This article was published on 9 September 2021. Some information may be out of date.

Managing your mortgage

  • Survey: Half people with mortgages are ahead on their repayments
  • Penalties on repaying fixed loans early
  • Why being ahead is good news: retirement savings, security, goal setting, easy “investment”
  • But is this best thing to do with spare money?
  • The future: rising interest rates, what to do if you can’t meet payments
  • Best strategy: fixed or floating? Several terms?

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Mary Holm, ONZM, is a freelance journalist, a seminar presenter and a bestselling author on personal finance. She is a director of Financial Services Complaints Ltd (FSCL) and a former director of the Financial Markets Authority. Her opinions are personal, and do not reflect the position of any organisation in which she holds office. Mary’s advice is of a general nature, and she is not responsible for any loss that any reader may suffer from following it. Send questions to [email protected] or click here. Letters should not exceed 200 words. We won’t publish your name. Please provide a (preferably daytime) phone number. Unfortunately, Mary cannot answer all questions, correspond directly with readers, or give financial advice.