Paying off mortgage

WGG1848

I will be able shortly to pay off my mortgage, £20000. with an investment which is due to mature giving me £25000.
Some time ago a friend who found himself in a similar position, was told 'you can never spend a brick!'
What was meant by this, if I get the gist, is what the point in living in a house fully paid for, if you can't put your hands on a few pounds when needed easily.
I am considering letting my mortgage continue and investing the £25000.
Sound thinking or not?

simpywimpy

I recently paid 10k off my mortgage and now, I'm wondering why? I could have done something nice with it.

The other side of the coin is can you comfortably afford your mortgage as it is> If so, why not save it in case you decide to do something. There are some favourable rates around at the minute.

DawnW

On the other hand, a mortgage free property in the current economic situation would seem a huge advantage. It depends what you do with the money as an alternative, I suppose. If you spend it on holidays etc and then end up being made redundant, that is obviously not a good thing (and I actually know of people who have done just this sort of thing). If you put as much as possible in a cash ISA and the rest in a high interest savings account, you might be in a good position. My personal preference, if i were in that fortunate situation, would be to pay the mortgage off. I am from the generation that sees mortgages as just another debt!

AlwaysPondering

I guess it depends on what you feel you are likely to want/need money for in the near/short term future.. If I've understood correctly, if you paid the mortgage off you'd still have £5k left..

If you are wanting say a new car next year at £10k, I would imagion that the interest rate on your mortgage is less than what you could get for a car loan (although I have seen some that are offering 0% over4 years), so having some cash could be worth it... else better off paying off the mortgage..

That's my thoughts anyway.. all the best..