When will interest rates rise?

pop_gun

there's more chance of the BoE lowering interest rates than raising them.
i suspect they won't rise in this parliament and most probably the next.

DervProf

RenovationMan wrote: »

I've seen so many people on the economy board make the claim that they are 'mortgage free', but they never mention how old they are (it's not so impressive to be mortgage free at 65), nor do they say what type of property they have (it's not so impressive to be mortgage free on a studio apartment), they never say when they bought their home (it's not so impressive to be mortgage free on a house they bought for £30k in 1990), finally they never say if they have a family (it's not so impressive to be mortgage free for a middle-aged child-free singleton or couple)

I'm sure that your case is different, so why dont you step up to the mark and let us in on those four vital bits of detail?

I have at least 20 years until retirement.

2 bedroom semi detached.

~ 1995

Child free and single.

Is that "impressive" enough ?

chewmylegoff

DervProf wrote: »

I have at least 20 years until retirement.

2 bedroom semi detached.

~ 1995

Child free and single.

Is that "impressive" enough ?

i'm not that impressed really. i would be more impressed if you had made up a story about having 7,000kg of silver in a shoebox under your bed, or better still that you had built a house out of pure silver.

DervProf

chewmylegoff wrote: »

or better still that you had built a house out of pure silver.

I was too modest to mention that.

DervProf

RenovationMan wrote: »

That's really strange because I'm 20 years from retirement and I bought a 2 bed semi in 1995 when I was single. I moved from there after getting married and having our second child. We were mortgage free on that house.

I never had enough income to buy anything bigger (not without taking quite large financial risks anyway). I always had very little ambition to "climb the ladder", I just wanted a decent roof over my head and some money in the bank to pay the bills and treat myself once in a while. I certainly didn't want to get the the age I am now, and have the "pressure" of debts to pay for the next 10 - 20 years. Sadly, the current generation will probably not have it as "easy" as I have. Still, I suppose many people thrive on financial gain - nothing wrong with that though.

DervProf

RenovationMan wrote: »

There is nothing wrong with having a low income DP or with wanting to secure your future.

No. And it's nice to know that I made the right decision(s).

Imagine though that you had met a lady and had children, perhaps your would have had to climb the ladder regardless of your income. You would then have to have the 'pressure' of debts whether you wanted them or not.

Without getting into personal details, I made sure that that I didn't have the pressure of debts. I know people who do have those pressures, and it isn't nice.

Not everyone who has a mortgage is a debt junkie, they are just people who are trying to get on in life and do the best for their families.

Not everyone, that is true. However, I have met quite a few who I class as "debt junkies", and they really don't seem to have a grasp on the value of money, or any real control over their personal finances.

hillcats

We are 35 / 38 and have two children who are 7 & 11 towards the end of this year. (2011)
We are now in our second and forever house where we intend to stay as it is plenty big enough for the four of us.
4 Bedrooms 2 Bathrooms & driveway big enough for 2 cars (We only have one.)

We are enjoying and maximising our benefit of the low rates on our tracker as we are still paying the original amount at 6% before the rates dropped meaning large chunks are being paid off the capital every month.

Interest rates: We will NOT take risks with the family home and we expect and have planned for the Interest rates to rise at some time (Anyone would be a fool not to) but expect the rates to rise extremely slowly to test the water of how the economy is coping with the increases etc but I think we have to pay for this mess somehow and expect rates to eventually go above and beyond the previous normal levels which is why we believe it best to have minimal mortgage debt possible if rates are going to rise...

DervProf

RenovationMan wrote: »

Looks like we both made the right decisions in life.

My decisions were based on a target of my current age (I have no target for later in life).

I might be mistaken, but I think you have taken decisions based on ~20 years from now. You won't know if they are the right decisions until 2 more decades have passed.

DervProf

"Bank of England + 0.19% Tracker Mortgage (IF OFFSET) Discounted for Three Years (Sept 2007-2010) then increasing to Bank of England + 0.62% for remainder of mortgage term (2027)"

Cracking deal, as long as there are no significant exit charges. :T

hillcats

DervProf wrote: »

"Bank of England + 0.19% Tracker Mortgage (IF OFFSET) Discounted for Three Years (Sept 2007-2010) then increasing to Bank of England + 0.62% for remainder of mortgage term (2027)"

Cracking deal, as long as there are no significant exit charges. :T

No exit charges at all.
We are now outside of the 3 year tie-in and the rate has increased to +0.62 there is not even a MEAF at the end, I made sure I got that tied in when HBOS removed it from all of their brands back in 2007 when we took the mortgage.

We very much doubt we will ever change this mortgage...