mortgage in his mid twenties and when we got a mortgage together he insisted on keeping to the original 25 year time frame taking him to age 50. I am so glad. Though be warned, there is always plenty more to spend it on, we just carried on saving the mortgage amount towards the parental contributions to university.

[Jaxhog]

60. But we upsized 4 times.

[nosswith]

I was 49. I felt a mixture of relief and contentment, knowing that whatever happened to me, there was a roof over my head.

[doctorhamster]

We'll be mid 60s if we leave it alone. I imagine we'll downsize to a less desirable area in 10 years or so and be mortgage free when we're around 50. We'll never be able to retire otherwise!

[burnoutbabe]

@MrsKramer

I've never got MN's obsession with paying off mortgages early. Property's a great investment, and one that benefits the whole family. We have 20 years to go on the mortgage, but if we could pay it now, we'd just get another one and buy somewhere more expensive!

But not all of us want to move many times. I don't need a bigger flat than I needed when I bought it. I'd sell if we moved out of London, but eise we may as well stay and avoid massive stamp duty costs.
I put the over payments I made before into pension and savings.

[LaVitaPuoEsserePiuBella]

I'm nearly 50, mortgage will be paid off next year. It's a lovely feeling.

[PattyPan]

We are 24&25 and took out a 25 year mortgage last year and have already overpaid and taken off a few extra months but are keen to pay it off ASAP. It’s a 2 bed so we know we will have to upsize at some point but at least we can maximise the amount of equity we have by that point. I want to retire early so I have no intention of having a mortgage past the age of 50! The money saving expert website has a forum with a section called mortgage free wannabes where people post about their journey to being mortgage free, I recommend it for motivation

[Ali85]

the point of paying it off saves an enormous amount in interest plus the security of owning outright means if I were to be made redundant or no longer want to work full time in a stressful job I don't have to. It's a no-brainer imo

It really isn't a no-brainer, it depends on your personal circumstances and attitude to risk. Certainly the security can be a very important factor for a lot of people but with very low interest rates the savings you make are much lower than they were, especially taking into account the likely impact of inflation on the value of the debt. Putting that money into other investments is likely to lead to a much higher return than the interest on the mortgage and even more so if you are doing so through a pension and have tax advantages and additional employer contributions. You lose out on a lot of compounding if you wait till you pay the mortgage before investing.

Of course overpaying can be absolutely the right decision for some people but to present it as the only sensible decision is misleading.

[acerred]

[DramaAlpaca]

Mine has just been paid off, I'm 56. It feels amazing to know that the house is ours. We bought our first house 31 years ago, have upsized twice, won't be moving again. The money we spent on the mortgage is now going into pensions.

[MrsJBaptiste]

Most responders on this thread have only come on to boast that they have paid theirs off earlier and in many cases it won’t even be true

Really? What a boring thing to lie about! If we hadn't paid our mortgage off then I wouldnt even come onto this thread. But to come on and lie about having paid it off quite frankly seems nuts to me!

[MargaretHooper]

Set it for 20 years and paid it off in 20 years - with money over for a car.
Taken out in the 90s as an endowment mortgage. Changed to a mostly repayment mortgage part way through. The endowment policies performed better than expected, so ended up with a surplus.

[acerred]

Most responders on this thread have only come on to boast that they have paid theirs off earlier and in many cases it won’t even be true

Why would people do that ? I paid mine off early because I made the choice not to get on the housing rat race and kept buying bigger and bigger houses but stay in my first home and pay it off so I could do other things I wanted more.

[Bluemooninmyeyes1]

I find the comment that people have only came on this thread to boast about paying their mortgages early really offensive. Some people have sadly paid through inheritances or their spouses dying- how on earth is that bragging? I’m sure those posters would much rather have their family members.

[ilovebagpuss]

I’ll be 62 unless I have any inheritance which I would put towards the mortgage.
We have considered Downsizing which would allow us to pay off and have a considerable sum to help with uni fees etc we have a 5 bed in a nice area so we know we could if the going gets tough.
It was our choice to add a loft conversion etc or we could have kept a fairly low mortgage and paid that but we wanted the space for our life now.
I admire everyone who pays their mortgage off at a young age it must feel amazing to be free of that monthly chunk going out.

[Devilesko]

First at 30, second at 42.
But, we only had a low income, saved what we'd have paid for childcare for years and paid mortgages off.

[MrsGrindah]

Hopefully 55. Then I’m retiring and I know my income will drop massively but I want a simpler life .

[JesusInTheCabbageVan]

I'll be early 50s - 25 year mortgage.

[Ninkanink]

We’re mortgage free. 44 and 42.

It’s very important to us not to be tied into mortgage payments. DH works in an extremely demanding job and when he is ready to pack it in I want him to be able to do so straightaway without any stress over money.

We live in a modest but lovely home which is plenty big enough for the two of us and could also comfortably house my two daughters if need be. We don’t need more than what we have now.

[Werk]

We paid ours off a few years ago (we are early 40's now) but we are now looking to upsize and will take on a small mortgage (because a lot of our savings are in investments that we do not want to sell) but we will probably over pay that and get it paid off before we are both 50.

What I would say is, do not neglect your pension! I did because I wanted to throw every penny against the mortgage. In hindsight I wouldn't have done that and it wouldn't have made a huge difference to when we paid the mortgage off anyway. Plus, what would be the point in living in a mortgage free house if you have no income and need to sell when you retire?

I do think it is a good idea to pay down your mortgage if it means that you can get a better loan to value when you come to sell/ remortgage.

[nowishtofly]

I will pay off the mortgage on my home when I'm 50 - next year. I hav3 moved a couple of times so although I bought originally when I was 25, if I had stuck to traditional mortgage terms (20-25 years) with each new property/mortgage I would still have a decade or so to go. There are better things to focus your spending on given interest rates and tax relief on pension savings etc, but I am really looking forward to not having the mortgage hanging over me, so I have overpaid for the last few years. As I've got older the mortgage has been going down and my salary has gone up a bit. I just want it done now!

[TheBitterBoy]

Ours will be gone in December, it's taken just over 12 years, I'll be 47. We have overpaid whenever we could and its made a huge difference (was a standard 25 Yr mortgage)

[Tiredeyesneedsleep]

29. At the time (about 16 years ago)the house was valued at £440k. Worked my arse off to do that and at the same time make sure my wife could be at home with the children until they started school.

[Zenithbear]

It's more complicated than just paying off the mortgage.
Started with a 3 bed early 90s paid that off by overpaying, then moved up, then moved from the city and bought a massive house. Then divorced.
Met dp and with our funds we bought a home and a holiday cottage and a rental each. Now early 50s with no mortgages.