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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To not have paying the mortgage off as a priority

141 replies

BarchesterTowers · 02/01/2020 08:51

We've bought a house which requires a mortgage which we can afford. Were in our early 50s and dont have a mortgage now, it was paid off by dh redundancy payment a couple of years ago.
There are raised eyebrows from people who think we should just sit tight with no mortgage.

OP posts:
burntpinky · 02/01/2020 12:05

We are in a similar situation (though I’m 41 and DH is 36) though we are not mortgage free - we could be if we sold my other property and used all the proceeds to pay off the mortgage.

We are not happy in our house however (not enough rooms or storage and a shared driveway) so are going to move this year and buy a project and turn it into a dream home. Think we will need a mortgage of around 480k and put down a 20% deposit, then use savings (and poss borrow a bit more depending on what we decide to do) to extend/renovate the hell out of it - but not touch my other property proceeds (which is on market for sale) and instead put that in pension/investments as more tax efficient.

But means we will be taking on a 25 year mortgage with me aged 41/42. That said, no way I’m working past 60 so plan would be to then pay down mortgage faster (and poss with lump sum from pension when retire) and if we get inheritance etc (not banking on it at all so have discounted from plan). Scares me, but our house annoys me so no point staying there if nhsppy!

WobblyAllOver · 02/01/2020 12:07

Up to you.

Personally we would never buy another house of it meant a mortgage but then we are happy in our current house and by not having a mortgage it means we will be able to retire early.

ClairesKimono · 02/01/2020 12:08

Sounds fine to me OP. I woudl much rather live somewhere I love than live somewhere that's just ok and go on holiday a lot!

FiddlesticksAkimbo · 02/01/2020 12:13

I suppose the question is ...??

I guess we'll never know

Astrabees · 02/01/2020 12:22

I'd only say that DH and I moved at 40 and took out a repayment mortgage over 25 years. We were not planning on retiring both liked our jobs. Since then my work has become much more arduous and DH's company were taken over by people who were hell to work for. We hadn't for seen the fact that he would be unhappy and i'd be worked to death. Fortunately the balance of the mortgage was quite low by the time these problems set in and we paid it off out of savings so that we could consider our problems objectively.
I'd suggest you ensure you have some savings or a pension lump sum to come just in case. We resolved our issues by DH taking retirement from his job and taking a new job 2 days a week, he can now support me more at home and I'm a lot happier too.

EvaHarknessRose · 02/01/2020 12:24

7 years is fine, with the sound financial plan you have. People probably assume it's a longer term mortgage, that you have debts and no pension.

Mammylamb · 02/01/2020 12:26

It’s really no one else’s business what you do with your money.

We are late 30s and with the equity in our home we could afford to buy a small 2 bed
Flat locally outright. However we live in a large 4 bed / 3 reception room house, and have a largeish mortgage. That’s our choice as we want more space.

We have other friends with similar family size (2 parents, 1 child) with similar income who live in 2 bed flat. They spend their disposable income on gadgets that we don’t have the money for atm. And that’s fine: that’s their priority. I don’t judge them for it and they don’t care what we do

Inherdefence · 02/01/2020 12:27

We are similar age and are mortgage free now. If we saw another house that we liked more than our current one I would consider taking out another mortgage to buy it but it seems unlikely. I think any future home will be smaller so unless we decide we want to move to Kensington or Knightsbridge it should cost less than this one.

I wouldn’t be concerned about what other people think of your decision. Homes and finance are very personal and there is no one rule that will suit everyone.

cuparfull · 02/01/2020 12:27

Go for it...you have to keep young and keep pushing boundaries. You have obviously evaluated your finances and concluded you can afford it. You have a fallback situation planned so ignore the naysayers who prefer to play safe and never move forward.
Put it this way, savings are earning little atm so you may as well use the low interest rates to your advantage getting a mortgage for a home you'll love.

Flavabobble · 02/01/2020 12:27

If you were taking out a hefty 25year mortgage you’d be insane. 7 years with a fallback of another house to sell, less so. It took a few pages to drop that in though...

Ellisandra · 02/01/2020 12:41

@FiddlesticksAkimbo quite!

@BarchesterTowers what exactly is your question? Why do you care what others think? Especially when it seems to be a bit “what you think they’re thinking”?

You know that even if someone you know said to you “oooooh, I’d rather be mortgage free at our age” all that is, is idle chit chat? They won’t care what you do.

