What would you do in this situation?

kempiejon

It's a trivial risk but being mortgage free does increase the risk of having your property stolen. It is more difficult to steal a mortgaged house. Perhaps a low mortgage is worth considering?

https://www.gov.uk/protect-land-property-from-fraud
You can track changes to the register or put a restriction on your title if you think you’re at risk.
You can sign up to get property alerts if someone applies to change the register of your property, for example if someone tries to use your property for a mortgage.

ZeroSum

LHW99 said:

ZeroSum said:

Paying off mortgage & leaving yourself very little in savings probably isn’t the best thing. Mortgage rates are still relatively low, my mortgage provider is offering rates that are lower than I can get in savings. Too many people have this idea that all debt is bad when it's more about the cash to debt ratio & how much you're being charged for your debt vs interest earned on cash. You can make debt work for you also (see stoozing)

Although there is definately a psychological boost when a mortgage is paid off!

Massive anti climax when I paid my first one off. 2nd time around I've kept a modest amount ticking along, which keeps my credit file healthy which is needed for stooze offers. Once you have no debt it's difficult to get the best credit offers. I would say just reaching mortgage neutrality is just as good feeling knowing that you could pay it if you wanted to but choose not to.

LHW99

ZeroSum said:

LHW99 said:

ZeroSum said:

Paying off mortgage & leaving yourself very little in savings probably isn’t the best thing. Mortgage rates are still relatively low, my mortgage provider is offering rates that are lower than I can get in savings. Too many people have this idea that all debt is bad when it's more about the cash to debt ratio & how much you're being charged for your debt vs interest earned on cash. You can make debt work for you also (see stoozing)

Although there is definately a psychological boost when a mortgage is paid off!

Massive anti climax when I paid my first one off. 2nd time around I've kept a modest amount ticking along, which keeps my credit file healthy which is needed for stooze offers. Once you have no debt it's difficult to get the best credit offers. I would say just reaching mortgage neutrality is just as good feeling knowing that you could pay it if you wanted to but choose not to.

Although having made 5 moves with 6 mortgages over 40+ years, finally getting the last one paid off before retirement was definately not an anticlimax for me

ZeroSum

LHW99 said:

ZeroSum said:

LHW99 said:

ZeroSum said:

Paying off mortgage & leaving yourself very little in savings probably isn’t the best thing. Mortgage rates are still relatively low, my mortgage provider is offering rates that are lower than I can get in savings. Too many people have this idea that all debt is bad when it's more about the cash to debt ratio & how much you're being charged for your debt vs interest earned on cash. You can make debt work for you also (see stoozing)

Although there is definately a psychological boost when a mortgage is paid off!

Massive anti climax when I paid my first one off. 2nd time around I've kept a modest amount ticking along, which keeps my credit file healthy which is needed for stooze offers. Once you have no debt it's difficult to get the best credit offers. I would say just reaching mortgage neutrality is just as good feeling knowing that you could pay it if you wanted to but choose not to.

Although having made 5 moves with 6 mortgages over 40+ years, finally getting the last one paid off before retirement was definately not an anticlimax for me

But if you have the balance of the mortgage in the bank, what difference does it make. The net effect is the same, just paying it off reduces your flexibility.

ItchyScratchyShow

HI ZeroSum, I think that is a great idea if you are good at handling debt, however I have proved to myself I am not. I am by nature an irresponsible spender and I find it too easy to slip into 'paying later' for instant gratification. It's a big flaw on my part! The only way I have been able to clear everything was by an all or nothing approach. I don't necessarily want good credit deals in the future and, if they're expensive, it may make me think twice about getting them in the first place.

Probably doesn't make sense if you're a sensible spender.