50+ Mortgage free wannabe, any advice?

Freyagirl

Read quite a lot of posts but most people seem to be quite a bit younger than me (56). I am divorced and have a mortgage of £105k which at the moment is over 15 years. 30k is interest only and I should have the money to pay that back in 2011, I really want to pay off the mortgage early but not sure what the best way to go about it is. Trying to save wherever I can and have done all the things like switching providers, checking insurance etc. Should I start saving in a savings account and when it hits a certain level (£500) pay that off the mortgage or what does anyone advise. I'd say think carefully about getting divorced it seriously damages your wealth!

tootallulah

I am 50 and took on a mortgage of £174000 over 15 years on my 50th birthday. I am working hard to pay off my mortgage early so that I don't have tp work until I am 65. I took on a mortgage where I could make overpayments of as much as I want whenever I can. You need to find out from your mortgage provider what you are allowed to do in the terms of your mortgage. I make a regular overpayment of £300 per month and then cobble together anything else that I can. If I continue at this rate I will pay the morgage off in seven year sand eight months.
Over paying is addictive but I do do it instead of saving (I am rubbish at saving and very good at paying the bills).

ailuro2

Realistically I'd feel you want to be mortgage free in 9 years, so you can use any pensions and lump sums to enjoy your retirement.:beer:

If you have money spare then ask your bank/BS to set up a permanent overpayment every month to your mortgage account. We started off at £50 a month, then increased it once we stopped noticing the extra payments. We now overpay £200 a month and don't miss it.

It also depends on the interest rate on your mortgage, if you can build up a bigger mortgage payment pot by stashing it in ISAs or other safe savings accounts that pay (after tax) MORE interest than your mortgage chages, then you can end up gaining more that way.

Little amounts build up to make a big difference, even a few pounds here and there now can save you days, months or even years of interest in the future.:D

Welshlassie

You should check what your mortgage company will allow with overpayments. Some companies will only let you pay upto a certain amount, or overpayments have to be over a certain amount. Some only let you pay at certain times of the year.
It would also depend on how your interest is calculated, if it is daily then as soon as you make the overpayment it will effect your interest, monthly interest the overpayment should be made just before the interest is calculated and annual interest best bet would be to save up the overpayments in a high interest account and lump the accumulated amount off a few days before the annual interest calculation.
Your best bet would be to call the mortgage company and ask them how they do it, no chance of a mistake being made then.
Good luck.