Mortgage or Travel In 20's

HannahRebecca

Hi Everyone,

I was hoping to get some advice as i've had mixed views on this and can't settle on the right answer just yet.

Myself and my partner are currently 21 are are looking at mapping out our future plans a bit more. We have worked out that if we put all of our efforts into saving for a mortgage we can do this in just under 4 years including all legal costs which is great however this would mean we don't get to go on holiday or travel anywhere in that time.

I've worked out that if we delayed saving for a year we would be able to spend a few weeks in Florida which would be amazing before we had such a big commitment like a mortgage to worry about.

I wanted people's views as to if the mortgage should be first priority of if we should get out and travel a bit before getting into a long term mortgage.

Any views will be helpful!!

Mallotum_X

I had no paid for holidays in my early 20s, just went to visit friend and family instead.

Saved up and bought first place at 25. Looking back (im 39 now) I'm really glad I made that decision.

From those frugal habits I was able to pay off a bit extra on the mortgage and was mortgage free just over a year ago. (Move house to the current on ten years ago)

I was fortunate that my partner and I have both had good career progression which helped with the overpayments, and good holidays agin once we were settled with the house etc.

If you can get a place at what is now a very young age to be a ftb then you are unlikely to ever regret it.

Holidays are good but look to have cheaper alternatives for now.

DaftyDuck

A few weeks in Florida now may well equate to not retiring early for a year or more....

Only you can decide. After all, taking the time for some fun may cement your relationship, and combined earnings mean you retire (happy) two years early.

Florida: Everglades or Florida: DisneyWorld?

Paully232000

Whilst the sensible answer would possibly be to save up as much as possible and get a mortgage as soon as possible, to therefore pay it off asap.

However, my partner and I didn't get a mortgage until we were in our late 20s/early 30s, we didnt have children, we went travelling to fantastic places, including a year travelling around the world, and a couple of 3 months around europe.

Even though this curtailed buying a property earlier, I wouldn't change it for the world, what experiences we had that are not available now, having two children, mortgages, nursery bills and all the other things having a mortgage and children come with. We still go on holidays now though.

All I would say is don't rush into something you may regret in years to come, you may have a house payed off by your 40s, but at what cost to other aspects of life, and you may come to 40 and say I wish I had done this, that and the other.

weeblesim

Hi OP,

I know all about your dilemma, my partner and I had the same thoughts! We are now 27 and 28.

We actually changed our minds, we were originally looking to buy a house with 10% deposit, when we were 24/25. However the purchase fell through, it also needed a lot of work. There was little on the market in our price bracket at the time. We looked at over 40 houses and none of them were right for us.

Subsequently we decided to rent a flat for 9 months and during this time went to NYC and Florida. After this we ended the lease on the flat and backpacked around SE asia for 2 months. Our jobs had good career progression and allowed us unpaid leave to do this.

When we arrived back home we were looking to rent again but wanted a house this time, but found the fees and deposit insanely expensive. There were also some houses for sale on the same roads as the the ones to let. We spoke a number of banks and found that we could get a mortgage with 5% deposit.

So in the end we spent half of our savings on travel and half on a deposit. The house we bought needed a lot of work, but it was worth it. We now have about 15-20% equity in the house since doing repairs and cosmetic work. We didn't feel like we missed out on anything. Personally if we had gone ahead and bought the first house we would both still be itching to travel.

Do what is right for you and your partner!

Out,_Vile_Jelly

To me, travelling is one thing, a holiday is another.

My parents married young, bought early and paid the mortgage off early. They're financially comfortable, but are spending their retirement driving to and from my elderly Nans who are increasingly frail and demanding and a constant worry. My mum has always encouraged me to do the things she never had a chance to; go to university, work abroad, live in London etc even if that meant not earning much in my 20s.

I would personally say it's worth spending a year of your early 20s doing something fun and carefree, as you really don't know what kind of commitments (kids, job, ill parents) you're going to have later.

Good luck whatever you choose.

sgun

Does going to Florida count as travel? Or is it just a nice long holiday? Either way you are only delaying for a year so enjoy yourselves while you can.

Certainly people who have "travelled" find they can enhance their CV, broaden their life experiences and become more rounded human beings. In my company having "travelled" is seen as a real benefit especially if you have done voluntary/charity work along the way.

Not wanting to put a downer on this but who knows what will happen in the next few years, I'm all for having fun when you can and not regretting missing out down the line when you're older. I had a great fun time in my 20's and now at 41 have just about paid my mortgage off too.

ReadingTim

It depends on whether you feel the memories of whatever holiday you've been on will sustain you once the tan's faded and you're faced with another year or more of crappy landlords, parasitic letting agents, lost deposits 6 month ASTs and magnolia walls.

dannim12345

I've been lucky enough to be able to save and holiday/travel, but I did live at home for years after uni.

Still for me though; I'm not settled down and I do not have kids, I would rather go on amazing holidays then save more right now. I feel like this is the only time in my life (well until maybe I retire or have grown up kids) that I will have the money and lack of commitment to do this. However I do not spend money on expensive watches, clothes etc. Just my opinion though.

ruggedtoast

When I read "travel" I thought the OP was going to refer to some meaningful experience, rather than a 2 week holiday in America.

In my late 20s I spent three years in Asia. Half that was spent travelling around spending money I had saved, and the other half was spent working. My savings from that were enough to set me up when I returned to the UK.

My main regret is that I didn't do it earlier. It did set me back in my career in the short term on returning, but ultimately put me on a career trajectory that has worked out very well.

I wouldn't swap the experiences of those 3 years for anything.

As far as the science goes, there are some very interesting longitudinal studies that show that paying for experiences is a much better use of funds than paying for objects.

Participants were asked to record expensive purchases and rate how important they were to them, at the time.

People who chose to purchase expensive objects like designer watches, furniture, or electrical equipment, rated their purchases as extremely important to them psychologically at the time. However they could barely remember even owning those things 10 to 20 years on when asked about them. They also rated them as having virtually no impact on their life.

Those who bought experiences however, holidays, travel, bungee jumping, elephant rides etc, not only recalled the experiences very well decades later, but the more time passed the more of a formative influence they attributed them to have had on their current lives and personalities.

That said, I wouild pay quite a lot not to have to have the experience of renting again.

Rambosmum

As a 32 year old who always said 'I'll buy a house and then go travelling' I say travel travel travel!

We never got to do it, bar 2 weeks honeymoon travelling round Thailand and a week in new York.