paying off what you owe

[stevewool]

hi all just at home paying some bills and thinking i am bored with my mortgage, i am lucky in a way i dont have that much debt. i would love to pay off the mortgage quicker and i am, i have knocked off 3 years so far and i am hoping to pay it off in another 3 years time, but wish it could be quicker, the problem i am having at the mo do i pay a lump sum in may when i come out of my fixed term, i want to fix it again for 2 years at around 4% but pay it in 3 like i said. i know many say you must have savings but to me the mortgage to be payed quicker then all can go into savings, i think i have made my mind up but sometimes its nice just to talk about it,

[Dedworth]

Paying off the mortgage was one of the best things I ever did, gave the one before a serious dent by overpaying.

[Englishman2010]

Steve, have you thought about a current account / offset type mortgage? A quick example, if you have say £30K savings and a £30K mortgage, the savings offset the debt which means you dont have to pay any interest. Therefore if you were paying say £500 PM before into your mortgage and carried on paying that into the savings part of your mortgage you will end up payingthe debt off much quicker, and retain your savings. There is a lot more to it than that, and ultimately you should seak professional advice from a fully qualified Independent/Whole of Market Adviser.

I wish I could pay my mortgages off, I'll be about 250 yrs old when mine are all cleared

[gWaPito]

I wouldn't worry about it Englishman. Home ownership is not the be all and end all. My ex ex father in law made a big deal about paying off his at 45. He was in the ground 65. You cant take it with. I think we are one of very few countries who make it a life long obsession, me included. You go to France or Germany, its the opposite, renters rule.

[Terpe]

Steve, what is the interest rate on your mortgage. (no need to say)
What is the interest rate on savings.
Where is the biggest bang for your buck?
That's where to put spare money right now.
Get it paid off! You know it makes sense

[Terpe]

No offence gWaPito, but what are you suggesting?
Put any spare cash into a savings account at 0.5% and keep paying interest on the mortage? or pay off the Mortgage?
In these days, those people who can reduce their debts are doing just that rather than tucking away their dosh for almost no gain, and with nearly 5% inflation that won't go away any time soon.
It's not about renting.

[stevewool]

like i said i am lucky really after being married before twice it was my 1st wife that cost me so much , the second one well i came out of that fine just lost half my pension to her, but i brought my home 3 years ago this may , 60,000 mortgage over 10 years and today i owe 34,000, yes i have been over paying and i hope to be under 55 and our own home then we can start to look at the phils,each to there own i say, we are all differant lets just hope we all get there in the end

[gWaPito]

Terpe, Englishman said, after giving all that sound advice to steve, that it would take him until he is 250yo to pay off his house. Of course you put any spare money into your debts which includes your mortgage. What I did mean was, dont kill yourself to pay off your mortgage early. Commonsense, dont you think? I am a home owner, so are many here. Our kids are or will not be so lucky. We are a dying breed. There lives will go on, they will have children get married, be happy. All im saying is, home ownership is not the end of it. I wonder how many will lose there homes in later life to pay for health care? then still get the same health care as the guy in the council house. We were lucky to be born in an era when banks lent and money was cheap. Now our children and our childrens children have to pay for our extravagances. Woe woe and more woe

[Englishman2010]

Terpe, Englishman said, after giving all that sound advice to steve, that it would take him until he is 250yo to pay off his house. Of course you put any spare money into your debts which includes your mortgage. What I did mean was, dont kill yourself to pay off your mortgage early. Commonsense, dont you think? I am a home owner, so are many here. Our kids are or will not be so lucky. We are a dying breed. There lives will go on, they will have children get married, be happy. All im saying is, home ownership is not the end of it. I wonder how many will lose there homes in later life to pay for health care? then still get the same health care as the guy in the council house. We were lucky to be born in an era when banks lent and money was cheap. Now our children and our childrens children have to pay for our extravagances. Woe woe and more woe

I agree with you to an extent Gwap. I was off course joking when I said I'll be 250 when I've paid my mortgages off

There has to be a balance between clearing your debts and ensuring you have enough to live comfortably for today too. As you said, you can work hard all your life and drop dead at 65, and you can't take it with you. I'm trying to enjoy my life as much as I can while I'm still young enough and fit enough to do it. Of course my mortgage gets paid and It should be paid off when I'm 60, but I'm not going to worry about paying it off sooner. Any spare cash I have now will get spent on my kids, my holidays or just generally having a nice life today.