You have a good income, a good pension, a house paid off and rented out - and this house too by the sounds of it. Did you just wake up with that one morning?! How did you live with your previous financial and life decisions? Genuinely do not understand why you care about other people’s opinions.

blue25 · 02/01/2020 12:51

No way i’d take on a mortgage in my 50’s. We’ll be mortgage free before 50 and will be staying that way.

It means we’ll be able to save lots extra into pensions and retire early. Can’t wait!

RicStar · 02/01/2020 12:59

Sounds fine to me - interest rates are so low you it wont cost you much in interest costs and (unless there is some reason the new property wont move up or down in line with the general local property market) then you can always downsize again if you need to.

Ellisandra · 02/01/2020 13:01

You’re not even bucking the trend, really... as what did your husband choose to do with his redundancy payment? Pay his mortgage off. So it’s not that can’t relate to your friends’ opinions, is it?!

Elieza · 02/01/2020 14:12

Seven years is doable providing you can both continue to work (without health issues/company redundancies etc).

The fact that you own outright another property is very relevant to the whole mortgage or not question, as that’s an asset which could be sold in the event you have trouble paying off your new mortgage.

In these circumstances I would take out a very good illness payment protection policy if you are confident there will be no issues with previous health problems which would prevent them paying out in the event one of you became ill. And go for it if it’s what you really want. Oh, and if you want to be there forever think about how it will fit in with your lives once your knees are arthritic or whatever runs in your family! Getting old isn’t always plain sailing.

woodhill · 02/01/2020 14:17

We are mortgage free but would love to move and probably would need another mortgage.

The stamp duty alone is ridiculous so I can see why you would need another mortgage to move.

Do it OP if you are happy to continue with your job

CripsSandwiches · 02/01/2020 14:20

I get more interest from my savings than I pay on my mortgage so no paying off my mortgage would be totally pointless.

Original poster
BarchesterTowers · 02/01/2020 14:32

I think the question is - if I'd formulated it properly - the financial end game of many people is to pay off the mortgage - is it unreasonable to just think of it as a managed debt that's part of life and not live in a house that isn't quite right for us just because we've paid off the mortgage....

And yes, my friends and I do talk about mortgages and pensions and will etc. With my close friends and family I do know who has paid off their mortgage. Talking to them about buying a house has prompted them to talk to me about their financial priorities in general terms. E.g "the mortgage will be paid off in 5 years, both children through uni and partner could then retire....."

OP posts:
GlummyMcGlummerson · 02/01/2020 14:37

Obsession with mortgages and having "your own house" seems to be a very British thing!

scaryteacher · 02/01/2020 14:39

We've paid ours off, but dh retired last month at 58, so we didn't want the mortgage still to be going. It makes a big difference mentally to know that the house is ours.

woodhill · 02/01/2020 14:40

Definitely but then renting is so expensive so it's the way to go if you can

poppycity · 02/01/2020 14:48

It's purely personal opinion. Not having a mortgage opens up so many other wonderful opportunities. But having a mortgage often allows you to live in the area/home you want. Whatever is your priority is the best decision. Good luck!

catwithnohat · 02/01/2020 14:50

@barchestertowers - in the same position (or just about to be) but still have to pay the bills and not willing to live in penury now or after retirement!

If you want to move to somewhere that you're going to enjoy then go for it (if you're fit, healthy and in a good employment position and the plan is low risk!)

Xenia · 02/01/2020 14:58

I was mortgage free at age 35 with a detached house./ I decided as I earned a fair bit and definitely wanted a big house we would go ahead and move and we took on what for us in 1997 was a huge mortgage of £500k which is abohut £900,000 today allowing for inflation.

I am glad we did as I got mortgage free again in my early 50s and will not move again.

I don't think I would have done it later in life however as I work for myself and was not sure it would be easy to get a loan. My mortgage went up to £1.3m a one point (we got divorced). However it is a personal decision. I just don't want any more debts at my age and I have a house whch will be fine until I die.

Mortgage and full time childcare were always our biggest expense. Even now my biggest expense is university costs for the twins without student loans which is £9250 x 2 per year for the twins, about £6k rents each per year and £150 a week each - so not much change out of £50k a year once we add in their car which I pay for, holidays, food in holidays etc. I am glad I don't have the mortgage to pay as well.

ChicCroissant · 02/01/2020 15:00

If you can continue to pay the managed debt when/if you retire from your pension (and you can get a mortgage term that runs over that, because they are a lot stricter now) then I suppose you could see it as a managed debt. It's not a view I share personally, I have different plans for our retirement than paying for the house!