Retired — and still paying off the mortgage

[BrilloPad]

0.74% Interest Only Offset Mortgage for me. I own three properties, two rented out which cover the mortgage payments on all three properties & have all of the cash to pay them all off but in higher paying interest accounts/shares/ISAs/P2P companies & a massive pension pot.

I have a passive net income of 1.8k per month, contracting is just for the shits & the giggles.

Is that before or after the 2k a month you spend on pies?

[ChimpMaster]

Is that before or after the 2k a month you spend on pies?

"cream" pies?

That's a bad habit you got there MF

[Paddy]

MORTGAGE = DEATH PLEDGE: Latin words Mort-Gage Literally pay until your death.

[northernladyuk]

MORTGAGE = DEATH PLEDGE: Latin words Mort-Gage Literally pay until your death.

7/10. 'Gage' is of Germanic origin, not Latin.

[Brummie]

My better half is a highly qualified and respected financial adviser and pensions expert ...

What's her view on paying off the mortgage? Does she recommend paying it off or keep it going as long as possible?

[fool]

At each remortgage I reset to 35 years but overpay monthly the difference to a 20 year mortgage, so if I'm benched I won't need to panic about high mortgage payments and can just pay the lower amount

I took a 39 year mortgage or something daft overpaid 10% every year and now put the difference in an S&S ISA.

It's not necessarily a dumb thing, though I suspect most people with longer terms aren't in a similar situation.

[Whorty]

What's her view on paying off the mortgage? Does she recommend paying it off or keep it going as long as possible?

For our personal circumstance, paying off the mortgage was the correct decision. You should always look to clear the debt with the highest % rate first, and as we had no other debt the mortgage was the one to clear.

Since we cleared the mortgage we have built up a war chest of multiple hundreds of £'000s which sit in other investments. We can do this because every penny we earn now, once we have paid food etc, goes straight to the war chest.

We're low risk investors. But our low risk investments are going to allow us to retire 12-15 years earlier than most, have a couple of gap years, have some amazing holidays and be happy.

Unlike others though we don't have kids so don't have to worry about leaving money for those who outlive us. Once we retire, we'll be spending our money until the day we die - I'm hoping on my last day I'll be spending my last penny

[VectraMan]

MORTGAGE = DEATH PLEDGE: Latin words Mort-Gage Literally pay until your death.

German for mortgage is die Hypothek. I like the idea that paying it off is only hypothetical. Maybe that's why they all rent.

[Paddy]

7/10. 'Gage' is of Germanic origin, not Latin.

mortgage (n.) Look up mortgage at Dictionary.com
late 14c., morgage, "conveyance of property as security for a loan or agreement," from Old French morgage (13c.), mort gaige, literally "dead pledge" (replaced in modern French by hypothèque), from mort "dead" (see mortal (adj.)) + gage "pledge" (see wage (n.)). So called because the deal dies either when the debt is paid or when payment fails. Old French mort is from Vulgar Latin *mortus "dead," from Latin mortuus, past participle of mori "to die" (from PIE root *mer- "to rub away, harm," also "to die" and forming words referring to death and to beings subject to death). The -t- restored in English based on Latin.

Online Etymology Dictionary

[Brummie]

For our personal circumstance, paying off the mortgage was the correct decision....

Me & Wife took the decision to pay off whilst we were suggested by friends to keep it going as the interest rate is lower than personal loan rate. Wife did some maths and noted that we will be paying about £1.50 for each £1 over a period of time. This didn't appeal to our common sense.