Pay off Mortgage - Jam tomorrow?

sue_balu

Hi MSE'rs
What do you think?
DH and I are in our fifties with an o/s mortgage of £112k and a house worth £250k. We have 14 yrs left to pay.
We dont have any kids or dependants.
Should we overpay the mortgage in order to pay it off before retirement - we have reasonable pensions due - or use the money to enjoy life more now before we are too old/ill?

We were always brought up to think of debts to be paid before spending on fun but recent bouts of ill health has made us question this wisdom.

What would you do?

looneyleo

Why not do a bit of 50/50? Pay off some but enjoy the rest? That way you can get the best of both worlds. life is about balance and you are just like me...probably don't where the balance is!

Moonbeam

I agree with looneyleo - why not up your payments a bit to your mortgage, but without putting a strain on having some of the fun things in life. That way hopefully your mortgage will be paid off a bit quicker, but you'll still enjoy yourself....:j

watcherman

In my opinion there has to be a balance.

I am sure we all have similar stories to relate, but with a friend of 40 who has just relapsed with Leukaemia and another friend who out of nowhere had a perforated bowel over Xmas and spent 10 days in a coma, with no certainty of coming out of it, I say do a bit of both.....

You have to budget and plan to live to 80, but you don't want to have any regrets if it is any less than that....

ScoobieGirl

Depends on how serious your ill health has been. (I'm not asking for details). If there was more than a 10% chance that I might not live to retirement I would enjoy the money now.

Also I would be less inclind to pay it off if I or my partner had insurance that paid my mortgage off if the worst was to happen.

savingpennies

Me and DH are in similar position: he's 51, I'm 49 with 14 years left on mortgage. We are overpaying each month and aim to have it paid for in 9/10years but could do it much earlier if we wanted to. But with several relatives dying before they retired and friends who have died in their forties, I want to 'bank' some memories before I'm too old or too infirm.

goonlord

watcherman wrote:

You have to budget and plan to live to 80, but you don't want to have any regrets if it is any less than that....

I think this is one of the most sensible things I have heard for a long time and put very succinctly.

Thanks for making it so clear!!

I have been really keen to make my overpayments as big as possible but a friend has just been diagnosed with cancer at only 27 and it does make you realise that you are not as indestructible as you might think. No one can guarantee they will live to see the benefits of all their hard work.

So I agree with the other posters - if you can pay off your mortgage quicker without significantly compromising your quality of life, do it. But finding the right balance is key.

Lazy_Runner

Just to play devil's advocate:

How happy will you be when you pay off the mortgage?
I personally would be ecstatic.
Once you are happier, how much will your quality of life improve?
How will the lives of those around you improve as they see you happier?

The reason I am a DFW and a MFW is I took the attitude that my personal happiness was more important than being financially prudent.

[/devil's advocate]

sue_balu

I agree a balance would be best, however, there never seems to be enough money to get that balance right.

I veer between the two extremes each month it seems!!

Perhaps I just have some level of guilt - guilty of wasting my "life" by not cramming it with enjoyment or guilty of still having a mortgage at my advanced age (52).

Thanks everyone for your views.