Mortgage at 53

MWT

grayson said:

This is based on me retiring at 67. If I lie about when I want to retire, say 75 I get a larger amount. What issue may arise if I got the higher loan if I said I will retire in my 70s? Even though I have no intention? 

I would worry less about when you want to retire and more about when you will be able to afford to retire if you borrow based on a higher retirement age...

ian1246

Op - have you considered shared ownership? 

Use around £80,000 to outright buy a share (30-50%) of the property and then just cover the rent from your income (on the share you dont own). Any left over cash from your income plough into a pension (getting 25% top up from the government), whilst keeping the spare £10,000 from your divorce as an emergency fund.

This will have the advantage of giving you a fighting chance of not living in poverty when you have to retire, as well as giving you the flexibility to retire at an earlier age. If you can save enough in your pension, you may even find you can afford to buy out the remaining share of your property (benefitting from the 25% uplift in your pension from the governent).

More importantly: with that income I suspect you might be eligible for some support from the state - which includes the share of rent you'd pay on a shared ownership. When you retire, you'll be eligible for additional support (unless you've managed to accumulate a decent pension) - that additional support would include covering the rent cost....

Why take out a mortgage & fight what I suspect will be a desperate uphill battle to ever pay it back, one which by necessity will mean your own pension savings will be minimal due to any spare cash going on the mortgage... 

Jemma01

Don't strain yourself like that, can you buy a small flat instead that would fit 120k?

I'm really surprised that at your age you're only paid 22k per year? Is this a full time job? Can you apply for a job somewhere else? 22k is what a graduate with zero experience gets in a government job.