It's all very well having a nice house paid for, but when the cash is tied up in equity its not quite so easy to access. You can't go to tesco's and pay for your groceries with a couple of house bricks.

The only time any equity in my property will be a concern to me is when I eventually decide to sell up and buy something smaller. The surplus cash will then be good time money for my retirement.

[Dedworth]

I wonder how many will lose there homes in later life to pay for health care? then still get the same health care as the guy in the council house.

Or the same healthcare as a so called "asylum seeker" jumping out of the back of a truck in Dover

[somebody]

One of the best things I think I did was not buy the next house up in the rat race. About ten years ago I bought cash a small flat when prices in the area were low (50 percent less than now even with the recession etc) at its peak maybe its was worth a few tens of K (more a lot of reasons why our flat has not been affected to much mainly due to location and the area being far better than ten years ago for many reasons).

The flat is small and cramped but having saved like crazy am still wondering if we really need a bigger place in the near future at least in the UK that and not bothering with a motor (hire or loan one from work as needed) OK practical living in London but I guess out in the sticks not so easy

With Interest rates almost certain to rise due to inflation taking off I would definitely be paying all I could I had of any mortgage and im guessing probably a good idea to get a fixed rate deal with very uncertain times ahead.

I think somehow Mortgage rate increases will beat the savings interest at least in the short term..

[gWaPito]

The doom merchants (news papers) have been predicting interest hikes for ages, whats that saying, if you throw enough of it, some will stick. I cant see it myself, people are not spending in the high st They been taking Terpe's advice and putting it in the mortgage. If it happens it happens. I agree Ded, even Johnny foreigner gets a slice of our cake and they weren't even invited.

[somebody]

The doom merchants (news papers) have been predicting interest hikes for ages, whats that saying, if you throw enough of it, some will stick. I cant see it myself, people are not spending in the high st They been taking Terpe's advice and putting it in the mortgage. If it happens it happens. I agree Ded, even Johnny foreigner gets a slice of our able.

There are members of the MPC itching to push up the rates more than paper talk it seems. So certainly something to bear in mind.

Plus as we know politically the government know they have been hurting a large core of its older voters who depend on interest rates being higher as can be seen from the Murdoch channels article tonight..

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Bus...nd_MPC_Meeting

Of course if Interest rates rise the pound should gain strength while not saying an intrest rate rise is good or wise now or in the immediate future for the UK and its people. At least for the members on here it may well have some good news

[gWaPito]

The interest drop worked out well for me. It came at a good time. I was able to be with my wife in The Philippines for a total of 16 weeks over a 10 month period. The exchange rate wasn't clever but, it was still worth it. I agree Somebody, interest rates will rise, sure as eggs are eggs. When, is the question, that we dont know.

[Arthur Little]

TBH ... I've got Thatcher to thank for the situation I'm in NOW. And I'll tell you why:-

I was fortunate enough to be offered a brand new council house in 1968 ... a mere 4 months after I'd married for the first time. My *mother-in-law had been widowed the previous year and, being severely disabled with rheumatoid arthritis, *depended on her only daughter to care for her. So - for the princely sum of £3,000 - she sold the small detached bungalow she'd bought with her late husband in the mid 1930s for something like a few hundred quid, and took up residence with us.

Financially, this move proved to be a disaster for her ... and, in turn, us ... as the 1970s saw the beginnings of the "property boom" that quickly gathered momentum - continuing unabated to the present day - the upshot being, that the same property nowadays would sell for at least £200K.

By the time she died in 1985, the was left virtually penniless ... since the proceeds from the sale of her house had been used to pay for the residential care she latterly required.

So where does Thatcher fit into all this? Well ... in 1990, my first wife and I had been renting our house for 22 years. And with our two children having both grown-up, we decided to take advantage of the Conservative Government's 'Right to Buy' scheme. Accordingly, being council tenants over such a long period, entitled us to a proportionately substantial discount.

