Would you take on a big mortgage at 50

[Neverknewidfindmyselfonhere]

Hi so I own my own house and after 12 years together we are finally ready to buy a joint home. The next size up from my 3 bed is a further 250k. I'm now getting jittery if we should take out such a large mortgage as we are so old. We can afford it fine but will just be less designer clothes and brand new cars so I'm just wondering what others think and whether I should think again. After reading other posts about how your 50's seem to be all about declining health etc I'm now worried. We are fit and healthy just now with no plans for early retirement. Thanks

We have paid off our mortgage but quite happy to take on another mortgage with the correct property.

No Im out enjoying life not saddled with a huge mortgage !

Are you able to get a big mortgage, because I can't get one at 55. and YES is answer to your question, if I could, I would. You can downsize later if it's wrong size/duration commitment then.

On the basis your children are about to leave the nest, I would say it's an unnecessary expense.

I had to take on a mortgage at 50 once the financial agreement with ExH ended- I needed a 4 bed house for our kids to call home - will be paying it until I’m 67(pension age) and it takes 1/3 of my take home pay. When it’s up for remortgage in Nov 24 gos knows how much it wil be if interest rates keep going up😢 x my advice is don’t do it unless you can see into the future

Christ we started a business aged 55 now we are almost 60 and happily retired just about to move to a bigger house.

50 isn't old these days. The leader of the feee world is old!!!

However I can't really see why you are moving in the first place

If it’s what you want, do it. I wouldn’t think twice. 50 is no age. And if for any reason things change, your money has gone into a valuable and saleable asset, rather than clothes and car depreciation.

I find MN as a whole tends to be quite pessimistic about age. Remember seeing someone posting about buying a new flat at 50 and being told it was good because it would be “convenient for the hospital now you’re older” 🤷‍♀️ May as well have said convenient for the crematorium 😭

Ultimately it depends on what makes you happiest and depends on your overall finances. Some people might be maxing out their ISAS or £40,000 per annum and making permitted pension contribution, have money spare to move. Moving is then a good investment as you get capital growth, no CGT on sale and can downsize in 20 years time. Also when the kids move out having a lodger could be good company. The alternative is to deposit money with a financial adviser with a 1% fee per annum and unless in an ISA or pension wrapper yearly tax. Others will be barely breaking even and the mortgage will significantly change their lives. Others might receive large inheritances in the future and decide to move beforehand. It’s all subjective.

I find MN as a whole tends to be quite pessimistic about age

God - I know! Every third poster mentions the menopause or asks the OP "are you peri?" 🙄

And if you or anyone you know has a moment of absentmindedness it's the onset of dementia.

I'm not waiting to die - I want to spend the last 20 years of my life not having to work to pay off a mortgage. These decisions are personal but we all have to decide what kind of future we want.

50 is so young, go for it.

DH and I did when we were both very early 50s though it was around half what you are suggesting. We had previously paid off a mortgage but took this one out to make up the difference between what we sold our previous house for plus some savings, and what the new one cost us. We were initially given a 14 year term which was affordable for us but when we changed mortgage company it was extended by a year. At the time we still had some endowment policies taken out years before, that ended within the next few years and we have also since received an inheritance that paid a good chunk off. But we figured we could keep paying anyway till mid 60s if we needed to. It's kind of annoying to go back to paying a mortgage but it is a good investment.

Just read your kids are pretty much grown up. Ours were still at primary when we bought our place. It's been great to have a bigger house through the teen years and we are in no hurry for them to move on, but in your situation I don't think I would. Though we do see it as an amazing investment - we could release a ton of money by downsizing if / when we need to.

I took on a bigger mortgage at 42. Twenty years.

i love my new house - can easily afford the mortgage and plan to work until I am 65 (all being well).

it’s a four bed - and I am single no kids. People made comments about the house being too big for me etc - but I love it and use all the space.

if you are comfortable with the repayments why not live somewhere that you live!

some people on mumsnet seem to think we should all live in Two bed bungalows and have our mortgages paid off by the time we are forty! That is absolutely fine for some - but I have another twenty years of work to go and my home is what I want to spend my money on (and clothes and travelling!!)

