Are there any down sides to paying off a mortgage?

[Canyoucheckonme]

Just that really. We've saved enough to do it now so seriously considering it.

But are there any negatives? (we're mid forties, two children).

The feeling of relief you feel once you've paid it off, is so worth it.

We paid ours off a few years ago - massive relief! FF some years DH unemployed and a carer for me now disabled. Probably would have lost our house if we hadn't paid it off then.

We paid ours off a few years ago. We had no intention of borrowing against it, had the money and it was a great decision for us. We just saved the money we were paying in to the mortgage so not much difference on a month by month basis but our savings have increased and we are finally earning decent interest on them so all good for us.

We know we are very fortunate in that we benefitted from low interest rates but we only have a modest home, we haven’t climbed the ladder beyond our average 3 bed semi but it suits us and it definitely is liberating to be mortgage free.

In terms of credit rating we do keep a credit card, paid off monthly and I use PayPal pay over 4 months from time to time.

Sorry to hear about your struggles now, and glad paying yours off early worked out best for you.

I'm not scared of a credit card as had them in my 20's (and then a bank loan to pay them off...!). Something to consider, esp for holidays due to the protection factor. Thanks.

I'd like to move to a slightly larger house in the next few years. I'm wondering if we'll still be able to get a new mortgage then, providing we're still both employed I can't see it being an issue (though convincing DH to get another mortgage will be another thing...!).

I e have been mortgage free for a while now.

WRT to credit - I buy alot on a rewards CC which gets paid off by DD every month. Also have a phone contract and British Gas home care too.

I recently put down a deposit on a car and went for the interest free credit (no brainer as Ive fixed the money at a good interest rate) and the finance went through no probs.

We paid ours off a couple of years ago. We save save the 'mortgage' every month. In order to have a credit score, we do now have a credit card. We don't use it every month, but use it for things like car services, holidays and pay it off straight away.

This month, my DH was made redundant. I can't tell you how much of a difference it has made to us knowing our home is safe and we can live off my salary in the short term, which we couldn't have done if we still had a mortgage.

Thanks for the reassurance, hope you enjoy your new car when you get it!

Just wondering if those who paid it off in their 40's kept it quiet amongst friends and colleagues, especially if they're renting/struggling? I'm definitely going to keep it a secret, but will find it hard to go along with the conversations about interest rates, mortgage payments and struggles etc

We paid ours off in August, aged 44.
No other debt & have savings left which we have already started to build up.
We’ve only told our adult son. It’s so liberating.

We paid ours off last year out of savings, I’m 48. It is liberating but it’s not freed up any money as such as we’re putting back the same amount of cash into savings for 2 years to top it back up. After that, dc will be at uni age so we might need those funds for something else. So no big wow moment for us.
We haven’t told anyone apart from my best friend.

We don't mention it. Just listen to them. Not all people divulge financials in our friendship groups - some are more open than others. We make broader statements such as 'we're very lucky' 'things have eased up a little for us' etc.

It was quite obvious when one couple paid theirs off - they always order steak now. They switched their spending almost overnight. one of them has reduced their hours too. Happy for them. They seem much more relaxed and looking back they worked their butts off to get there.

One gave us a blow by blow account as they were paying theirs off. Then her mum died and it got paid off which was sad

Everyone's different but be careful with who you share with. It's usually a sensitive topic and should have little bearing on your relationships.

Best thing we ever did - also mid-40s, two children. We’ve unexpectedly had to send our son to private school recently and there’s no way we could have done that with a mortgage.

No worrying about interest rates, no panic if one of us was made redundant. There’s a lovely sense of freedom in it.

My partner and my dd know. They both rent.

DD knows what it took to get there (the idea of having enough savings to pay off a mortgage in your 40's is mind blowing to me!) which was me working insane hours and paying it alone. She is happy for me and knows that although I am now secure, I am in no way "well off", just no longerever being at risk of homelessness.

Partner also rents (we live apart by choice) and is also happy for me and has a plan and savings towards buying his own place as he wants something tangible to leave to his kids. Also is utterly sick of the insecurity of renting.

Neither hold malice or expect anything from me as a result.

Amongst friends, most are vastly better off than me so of those that do have a mortgage its a lot more than mine was. I dont know for sure obviously but they all seem to want to get rid of them if they can and there is a feeling of "Oh I cant wait until that is us" if there is someone who announces that they have done it. Again, no malice. I have only spoken about mine to a couple of close friends. One asked how I did by 50 and I said that I bought a tiny house at 27 and never moved. He said that with hindsight, although he was keen to get up the ladder at the time because he saw the big house etc as an achievement, they would have a LOT more money and security now if they hadnt and could actually have early retirement as a realistic option instead of another 15 years of mortgage payments (which he told me about and they are more than I earn in a month!).

But then there are others I can imagine being very "Oh its alright for some" "Oh I am sure its Pyongs round, its not like she has rent or mortgage to pay!" which is why they are a) not close friends and b) not someone I ever share financial information with even though they VASTLY out earn me.

So I think you have to judge it case by case. I only told people I know I can truly trust, and in one case that included a close family member who would be thrilled for me but would also flap their mouth about it.

Not everyone has a huge mortgage. Ours was less than 10% of our income for the last few years and virtually interest free for the last 15 years of the term.

Paying it off made little difference to our lifestyle we now just save a bit more, and for a lot of the term it was making us a profit as we could save at a far higher rate. Then when things changed we just used savings to pay it off.

OP it sounds like you should pay yours off now. If you keep saving you'll build up a lump sum that will be available should you want to move or make other big purchases without borrowing.

Also get a credit card and use it for some of your normal monthly expenses like groceries or petrol and pay it off in full every month. Loads of reasons to have one, your DH should too.

Used correctly they're a payment tool with many other advantages that have nothing to do with being in debt or spending money you don't have.

One asked how I did by 50 and I said that I bought a tiny house at 27 and never moved

Indeed, obviously not the case now, but we're similar and for people like us, at the risk of sounding like a Viz Top Tip, you too could be mortgage free by 50 by living in a small house in an unfashionable area.

We just paid ours off as the interest was going up.

No regrets here , we live way under our limits and dh sounds like yours . Very cautious.

We saved enough to pay ours off a few years ago. We kept the savings whilst they were earning more than we were paying in interest but as soon as the position changed we paid off the mortgage straight away. Nobody likes having debt but when there is an advantage (borrowing cheaper than return on savings then I would use it)!

We did and it was a weight lifted, it feels like if anything unexpected happens the house is one less thing to worry about. Made me feel quite secure tbh. But I grew up in a house with a lot of debt so I always feel financial security is fragile.

I’ve never mentioned it to anyone other than my siblings (who were happy for me, we are all in different situations with pros and cons but all fine so no biggy).

Congrats on being almost mortgage free. I would check your credit rating. I haven't used any credit other than mortgage and mobile contract and mine went down. It wasn't bad but was a bit of a shock when it's always been at the top. I've started using my credit card again and it's going back up.

The only down side I can see is paying off a mortgage but having very little pension provision. In practice I think a balance between the two is sensible.

@Canyoucheckonme I haven't told a soul .. a lot of my friends are in social housing or private rent .

This is not going to make me popular plus it's private .

We inherited and paid ours off at 44. Never told anyone. It's been liberating.

Another thing to take into account when weighing up whether you would get a higher interest rate on savings than you are paying on your mortgage is that now interest rates are better on savings accounts you may end up paying income tax on the interest earned. I think at 40% for higher rate tax payers on interest over £500 and 20% for basic rate payers on interest over £1000.