Sadly - as many of you know - my first wife died barely a year later. But I stayed on ... resisting the temptation to sell-up ... my mortgage came to an end several years ago and here I am still ... more than four decades later. For ME, at least, things have turned full circle. , Maggie!

[imagine]

TBH ... I've got Thatcher to thank for the situation I'm in NOW. And I'll tell you why:-

So where does Thatcher fit into all this? Well ... in 1990, my first wife and I had been renting our house for 22 years. And with our two children having both grown-up, we decided to take advantage of the Conservative Government's 'Right to Buy' scheme. Accordingly, being council tenants over such a long period, entitled us to a proportionately substantial discount.

i never believed that council housing should ever have been sold for the same reason they were built, also splitting housing estates up like that ,a mix between bought and rented, doesnt help the ease of maintenance of the rented ones,
i have previously worked for council for direct works , housing and seen the diference ,

even with my belief as others were buying well i joined the band wagon, it wasnt quite the beutiful big victorian house i had previously which my ex stripped from me, but its a little palace i done a lot of work in it , had a good discount also pre paid a modest lump sum off , which gave me small mortgage, now owing just under 12,000. i wouldnt mind paying it off completly, but then id have no savings at all

[joebloggs]

i never believed that council housing should ever have been sold for the same reason they were built, also splitting housing estates up like that ,a mix between bought and rented, doesnt help the ease of maintenance of the rented ones,
i have previously worked for council for direct works , housing and seen the diference ,

yes i agree they should never have been sold off, massive shortage now, many people have to live with family and friends or rent privately and pay nearly double in rent , and have little chance of buying becuase you need minimum of 10% deposit but you be not to have if you were offered it at a massive discount..

i've just got a council house, its in such a state it will be weeks b4 we could live in it, it took 8 months to get it, i was offered 2 others but turned them down, and i was lucky becuase of circumstances, but i pitty those who are on the waiting list

maybe most people are not aware you actually bid on a house, and depending on your ciricumstances and how long you've been waiting that decides on where you are in the queue. most i bid on had 50-90 other people bidding, some people could be waiting many years

[imagine]

yes i agree they should never have been sold off, massive shortage now, many people have to live with family and friends or rent privately and pay nearly double in rent , and have little chance of buying becuase you need minimum of 10% deposit but you be not to have if you were offered it at a massive discount..

i've just got a council house, its in such a state it will be weeks b4 we could live in it, it took 8 months to get it, i was offered 2 others but turned them down, and i was lucky becuase of circumstances, but i pitty those who are on the waiting list

maybe most people are not aware you actually bid on a house, and depending on your ciricumstances and how long you've been waiting that decides on where you are in the queue. most i bid on had 50-90 other people bidding, some people could be waiting many years

good to hear you got your house , you will be looking forward to moving in and having your house warming
strange way for deciding who gets housed

[gWaPito]

It was the same for me Arthur. I took up our Margaret's offer, it was too good to refuse. With the big discount I paid 35.000 for it. I sold it 2yrs later for 125.000. That was back in 93. some will be shaking there heads in disapproval as it wasn't the purpose to make money out of these houses. The conservatives will always have my vote

[Arthur Little]

some will be shaking there heads in disapproval as it wasn't the purpose to make money out of these houses. The conservatives will always have my vote

Wouldn't worry about it Mark ... without such a policy, many decent, hard-working ordinary folk - like you and I - might never have been able to afford to join the property market.

[gWaPito]

Too right Arthur.

[imagine]

yeah at least theres something to thank maggie for

[stevewool]

we all have to live still and enjoy ourselves as ian says, my life has increased 100% with emma here and with her working too that is a bonus, so we intend to use that bonus and pay of our mortgage quicker and that will suite our lifestyle

[gWaPito]

I hear what you are saying Steve but, i remember when I was off work sick and Jane was still working. She would get pead off with me because while she was working, ' i would be playing on the computer' as she put it. The money she was earning was hers to spend as she pleased, as well. Like us, they have feelings. Still I wish you both well. Joe, there was nothing wrong in selling the crown jewels (council houses) What was wrong was what they did with the proceeds. Same with the railways. The governments only have a max of 5 years in office, there incentive is short term. They are not bothered about 10 years down the line which is where the problems lay. No body is made accountable apart from the hand wringing at question time. Fat lot of good that is.