We did this. As a background I am 49, DH is 54. We were effectively stuck in our previous house as foolishly we had taken an interest only mortgage on our house (lots of reasons I won’t go into) we only had a few years left before the balance was due to be paid (and we had no means to pay off the mortgage). We also had rather a lot of debt (loans, credit cards etc) through financial mistakes and bad luck.

Truthfully I never loved our old house and it wasn’t big enough for our teens. So, we sold
up, used the equity to clear our debts and put down a sizable deposit on a house which was more suited to our current needs. Yes we took out a mortgage later on but have a shortened term and it’s repayment so at least everything we pay now is paying off the capital. We also didn’t borrow anywhere near what we could have borrowed based on affordability.

was this what we had planned in our 20’s? Nope. Do we feel cross with ourselves that we got it so wrong? Yes!! but we are happy where we are now and if we have to sell up we have plenty of equity in the house and could easily afford to downsize if needed

it’s not for everyone as you can see from the responses on the thread but it works for us

Paying off your new mortgage is based on both of you working- presumably full time - until state retirement age. Just because people are living longer, it doesn't necessarily mean they are any healthier and this could be an issue if either of you get any health conditions in your 60s, or decide you want to do something less stressful or reduce hours.

I'm 53 and when we paid our mortgage off last year, it was an immense sense of relief that our house is actually ours.

As others have asked, is there scope to increase size of existing property?

We took on a £320k mortgage after being mortgage free, in our 50s. Also needed a lot of work. Fortunate we fixed for 5 years just before rates went up. We are planning to pay it off by the time we are 58 with some savings….

it was a good move for us…. Also we may well move again in our 60s, for a bigger garden.

Financially it would be more sensible than new cars and holidays.

Depends if you need/want to retire earlier - you might have to downisze earlier if something goes wrong but so what?

I posted above. I'm certainly not an old fifty something. Not wanting to take on a big mortgage doesn't make me elderly, living in Tudor times or thinking I'm near the end of my life.
Exactly the opposite.
I've done my bit, provided as a single parent, for DC’s to adulthood, worked without any break to service, in fact I have the same contract, unbroken since I was a newly qualified teacher, 34 years ago. I work in a senior public sector role, long hours, pressure.

Savings and no debt gives me freedom and choice. I can DO WHATEVER I CHOOSE. ( for the first time ever....). I can change my job and try a less pressured role. I can leave.

In the plans, 6 months in Europe, a long visit to family in Australia, time to rent a big house in the UK to get the family together.
Cash purchase of a family holiday house so that we can spend time together. Cash to buy a house to renovate and sell on. Time to rent in a favourite UK city, experiencing city life.

It is exciting, loads I want to try and do. It wouldn't be happening with a huge mortgage to pay.

We did exactly this a couple of years back, for the same reasons...previous divorces / houses sold in settlements / four kids between us so needed a bigger house.

If I think too much about how much we owe I do feel slightly sick but I was paying loads in rent, and it is an appreciating asset etc and at some point they will fly the nest and we can downsize.

Can you not extend your current house & future proof for energy costs (solar, battery, upgraded insulation & heating, rainwater harvesting, upgrading appliances to AAA rating etc. Thus saving a few £k on EA fees, moving costs, solicitors & stamp duty? Then decide if you downsize to smaller or move area to similar but cheaper when you approach 60/65/retirement

We have just done it but a little younger (late 40s). I don't regret it but do want to pay off the mortgage asap. It does feel like a burden. If we had stayed in our old house we could have been mortgage free by now. However we both love the new house and will stay there long term.

As I edge towards 50 I can see the merits in early retirement or at least taking a step back at work. So ideally we would have the mortgage paid off by the time we are 55--57ish. That will give us more flexibility.

Although 50 is young to some with my family history I wouldn't do this. Mum was showing signs of dementia mid to late 50's. Her parents died before 60 etc. I can see for someone with no reason to think they won't be hearty and hale for a while longer that the enjoyment of that home would be worth it.

Yes, 47. Currently owe £460k on the mortgage. Will move in the next few years and up the mortgage again. We currently have approx £700k equity so could easily move somewhere cheaper if we needed to. It’s equity building as far as I am concerned. Not intending to live in this house for the rest of our lives, or even in this country.