My Interest rate gamble pays off again!

wotsthat

I'll be along at about age 55 with a good wind. There's plenty of things I'd prefer to be doing but a number of them aren't compatible with a low income.

dryhat

I said I didn't like working hard. And I don't.

I paid it off by working, but not necessarily hard.

And as soon as I was in a position to stop working, I did.
But I had already positioned myself for it by having zero debt and decent savings.
I figure by the time I'm eligable for my occupational pension in a few years time, that will feel like a massive boost to my income rather than a drop in income.

MFW_ASAP

dryhat wrote: »

I said I didn't like working hard. And I don't.

I paid it off by working, but not necessarily hard.

And as soon as I was in a position to stop working, I did.
But I had already positioned myself for it by having zero debt and decent savings.
I figure by the time I'm eligable for my occupational pension in a few years time, that will feel like a massive boost to my income rather than a drop in income.

What is your house worth and where is it (region)?
How much was the mortgage you cleared and what were the interest rates?

chucknorris

Being 'mortgage free' is a worthwhile milestone without a doubt, but it doesn't tell you much without the detail. I remember when I moved to London with the intention of buying a house in 1990, my parents thought that I was mad selling my 2 bed semi (mortgage free) house in Newcastle and buying a large 3 bed terrace house in Balham with a very large (at the time) mortgage. Even when I explained to them the logic of what I was doing, they still couldn't understand because they were obsessed about being 'mortgage free' and could not see beyond that. Net worth is more important than being 'mortgage free', maybe some people don't feel secure even when they are in a good position because they worry about debt too much, there is nothing wrong with 'manageable' debt such as a low LVT mortgage.

vivatifosi

I agree with that chuck. Here we are working hard to be mortgage free. It is the right thing for us and we want to have the house fully paid up long before retirement. DH's health scare last year also reinforced that.

However I also appreciate that may not be the way for everyone. I admire MFW_ASAP for his grit and determination in buying the farmhouse as what he wants from life, I also admire dryhat for being mortgage free at 47 (I would love to be in that situation). It's just a shame it is so bl**dy adversarial and that there's only seen to be one right way.

I suspect if board regulars met up at a pub rather than being keyboard warriors they'd have a laugh over a pint and realise that they have more in common than different, even if that commonality is based around frequenting a sub-forum that most people don't know exist, let alone care about.

wotsthat

vivatifosi wrote: »

I suspect if board regulars met up at a pub rather than being keyboard warriors they'd have a laugh over a pint and realise that they have more in common than different, even if that commonality is based around frequenting a sub-forum that most people don't know exist, let alone care about.

I often wonder what a poor Bangladeshi might make of this forum where the difference between houses being 4x or 4.5x annual income is seen as life or death or the plot of a previous generation.

Not knocking it - living in a rich stable democracy allows us the self indulgence to argue about minutiae.

MFW_ASAP

vivatifosi wrote: »

I suspect if board regulars met up at a pub rather than being keyboard warriors they'd have a laugh over a pint and realise that they have more in common than different, even if that commonality is based around frequenting a sub-forum that most people don't know exist, let alone care about.

I have this mental image of the 'regulars' on this thread sat around a table, with me mentioning how chuffed I am that I was able to buy my dream house and that I wanted to blitz my mortgage ASAP before rates go up, then having some random guy in the pub (who has never 'sat' at our table before) come running over, shout "I don't have a mortgage!!" then run off as fast as his legs carry him to his mortgage free maisonette. He then sits on the kitchen/livingroom floor hugging his legs and giggling to himself "Ha! That showed him".

We laugh to ourselves at the weird interruption, sup up our pints and wish each other good night and I wander off down the road, climb over the stile into my fields, jump over my little brook and walk into the farmhouse, leaving my muddy boots to dry out next to the range and join the family in the East Wing. I forget to be concerned that some random bloke in the pub is mortgage free whereas I'm not.

chucknorris

vivatifosi wrote: »

I suspect if board regulars met up at a pub rather than being keyboard warriors they'd have a laugh over a pint and realise that they have more in common than different, even if that commonality is based around frequenting a sub-forum that most people don't know exist, let alone care about.

I suspect that you are right, however there was one previous forum regular that I would certainly be pushing to see if he would be so obnoxious face to face. Can anyone guess who I'm talking about?

vivatifosi

chucknorris wrote: »

I suspect that you are right, however there was one previous forum regular that I would certainly be pushing to see if he would be so obnoxous face to face. Can anyone guess who I'm talking about?

Probably, but it's better just to have people like that on ignore. Though that is definitely easier on a forum than in a pub.

grizzly1911

vivatifosi wrote: »

I agree with that chuck. Here we are working hard to be mortgage free. It is the right thing for us and we want to have the house fully paid up long before retirement. DH's health scare last year also reinforced that.

for being mortgage free at 47 (I would love to be in that situation). It's just a shame it is so bl**dy adversarial and that there's only seen to be one right way.

Don't blame you - way to go.

47 was a good age for me too.:)

It is horses for courses though and we all have our own ideas, aspirations, wants and needs.