On this website, I find alot of people searching for: “how to pay off your mortgage early” I can understand both the motivation and reasons for seeking to pay off your mortgage early. There is a post here:
However, in my personal circumstances I decided the best course of action was to increase my mortgage term by as much as possible. Not many people advise this, usually we are encouraged to pay off our mortgage as soon as possible. People often ask me why I extended my mortgage term; these are my reasons for extending my mortgage term.
1. Reduce Monthly Payments.
This is the primary motivation for extending mortgage term. I was paying £830 on a £140,000 mortgage. I now pay about £85 a month less. The main problem is that £830 was a very high % of my disposable income. After taxes and necessary bills, it is close to 55% of disposable income. This is a result of getting a mortgage 7 times income.
2. I want to Work less Now, not retire at 59
People often have a motivation to reduce their mortgage term so that they can retire early. If you pay off your mortgage early, maybe it will be easier to retire at 60, rather than 65. However, my primary objective is to work less now, not when I am 60. As a hobby I enjoy cycling. I enter races and sometimes win. If I can work less now I can have more time to train and fulfill my potential as a cyclist. When I am 60, I doubt I will still be at the peak of my cycling career. I don’t understand why people wish to kill themselves working for the first 20 years of there working career just so then can retire early. The best years of your life are now, not in 30 years time. Work can be addictive, and I want work to have his proper place and do as little as possible. (I work as an economics teacher and luckily can choose how many hours to work – I get paid per hour of teaching)
3. I wish to retire from work in 10 years time.
If I have lower mortgage payments I can work less hours as a teacher and spend more time, not just on cycling, but also on building websites. These generate income which hopefully will enable me to replace teaching with website work. If things go to plan my websites will give a sufficient income in the future to be able to retire as a teacher. Thus having a longer mortgage term is actually an investment. I am using the income saved to work less and instead, spend time cycling and working on alternative income sources.
4. It will be easier to pay off mortgage payments in the future.
Assuming constant interest rates, the real cost of mortgages will stay the same. Assuming my income rises faster than inflation, mortgage payments will decline as a % of income. Therefore, even if I am still paying a mortgage 35 years hence, it will be a small % of income and much easier to pay than now.
5. The End is Nigh.
Who knows the world may end before my mortgage term? Here I am joking, because I’m not a believer that the world will end; it just reflects my preference for placing a higher priority on enjoying myself now, rather than planning for the future. This really comes down to a personal preference. If people get joy out of paying off their mortgage early, who am I to suggest otherwise? This is just an article to explain my personal preferences. I doubt I will regret it, even though I know the total interest payments will be much higher.
And, by the way if you see me in the Tour de France, just remember the benefits of a 50 year mortgage term 
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