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Original poster

Worrying about money unnecessarily?

49 replies

StarcourtMall · 07/01/2023 11:18

I’m really struggling with balancing living for today and planning for the future. I can’t quite get my head around if we’re doing okay or not saving enough. I am nearly 50 and in our married life have gone from redundancies and not being able to pay rent to being comfortable. Some serious illness a few years ago has given us a bit of YOLO mentality, but I also have to think of the future.

Positives:
Household income of £115k gross with secure jobs
Both have pensions - paying in approx 20% of income
No debts other than mortgage and 1 car lease
Savings of approx 6 months income (although some of that is for home improvements this year)

Negatives:
Mortgage has another 20 years to go!
Two teens - one approaching driving lessons / university age and one with severe learning disabilities who will never hold more than a minimum wage job and will always be dependent on us. Teens have a few thousand each in savings too.
Pensions were only started in last 10 years so aren’t particularly big yet.
We love travelling and spend thousands each year on this - feel quite guilty about that but also feel really unhappy if we don’t - like what’s the point in all the hard work if you can’t enjoy it?

I don’t know what I’m after really - reassurance that we’re doing okay? I often feel that we should pay more into the mortgage (and will do with my next pay rise) or pension, but the figures are so large it just feels pointless! Any suggestions for small changes that can make me feel like I’m doing something positive (without losing the holidays 😂)?

OP posts:
KangarooKenny · 07/01/2023 11:20

I’d be over paying your mortgage to get rid quicker. When do you both hope to retire ?

Thatsasmashingblouseyouvegoton · 07/01/2023 11:21

I think id be looking at paying down that mortgage.
You'll be nearly 70 by the time it's paid off?

determinedtomakethiswork · 07/01/2023 11:23

You are nearly 50 and have 20 years left on your mortgage and you are spending thousands every year on foreign holidays? Are you insane?

Motnight · 07/01/2023 11:25

Overpay your mortgage. It is what we did, and lots of our friends.

Original poster
StarcourtMall · 07/01/2023 11:26

You’re right. I think it’s the mortgage that bothers me more than anything. We just had to renew and added on another 3 years to try and keep the payments down.
I guess we were thinking in the future we could downsize, or might get an inheritance? DH has some share options that should kick in in the next two years so were also hoping for some dividends from those in the future, but I know you can’t rely on it.

OP posts:
OhIdoLike2bBesideTheSeaside · 07/01/2023 11:26

KangarooKenny · 07/01/2023 11:20

I’d be over paying your mortgage to get rid quicker. When do you both hope to retire ?

I agree - I'd over pay on the mortgage if I could and get that out the way sooner
Your in a much better position than most people tho so that's a positive

We've been so poor a health visitor gave me a foodbank voucher and struggling to pay rent and bills and taking cds and DVDs to sell at CEX to now being in a position of buying our own home, I do think if you've come from being in that place to being a bit better off your thankful 🥲 of it and have an appreciation and I know we are more careful than some of our friends
Eg I think we will have a caravan in the uk this year instead of putting a £6-7k holiday on a credit card!

Goodgrief82 · 07/01/2023 11:28

20 years on mortgage at your ages with that income and those pension contributions?

baffling

Original poster
StarcourtMall · 07/01/2023 11:32

My point is, re the mortgage, that we’re not expecting to be sitting in this house for the next 20 years. At some point we’ll change tack whether that is move, pay a chunk off or reduce the term again. We just had to renew as the rates had just gone up and so fixed at the best rate we could as a temporary measure.
I agree also re. the holidays - it’s madness - but having thought my life was over at one point, I’m reluctant to put my dreams and joys on hold for a future that might not happen.

OP posts:
WhyCantPeopleBeNice · 07/01/2023 11:32

I'd talk to someone, because pension contribution is tax free, is there any benefit to paying more now which then helps with your mortgage payments later on. I'd need to understand what the difference between the compound interest on both mortgage and pension is.
The reality though, how many people can work full time in their 60s? Especially if you have caring responsibilities
From a health perspective i think I'd be pushing to clear the mortgage, allowing you to work part time later in life to balance the low pension.

Goodgrief82 · 07/01/2023 11:34

You have given us a lot of figures all bar the most important

how much left on your mortgage

euff · 07/01/2023 11:34

That's a lovely household income and you should be able to do nice things with it and prepare for the future. Even a small overpayment can make a massive difference. Check out the calculators on moneysaving expert which might give you some motivation especially given how much less interest you will be paying over the term. If you have uni bound children I take it they won't get much help due to your income so might you need/ want to be helping them with that for those years too? Might as well get used to setting that amount aside now and using some of it for mortgage. Is there an age you would like to be done with that? I agree finding a balance between being sensible and living can be hard. I do feel that DH and I just existed for many years and that sucks but we didn't have good incomes then so it was necessary. My mum was diagnosed with dementia long before retirement age so that also colours my view.

Original poster
StarcourtMall · 07/01/2023 11:35

Goodgrief82 · 07/01/2023 11:28

20 years on mortgage at your ages with that income and those pension contributions?

baffling

Helpful! We haven’t always been on that income obviously! I’ve only been working full time for 3 years. At times we’ve been on the bones of our arse to get by and bringing up a disabled child so it’s taken us a while to catch up.

