Fixed rate ending soon...

lee111s · 6 July 2018 at 7:37AM

dimbo61 wrote: »

Well you sat on 3.99% for 5 years and can now get a new deal of 2.19 % fixed for 5 years so nearly half your current interest rate.
Sign up in the morning unless you have a spare £900 to take the cheaper deal with a fee.
Ask to keep your mortgage payment the same as you are paying now
Job done
A Mortgage is a marathon not a sprint.
Overpay as much as you can each month provided you have no other expensive debts

There should be some caveats with that;

Only if you have an emergency fund.

Consider increasing pension payments (it’s often more tax efficient).

deejaybee · 6 July 2018 at 8:03AM

Thanks for further input/opinions.

About to leave for work now, will update this evening, as some of the new points apply to my situation.

deejaybee · 6 July 2018 at 8:34PM

Have gone for the 3 year fix @ 1.99 ( no fee )

Regarding the overpay mortgage/increase pension payments question:

Now that i have sorted the mortgage out, i am planning to start a thread over on the Pension forum, where i will go into more detail..

But, briefly, i think i am between a rock and a hard place,

I am 58 later this year, and the mortgage is scheduled until age 70 - i dont want to be working at that age, but i accept that until mortgage is paid off, i have to keep grafting - so that points towards overpayment..

On the other hand, i havnt contributed to a pension ( apart from state pension) in the 8 years or so i have been (pseudo) S/E..
Myself and OH are on course for full SP, i have been taking a 2K a year pension since age 55 to build up rainy day fund, and will continue with that.. also have an approx 5K a year pension ( if no TFLS ) at age 65.

But i know they are kiddy figures compared to a lot of folks on here... i went thru a divorce in my 40's which knocked me back a lot financially..

So i am in a quandary whether to try to clear mortgage asap, or whether to improve my pension outlook with not too many years left, or try to do both ? I dont want to work till i drop, but dont want to be retired in poverty either.

My retirement age for SP is 66 and 7 months.

Potentially there is inheritance somewhere over the horizon, and also a recent tribunal decision has raised possibility of getting several years of holiday pay backpaid.

I am NOT including any of those in my outlook/calculations.

Sorry its a bit of a brain dump, hope it makes sense sort of ?

getmore4less · 7 July 2018 at 3:45AM

The end game needs both sorting.

With the pension route you convert the overpayments to a lump sum or into an income to cover some of the mortgage.

Crunch some numbers and see what you can do by say 65.

Another strategy is to start to budget current living at a lower level, this gives you an idea of you Low spend footprint(adjust for not working) and helps the saving pot if it is lower than current spends.

A rough guide is you need a pot of 20-25 times your spends, less if you use a zero sum draw down end game and a target date not too far into the future(fall back is state pension).

Thrugelmir · 9 July 2018 at 7:43PM

deejaybee wrote: »

But i know they are kiddy figures compared to a lot of folks on here... i went thru a divorce in my 40's which knocked me back a lot financially..

You are far from alone in this regard.

and the mortgage is scheduled until age 70

Age catches up with us all. For peace of mind and security I'd clear the mortgage first. After that make hay while the sun still shines.

Fixed rate ending soon...

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