Planning to retire but still have a mortgage?

By John Cossons, Mortgage & Protection Designer with Anstee & Co.

Are you retired, or planning to retire, and concerned that your current mortgage fixed rate is coming to an end?

With the rise in energy costs and general cost of living you may well be concerned that when your current mortgage fixed rate ends you won’t be able to afford the increased payments.

What option do I have?

What are your options? Well, you may be able to sell the house, downsize and repay the mortgage but is this really what you want to do? Is now the right time to sell or is there another option?

If you are aged 55 or over, you could consider taking an Equity Release lifetime mortgage to repay your existing mortgage.

Equity release loans allow you to pay what you can afford and vary your payments if your circumstances change. The interest rate is fixed for life, and you are not required to make any payments however as any unpaid interest is added to the loan and rolls up many people choose to pay all or some of the interest if they can.

You could also use this to help with the increased cost of living as there is an option to take a lump sum in advance and then draw down additional funds as and when they are required. You would only attract interest on the funds released now and any further drawdowns would start to attract interest, at the prevailing rate, when they are taken.

How Anstee & Co can help you plan your retirement.

If you are considering your financial options but are unsure about how they may impact your financial future, we can help. We at Anstee & Co. are Independent Financial Advisers which means that the financial advice we offer is unbiased.

The initial meeting is at our cost, so why not contact us today? A meeting can be arranged at a time and location that is convenient for you.

Our expertise covers all aspects of financial planning including pensions, investments, and mortgages.

If you have any thoughts on this article, “Planning to retire but still have a mortgage?”, then we would love to hear from you.

Finally, the information contained in this article is for information purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Anstee & Co. is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

These products are lifetime mortgages or home reversion plans. Equity released from your home will be secured against it.