What should be the average age of being MF

rfowler

What should be the average age of being MF?

Am 31 and still got 24 years left on my mortgage but am hopefully making loads of over payments so that should bring it down

lincoln-potter

There is no average, obviously the earlier you start the better but everybody has different circumstances and restrictions. So long as you have your own goals and can keep to it in the long haul thats what matters the most.

SeriouslySeekingtoSave

You can't set a time; I'm 36 and I've just gotten my first mortgage, obviously it is going to take me longer to be MF than it would have if I'd been working towards it from my early 20's. I'm a bit late to the financial freedom fold. And then, my first mortgage is very unlikely to be my last.

wynnvegas

Morning rf,

As much as the other people are right about individual circumstances and such, I think aiming for a benchmark helps a lot of people. When we got our mortgage, I had the notion of being mortgage free by 40. I'd certainly like to think that anyone taking out a 25-year mortgage should be looking to clear it in a maximum of 18 or so years.

There's nothing to stop anyone setting a timeline to work to - it was certainly a massive motivator for me. Whether it's 25 months or 25 years, doing a decent and detailed SOA and sticking to it as much as possible will give you an estimated end date. Taking into account the good and bad things that life chucks in and interest rate fluctuations adds a wee bit of guesswork but there are people who are working to a 100 month target which at least shows some light at the end of the tunnel.

Cheers,

Billy

getmore4less

Mortgage(also debt) free is part of retirement planning.

For some they do mortgage, then save

Some do bear equal repayment ands save with a target date.

Some do long term interest only debt and save more, using the savings to pay of the mortgage(eg pension lump sum).

rfowler

wynnvegas wrote: »

Morning rf,


There's nothing to stop anyone setting a timeline to work to - it was certainly a massive motivator for me. Whether it's 25 months or 25 years, doing a decent and detailed SOA and sticking to it as much as possible will give you an estimated end date.

Billy

Sorry what is a SOA?

wynnvegas

Hi rf,

It's a Statement Of Affairs. They're most predominantly found on the Debt Free Wannabe MSE Board but it's a useful exercise for everyone and anyone to run through to reduce or eliminate unnecessary spending. http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html is the most commonly used link.

We thought we were doing not too badly but, after completing a detailed SOA, we realised we were wasting around £800 a month which, when it started going toward the mortgage allied to the normal payments and overpayments helped speed up the process of becoming mortgage free no end.

Cheers,

Billy

fozzeh

getmore4less wrote: »

Mortgage(also debt) free is part of retirement planning.

For some they do mortgage, then save

Some do bear equal repayment ands save with a target date.

Some do long term interest only debt and save more, using the savings to pay of the mortgage(eg pension lump sum).

:hello::hello::hello:

I'm 26 with £88k on a mortgage (£36k 0% loan too, as an "interest in property") and want this cleared by 55. The mortgage was set to finish after then (35 years from age of 21) and we've already knocked £7k off it in 4 years and the first 5 are the hard ones (currently on interest only as house is being let).

Once mortgage is done and I work to pensionable age (probably 18/20 years), saving £300pcm is a nice £72,000 bonus to have!

MyMFDream

I'm aiming on as close to 40 as I can, my partner will be 37. We are doing a 3 way plan of mortgage clearing, savings and pension planning as it suits us better. We would both like to retire at 57/60 so mortgage being as clear as possible 20 years before that is essential.

adwat

Hi rfowler

I have always hoped to be mortgage free by the time I'm 40. This seems to be a fairly common ambition. These days though, with people taking out 30 or 35 year mortgages and maybe starting a bit later because of the ridiculous costs now involved in housing, maybe this will become less common. I think that most people still pay off their mortgages in about 15 years but again this may change unless prices start coming down.

mfwin2019

We aimed to be MF at 40 & we were ........

Then we saw our dream house, so sold existing house & took out £70K mortgage over 19 years with our existing equity to buy it, then a year later took out an additional mortgage of £120k over 25 years to extend & totally refurbish it. If we left this to jog along on its own we would be 66 before our mortgage is cleared, hence belonging to this challenge.

We have 2 young children so need to balance life & fun with mortgage repayment but would be happy to be mortgage free at 55 (2022) but as you can see from my MSE name I am aiming for what at the moment looks totally unrealistic 52 but you never know what you can achieve if you don't try.