When do you think you'll be able to retire from paid work?

[coollino]

But it's not true, is it? We will own our house (paying it off early), and importantly before we eventually leave this world it will go to our children.

My father did the same with us. The problem now is they're offering these 35-year mortgages, which means many people will be paying it for most of their lives.

Instead, I'd recommend a bit less disposable income throughout the early years, and it'll be paid off much earlier.

We have a mortgage, paid a big deposit so we'll probably pay it off fairly early but there are a lot of downsides to mortgages/home ownership I think - it's just the way it is in the UK

If there was a well regulated renting system, I'd be happy to rent. There is so much more freedom to move around, and I can't even imagine the amount of couples that probably stay together unhappily because of a mortgage. But with the way it is here at the moment, I'd hate to rent all my life - obviously showing my privilege a bit here

 

[Baines' left foot]

Have you not read the last four pages of this thread? It has been an interesting read; lots of different answers, and lots of different circumstances. Mostly apolitical so far, and that has been a refreshing change.

It's all about politics. The point at which you can retire is determined by economic factors, of which this current government have deliberately sabotaged solely for their own gain. Many people will be making the difficult decision between having a family and being able to retire at all.

It'll be interesting to see how your type reacts when the economy is struggling even further down the line due to decisions made by these crooks. There's not nearly enough tax paying human resource units being spat out, and you'd better believe it's the fault of young people.

 

[blue61]

Thought you said next year??, I was only wondering if you had the letter about working so many months after 66 instead of going to 67

Sorry, it was a play on the song 'when I'm 64'. I've not had any such letter, I'm 64 in July 25.

Edit, the cut off date is March apparently so no early retirement.

 

[blulouie]

But it's not true, is it? We will own our house (paying it off early), and importantly before we eventually leave this world it will go to our children.

My father did the same with us. The problem now is they're offering these 35-year mortgages, which means many people will be paying it for most of their lives.

Instead, I'd recommend a bit less disposable income throughout the early years, and it'll be paid off much earlier.

Paid our mortgage off over 5 yrs ago.
It's a massive weight off our shoulders and gives us the extra monthly money to do things we couldn't while paying it.

Probably the best thing we could ever have done , I can't imagine going into retirement still paying out monthly for accommodation. I think we are very fortunate to be in this situation btw.

Plus it's a great investment to leave for our kids.

 

[tonyhorne]

We have a mortgage, paid a big deposit so we'll probably pay it off fairly early but there are a lot of downsides to mortgages/home ownership I think - it's just the way it is in the UK

If there was a well regulated renting system, I'd be happy to rent. There is so much more freedom to move around, and I can't even imagine the amount of couples that probably stay together unhappily because of a mortgage. But with the way it is here at the moment, I'd hate to rent all my life - obviously showing my privilege a bit here

Renting is no longer cheaper or indeed easier in many locations. I have no regrets about the financial and other (too strong a word coming up but I can't think of a better one) sacrifices that have been involved. We have moved all over the country whilst servicing a mortgage.

The relevant point for me is that there is not a well regulated rental system and we have to deal with it.

Personally, I wish I could have afforded to buy two houses. As things have turned out (and I agree this is not well), I would be sorted for a pension too...

 

[PhilM]

Paid our mortgage off over 5 yrs ago.

Probably the best thing we could ever have done , I can't imagine going into retirement still paying out monthly for accommodation. I think we are very fortunate to be in this situation btw.

Plus it's a great investment to leave for our kids.

This is my biggest concern for my children. All being well, I'm going to get a fairly decent pension, as is my wife, but we wouldn't want to have to rent forever.

Again, we're fortunate to be able to do this, and I feel sorry for our children as the affordability is becoming more difficult, but it is possible.

We have a mortgage, paid a big deposit so we'll probably pay it off fairly early but there are a lot of downsides to mortgages/home ownership I think - it's just the way it is in the UK

If there was a well regulated renting system, I'd be happy to rent. There is so much more freedom to move around, and I can't even imagine the amount of couples that probably stay together unhappily because of a mortgage. But with the way it is here at the moment, I'd hate to rent all my life - obviously showing my privilege a bit here

There definitely are downsides, and as you say renting does come with positives. But personally, the UK renting market is not one that I think truly benefits renters.

With our previous house, we had rented a house in the same street before buying. The rent was circa £790 a month for a fairly nice house in a popular area.

My wife and I were fortunate enough to buy a house of a similar standard AND do a loft conversion, and the mortgage for this over thirty years was £453 a month.

Admittedly, we had a decent deposit (like yourself) which helped and interest rates were low, but we were paying £337 less each month tied in for ten years.

Within a few years, the same house we had rented was available for close to £1,000 a month. We at this point were still tied into our comfortable £453!

If you're not looking at moving regularly and are happy to tie in, a mortgage wins each time as the money is going as an investment, like @Alanbileysfeathercut said.

Yes, I have to pay for the upkeep as the owner, which is an additional cost, but in our case that will likely (hopefully) never meet what we pay for our mortgage.

Houses in our area often go for between £1,200 - £2,500 per month for rental, and we pay nowhere near that for our mortgage, and even with rises we won't.

 

[Lao]

Retired 4 months ago. Luckily we paid off mortgage 4 years ago, so outgoings not too steep now. Absolutely loving it so far. I would definitely recommend putting whatever you can into a pension though, the more you put away when you are younger the earlier you could potentially retire, and be comfortably off while still relatively young.

 

[RAFUH]

It’s tough in the US because you have to figure in healthcare costs. You have to be 65 for Medicare so that limits most people’s ability to retire before 65. I am in the rare position of being able to keep my health insurance. Mortgage is paid off in a few years. I would love to retire at 60.

 

[Groucho]

Well?

Not sure I’ll ever be able to but hopefully 67 latest.

 

[Ducans elbow]

Pulled the plug when I was 62, Canada pension kicks in at 60 here and a decent pension from my 30 years at Canada post made it possible

 

[Joey66]

Only the lucky ones make it

I'm a lucky one - but worry about my children's chances in the future.

 

[wm02]

Hopefully around 62 or so. My wife and I have five kids, so by then all the kids will be out of the house. If my health allows at that time, I’ll probably get back to my non-profit roots and mentor disadvantaged students again.

 

[Littlesue]

Sorry, it was a play on the song 'when I'm 64'. I've not had any such letter, I'm 64 in July 25.

Edit, the cut off date is March apparently so no early retirement.

I'm 64 9th April so miss the 66 by 4 days but now they saying I can go at 66 and one month instead of 67

 

[sdk]

I'm on the common American life trajectory of "work until no one will employ you and then transition to daily tours of local dumpsters in search of food."

 

[Littlesue]

Council renting is great though, £290 a month for my one bed flat. Brand new boiler and central heating last year new roof next year. Much prefer it to all they years I had to keep re mortgaging to pay for repairs.