Quitting smoking 'helps with mortgage payments'
Published On 20 June 2007
Quitting smoking when the ban in the UK comes into force on July 1st could help people save on their mortgage, an industry expert has said.Website Charcol.co.uk has calculated that a person who smokes 20 cigarettes a day could take eight years off their 25-year mortgage if they used the money save to make extra repayments.
Doing this would also save the ex-smoker £29,000 of interest on their mortgage.
"When smokers look at what quitting can do to their finances it may provide that added incentive to finally stub out the habit," explained Drew Wotherspoon of Charcol.co.uk.
"A 20-a-day smoker can save around £2,016 a year by giving up which, in itself, is incentive enough. Yet when you look at what overpaying by this amount can do to a mortgage, it is even more of an enticement."
Even someone who smokes only ten cigarettes a day stands to save £18,434 of interest and five years and five months off a £100,000 mortgage.
"Coupled with savings on life assurance premiums and even some home contents insurance policies, there really is a great financial argument for not lighting-up, as well as the obvious benefit to your health," Mr Wotherspoon concluded.
