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The Long Road to Freedom

CashPoor_AssetRich
Posts: 2 Newbie
Hi all
Long time lurker - finally taken the plunge and signed up to share with you all my mortgage free goals as my wife is becoming bored of it! A bit about us;
Both early thirties
No children (hope that to change in the next couple of years)
Live on the South Coast
Current Mortgage Debt - £228,200
Current House Value - £440,000 (LTV Ratio 52%)
Both teachers (we therefore haven't been affected financially by the current circumstances and don't have the threat of redundancy like so many)
Combined Income - £4300 a month
We've lived very comfortably for the last few years and decided it was about time our money made more for us then just memories. Our current mortgage term has 27 years remaining and we pay £921 a month (fixed at 2.09% for another 3 years). We have started overpaying a minimum of £500 a month to hopefully reduce this term to 16 years, although I have a personal goal to have it paid off as close to aged 45 as I can and will be throwing any spare money I can towards it.
I've thought long and hard about whether to overpay the mortgage or pay additional pension, and in the end decided to do both! We already both pay into a teacher pension and have done since qualifying. However, the aim is to retire long before we can take this, hence the quest for financial freedom! I make a £300 a month payment into an additional private pension and a £333 a month payment into a LISA. We're both just about lower rate tax payers, but should either of us move into the 40% bracket i'll be paying more into the SIPP.
The mortgage debt seems so large to tackle, and I know we're lucky to have such a lot of equity, but I want it gone and I want it gone now. No doubt children will come along soon and put all my best laid plans into disarray, but better to start now and adapt if needed, instead of not starting at all. Happy to hear any tips or words of encouragement along the way! Right then, only 16 years to go...
Long time lurker - finally taken the plunge and signed up to share with you all my mortgage free goals as my wife is becoming bored of it! A bit about us;
Both early thirties
No children (hope that to change in the next couple of years)
Live on the South Coast
Current Mortgage Debt - £228,200
Current House Value - £440,000 (LTV Ratio 52%)
Both teachers (we therefore haven't been affected financially by the current circumstances and don't have the threat of redundancy like so many)
Combined Income - £4300 a month
We've lived very comfortably for the last few years and decided it was about time our money made more for us then just memories. Our current mortgage term has 27 years remaining and we pay £921 a month (fixed at 2.09% for another 3 years). We have started overpaying a minimum of £500 a month to hopefully reduce this term to 16 years, although I have a personal goal to have it paid off as close to aged 45 as I can and will be throwing any spare money I can towards it.
I've thought long and hard about whether to overpay the mortgage or pay additional pension, and in the end decided to do both! We already both pay into a teacher pension and have done since qualifying. However, the aim is to retire long before we can take this, hence the quest for financial freedom! I make a £300 a month payment into an additional private pension and a £333 a month payment into a LISA. We're both just about lower rate tax payers, but should either of us move into the 40% bracket i'll be paying more into the SIPP.
The mortgage debt seems so large to tackle, and I know we're lucky to have such a lot of equity, but I want it gone and I want it gone now. No doubt children will come along soon and put all my best laid plans into disarray, but better to start now and adapt if needed, instead of not starting at all. Happy to hear any tips or words of encouragement along the way! Right then, only 16 years to go...
2
Comments
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Welcome. It sounds like you have all your financial bases covered. Enjoy watching your mortgage balance go down and your pensions go up. It's a nice feeling.Mortgage start date Dec 2015 - $64,655.00
Mortgage end date Dec 2045 - NOT!!!!
Mortgage balance - $4600.00
Business Savings $43,310/100k
Hope to be mortgage-free by end of 20230 -
Welcome! It's a very friendly board and we all support each other on our journeysChoose kind1
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Welcome and good luck. Remember that the sooner you make an OP the bigger impact it will have (depending when interest calculated) so much better to do something now and like you say if you need to adapt because of children so be it.Mortgage Aug 2019 161,000 :eek::eek::eek:Nov 2019 156,500:T Jan 2020 153,122:T, Apr 2020 149,500, Apr2021 139, 675, Oct 2021 136,823, Dec 2021 136,120🙂EF 0/12,000 (0%)😕 (5062.44 was ERC), Jan 2023 128,650. Our Mortgage is never going to be as high as it is today. :jOnwards and downwards to a better life for our family. :jJust keep swimming1
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Welcome and good luck to you both! Regular OP will have a much greater impact than large one off payments as @longway2go has mentioned above! I am sure you will smash it! Look forward to reading your progress!Debt Remaining: £8,781.53
3 Month EF: £1,000/£4,494
2025 MFW Challenge #9: £999.00/£4,0001
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