MFW Newbie- need some advice

skyjumper

i have never posted on this particular forum before and I think it's high time as I have been lurking around MSE for some time now

I have Mortgage with HSBC life time tracker 5.79% (no Early Repayment fee or completion fee) and owe 48,500 on my repayment mortgage (i had made Overpayments almost every month and have reduced it this much). i have got savings which would come around 50K. was going to try for First Direct offset mortgage, but I thought I should ask for advice from the MSE MFW's before i make any move.

1. should I just pay off the mortgage? is that a good idea in this ?
2. I do have some cah for rainy days in cae something crop up in the next few months/years. so not much bothered abt putting all my savings against the mortgage.
3. it's a very nice feeling to think about being mortgage free, but a bit scary too, as i'll have to get used to not paying the DD every month.

any suggestions welcome

skyjumper

wow 24 views but no replys

i thought this was a forum where MFW discuss things

Optimisticpair

I could not advise you what is better for you because it has to be what suits you and appeals to you most .

I read Martin's articles on this site and had a ponder on the ins and outs for our circumstances. You might find it all very helpful too.

Frugal_Moose

I have no idea how to advise you chap but what a great position you are in. You seem to hear everyday about the repo's etc etc.

I suppose if you went offset then you could pay off big chunks every month with there being no interest accrued.

I have read elsewhere that you would need to earn 8.33% on your investments/assets (higher rate taxpayer) in order to gain against a mortgage with 5% interest rate. Hope that helps.

skyjumper

thanks optimisticpair and Frugal_moose for your replies

By God's grace I'm in a better position. But need to make the right decision now -whether to offset or not. tried asking a IMA and it was not of much use- tells me to Invest and then take out fixed mortgage as that would be better for me in the long run. I don't really understand the calculations and would like to go either offset or completely pay it off asap

thanks for the comments

dimbo61

Hi skyjumper
The life time tracker from HSBC at 5.79% is a good rate at the moment
so I cant see the point of paying all the costs to move to FD offset.
How safe is your job ? If you lost your job the benefits want to know how much you have in savings !
If you paid off your mortgage you could then invest in ISA,s ( shares !!! ) or other savings vehicles and having no debts to consider if you want to reduce your hours of work, take more holidays, change jobs etc without the worry of the mortgage each month.
The is the mortgage free board and most people want rid of there biggest debt.
Put the mortgage payment into savings each month GOOD LUCK

skyjumper

thanks dimbo61, that was quite encouraging.

that is the plan. left full time job, set up a LTD company, doing the same thing I used to do, only difference, I'm the Boss and I decide when and where I want to work.

cash flow not that grt- i'm not worried- but that's when i reralised a good part of my income goes out as the payment to the mortgage and the saving does not get much interest, even though with one of the highest interest paying savings account. decided to pay off with savings and then start again- that's the plan. as mentioned earlier, I do ahve some cash access for rainy days. the question is start an Offset with FD or just pay the whole thing off? I'm bit confused.