At 79, Liz Hodgkinson casts aside mortgage, car and insurance worries
There aren’t many pleasures associated with old age. But a potent one is shedding all the burdensome responsibilities you had when you were younger.
As a teenager, I used to see in stationers’ shops those expanding organiser files with separate compartments for mortgage, car, insurance, tax and so on – and heave a sigh of relief that I didn’t have to worry about any of that.
Then, gradually, I acquired them all – along with the organiser file. First, the mortgage. For years, I tussled with varying interest rates and the pros and cons of repayment versus interest-only loans. The sensation of being conned never left me.
Next came the car, and all that entailed; insurance, tax, MOT, servicing, filling up with petrol, new tyres, parking fines, depreciation and the fraught business of buying and selling a used vehicle.
After that came more insurance. Buildings insurance was compulsory for a mortgaged home-owner but I was also persuaded to take out contents cover, ‘in case the house burns down’.
Council-tax bills occupied another compartment and another one was labelled – hopefully – ‘Investments’.
The scariest compartment was marked ‘Tax’. I was always terrified of getting something wrong when filling in a tax return and being fined thousands for carelessness or lateness.
The final compartment was school fees. My then husband and I hadn’t originally intended to pay for the education of our two sons (including The Oldie’s Town Mouse) but in the 1970s and ’80s there seemed to be no choice.
As time went on, I had to start another compartment: ‘Divorce’. That nasty business required a lot of expensive paperwork.
But now, gradually, I am ditching all these compartments and returning to the simple life of my youth. First to go was ‘School fees’. What a joyful day when I got the last of those enormous bills, with all the extras.
Next went the mortgage. By downsizing, I managed to zap the mortgage over 30 years ago and I have never had any debts or loans since.
After that, I got rid of the file for contents insurance. I had never claimed for it. What on earth was I forking out for? I then de-registered from VAT, which meant the end of another three-monthly headache. Most of my investments have gone as well; not that they ever made anything like as much as the seductive advertisements promised.
The final compartment was the car. I sold my last one three years ago and haven’t replaced it. Although I never thought I would fall out of love with driving, I have certainly not missed all the faff that goes with car ownership.
Today, many of the transactions that once required reams of paperwork have become digitised, but they still require virtual compartments on the computer, and they cause the same amount of stress.
I know I can’t hope to shed every single one of my financial obligations. I still have to pay council tax and income tax, for which I retain actual files. But, now I’m 79, the more they disappear and leave me free to enjoy the years that remain, the happier I shall be.