OP posts:
Original poster
StarcourtMall · 07/01/2023 11:38

Goodgrief82 · 07/01/2023 11:34

You have given us a lot of figures all bar the most important

how much left on your mortgage

£220k. We extended a few years ago and that added £75k. House is worth about £460k (expensive area in SE).

OP posts:
Original poster
StarcourtMall · 07/01/2023 11:40

euff · 07/01/2023 11:34

That's a lovely household income and you should be able to do nice things with it and prepare for the future. Even a small overpayment can make a massive difference. Check out the calculators on moneysaving expert which might give you some motivation especially given how much less interest you will be paying over the term. If you have uni bound children I take it they won't get much help due to your income so might you need/ want to be helping them with that for those years too? Might as well get used to setting that amount aside now and using some of it for mortgage. Is there an age you would like to be done with that? I agree finding a balance between being sensible and living can be hard. I do feel that DH and I just existed for many years and that sucks but we didn't have good incomes then so it was necessary. My mum was diagnosed with dementia long before retirement age so that also colours my view.

Thank you. Good advice. We are definitely planning to start overpaying this year. I think from now on we should put all pay rises and windfalls on to the mortgage.

OP posts:
Thatsasmashingblouseyouvegoton · 07/01/2023 11:45

StarcourtMall · 07/01/2023 11:40

Thank you. Good advice. We are definitely planning to start overpaying this year. I think from now on we should put all pay rises and windfalls on to the mortgage.

Show quote history

Yeah
It's the best plan going forward
Good luck

Goodgrief82 · 07/01/2023 11:45

Good grief - your ages, that o/s mortgage and that relatively low LTV….

no brainer with rates as they’re heading

mortgage mortgage mortgage

Goodgrief82 · 07/01/2023 11:46

relatively high LTV I meant to say

Paq · 07/01/2023 11:47

On that income you could probably just make small adjustments to free up some money to overpay the mortgage without it impacting your lifestyle.

With such healthy savings it might be worth looking into an offset mortgage next time you re-broke, should such products still exist.

Original poster
StarcourtMall · 07/01/2023 11:49

Well I did ask! 😂 I posted because it was worrying me that our priorities were out of kilter. It’s good to have the kick up the arse to get our heads out of the sand! Thanks all.

OP posts:
ICouldHaveCheckedFirst · 07/01/2023 11:55

Living for today is important, obviously. No point putting it all away for the future and not enjoying today. Do you both have life insurance to pay off the mortgage if one of you dies?

Original poster
StarcourtMall · 07/01/2023 11:59

ICouldHaveCheckedFirst · 07/01/2023 11:55

Living for today is important, obviously. No point putting it all away for the future and not enjoying today. Do you both have life insurance to pay off the mortgage if one of you dies?

Yes we do, and critical illness cover.

OP posts:
Galliano · 07/01/2023 12:01

Don’t overpay the mortgage particularly if you are on a low fixed rate …put as much as you can (up to 40k each) into pensions, get the tax relief (some will be at 40%) and then use the pension lump sum to pay off the mortgage in a few years.

Cantstandsmugness · 07/01/2023 12:07

I am all for now living for today! Covid took away my business, which employed over 20 people, and my house! Now approaching 60, living in rented, pension is rubbish, its a worry but what can I do but enjoy the day for what it brings. I work full time in a stressful job and will do until I drop. Yes I eat a lot of tin beans, sit under a blanket instead of heating the house. Still donate to crisis and put things in the local food bank. A lot are worse off. I too love travelling and am still going to do that, have 3 trips booked this year. I go without to pay for these, life is so short and my financial security has long gone. My lovely Dad had comfortable retirement, is now in a lovely care home, some days with us and some days not, he hates it and would rather pass on! It's like being in nursery, they really look after him, its very posh as he can afford, but has more than once asked me to give him tablets to end it all. It's not a life he wants, he cant walk, his legs have given up. Needs to be hoisted in and out of bed and to the toilet. He can't come out for dinner with us or join in family things, he is very lonely although surrounded by people. Over 3 years he has paid over 250k to live like this, its crazy! His mc Carthy and stone flat he had is worth half what he paid and we cant sell it. There are soooo many up for sale.
I will never be able to save enough to buy in this current market, so I am going to enjoy my travel to see the world and hopefully I will be able to keep working till I drop and if I can't I don't know what will happen. All I do know is that I employed 20 people for over 20 years who were were able to support their families. I paid all my taxes and stamp and contributed to the economy hopefully Karma will come around and help me at some point. Covid was nobodies fault and certainly not mine. I never in a million years thought I would loose everything to a virus when I set up my company.

Movinghouseatlast · 07/01/2023 12:11

I earn significantly less than you I'm older than you and my mortgage also had 20 years to run.

Personally I think that as long as you have a realistic plan to pay off a mortgage then as long as you can easily afford the repayments it doesn't matter. I used to be desperate to be mortgage free, but it all started to seem a bit poinless, scrimping and saving, not doing anything.

If you can afford to I would overpay, but not sacrificing holidays completely. It's a balance I think. I too had a period of real financial horror.

Reallybadidea · 07/01/2023 12:21

I think you would be better spending a bit of money on seeing a good financial advisor who can look at the whole overall picture and advise properly than asking randomers on Mumsnet.