Raid my ISA to pay off earlier?

Diddidi

Hi - looking for some advice/opinions....I have a £50K mortgage left (down from £264K at its highest) and £50K in ISA savings. Am overpaying by £2K each month and will be mortgage free in 2 years at my current overpayment rate. Am wondering whether to cut that down to a year by taking half of my ISA savings to overpay for the next 12 months? I can't do a lump sum payment with my mortgage terms - only overpayments. Currently am getting 2% interest on my ISA and pay 1.79% on my mortgage - so on paper I should stick to my current payment plan. But I want to look at reducing my working hours due to slight ill health and the desire for more leisure time - and the thought of waiting 1 year is more appealing that 2 years I definitely won't cut my working hours until the mortgage is paid off. Thoughts? Anyone else in the same boat?

^!£$&

Providing you don't have to pay any hefty ERC I would pay half off now through overpayments. On paper you may be slightly better off waiting but I really believe your health and wellbeing are worth alot more than ££££. Also have you considered the costs you will save associated with decreasing your working hours/ days ie travel costs/ lunches etc...

P.S. congrats on your achievement

edinburgher

Agree with snowbrow re. avoiding ERCs - I'd OP as fast as humanly possible - your health is non-negotiable

It's also worth noting that you could get more interest on your cash elsewhere (S@ntander 123, TSB, regular savers etc.)

greent

Whilst sometimes it makes more financial sense to have the savings if they earn more than you're paying out in interest, nothing can beat mental peace and health, nor physical. If reducing your savings improves this I'd go with it

Diddidi

Thank you all for your responses - I think I've made my mind up.... no ERCs according to the paperwork I have so will give HSBC a call tomorrow. And yes... there is no price on peace of mind

nearlyrich

The only thing is you can't put it back into an ISA yet and the tax free status might be more valuable in the future...although mortgage free living has it's advantages too.