Mortgage Meanderings

WhencanIretire?

Hi everyone,

I've been on this forum as a lurker for a long time...when I tried to register recently, my email was apparently already in use - when I eventually got into that account I had a 7-year membership award! No recollection of setting that up!

I've decided to set up a diary to document my mortgage-free journey, as I've seen over the years how it can spur people on to freedom. It's been my "plan" to retire by the time I'm 45 (or at least be winding down) since I started proper full-time work. I've named this mortgage meanderings as I know to retire paying off the mortgage is not enough, and I also need to get my pension sorted, and to invest. There will be various changing of plans as we go, so please bear with! Also, I think I remember someone else with the meandering in the title so have to apologise if I stolen someone's name!

So some info about me and the mortgage. I live with my bf of 6-ish years in our recently purchased flat. I earn roughly £30k and he around £18k, we split the bills, food etc. but keep separate accounts. Bf understands why I want to overpay and the need for budgeting, though probably isn't quite as into it as me. I had mad plans to live off one of our incomes and overpay/invest the other's salary, however I found out I was pregnant in September (16 weeks already gone) so with my income dropping substantially from Feb/March, that plan will have to wait until next year. We'll see how it goes.

The flat was £152,000 which we've bought with a deposit of £42k (equity from my previous flat) and mortgage of £110k at 1.99% over 25 years. We put offer in at the end of May and only managed to get the keys on the 2nd November. The old owner left it in a bit of a state so we stayed with bf's parents for about a month while we did some decorating and moved in at the start of last week. Still a bit of decorating to do (some small jobs, some big - massive leak in the kitchen from flat above, which will need re-plastering when its all dried out - aghh!).

We've payed our first months mortgage payment of £465.77 last week, so just 299 payments to go. Set up internet banking for the mortgage this morning. When I logged on the balance ended in £14.15, so have transferred that over as my first over-payment. Every little helps!

I've just realised the time, need to get ready for work. I'll be back with an SOA on the weekend.

Cheers all xx

A_Frayed_Knot

:wave: Welcome - a shiney new diary.

Excellent way to start . . . always have your balance ending at 00.00 :Tand congrats on your wonderful news.

edinburgher

Congratulations on your news. As parent to a toddler, your lives are about to change forever

Retire by 45? That's a wonderful aspiration! What are your plans, it's unusual to see folk on normal wages planning for (very) early retirement.

I had hoped for 50, but then we moved house after the birth of DD. Also on normal wages, so always looking to swap ideas

selloptape

Congratulations, new home and family, sounds like exciting times ahead

bexster1975

Hello and welcome

A very ambitious aspiration. I think it can be done on normal wages however. It depends what you want. If your wants are small, and you work hard to reduce essentials ( like the mortgage) over time, then at least scaling back work at 45 is possible. ( I will say, I am not yet 45 and have done it - so know it can be done). I am working part time whilst working the rest of the time developing a passive income. This should mean at some point I can pay all bills and more without working directly at all. I would like to do this within 5 years, but we will see. I am now self employed only, and earn enough to live comfortably working currently about 17 hours a week.

Many congratulations on your news too.
What would you like to do once you are " retired" at 45? If you really want to actually stop working, some type of investment vehicle will be needed. I applaud your idea, it just seems wrong to flog ourselves for 40 plus years to have a couple of healthy retirement years, if we are lucky.

Good luck

Bexster

beanielou

Happy shiny new diary

A_Frayed_Knot

Just read all of the above posts, and it has just struck me,

£30K + £18K = normal wages ? , Wow !!, wow - I am way, way, way under "normal wages"

Can I just say that with that sort of income coming in then your monthly mortgage payment is very low, which gives you every chance to o/p each month, funding allowing.

bexster1975

Poor AFK!

You'll be free soon enough....

Bexster

edinburgher

A_Frayed_Knot wrote: »

Just read all of the above posts, and it has just struck me,

£30K + £18K = normal wages ? , Wow !!, wow - I am way, way, way under "normal wages"

Can I just say that with that sort of income coming in then your monthly mortgage payment is very low, which gives you every chance to o/p each month, funding allowing.

It is normal, yes! Median UK wages (fairer measure than average) for 2017 would be £57,200 for a couple. Mrs E and I are just shy of that as she's currently working p-t and we find it hard going at times.

Rough figures suggest that retiring as a couple on £48k would have required a savings rate of 32% per year for 27 years assuming OP started working at 18. That's damn hard work. Probably would need to be higher as well as a lot of the savings will need to be in ISAs, as they would have decades to bridge until pension time.

It's also very unlikely that OP and partner went straight to their current salaries, so harder work still (unless there were a few windfalls).

A_Frayed_Knot

edinburgher wrote: »

It is normal, yes! Median UK wages (fairer measure than average) for 2017 would be £57,200 for a couple. Mrs E and I are just shy of that as she's currently working p-t and we find it hard going at times.

Rough figures suggest that retiring as a couple on £48k would have required a savings rate of 32% per year for 27 years assuming OP started working at 18. That's damn hard work. Probably would need to be higher as well as a lot of the savings will need to be in ISAs, as they would have decades to bridge until pension time.

It's also very unlikely that OP and partner went straight to their current salaries, so harder work still (unless there were a few windfalls).

Hope you are taking note of all this OP
I thought I lived and earned a normal life, but according to figure above - I'm way off.
I don't know whether to laugh (I did when I saw a normal wage figure) or cry - how on earth did I manage it :eek: I have 1 more payment to my mortgage and I will be MF so all in that will be 6 years and 9 months to go from MF to MFW to MF on an abnormally low wage, if I can do it, then anyone can

Good Luck "whencanIretire" you are starting young with a normal wage, so gather as much info as you can and put it all to good use, you are in the midst of the wealthy info land.

A_Frayed_Knot

bexster1975 wrote: »

Poor AFK!

You'll be free soon enough....

Bexster

Your right, "poor" in every sense of the word :rotfl:(I think, not)