Cheap is not always Cheerful

We are already being asked to write articles for other publications and websites, but not all of them are suitable!

We have just turned down an offer from a financial company (which shall remain nameless - might as well, they're all the same anyway) to write a piece for their magazine about how to 'unlock the value in your home'. Originally we thought it was going to be a piece on how to make money from your home through renting out a room or hiring it as a film set. But they said they wanted an article about how to remortgage or take out a secured loan on your home in order to invest that extra money in one of their trusts or pensions or whatever.

Ha - like we would! OK, investors around the world borrow to invest on a daily basis. It's how the world of finance works. But to encourage individuals, and particularly those with families, to risk the roof over their head for investments that may or may not come good is just madness.

Anyway, it goes against what we preach about paying off your mortgage as fast as possible, not increasing it. We also fundamentally dislike secured loans and shout at the TV anytime Carol Vorderman or her ilk appear on those scummy adverts trying to get people to risk their homes for a quick loan. They may be cheaper than unsecured ones on the whole but at the unacceptable price of potentially losing your house. As a last resort, or for people who really know what they’re doing and already have other investments and insurance policies elsewhere, secured loans can be a nice cheap way of borrowing (and then investing in, say a buy-to-let property or a business or an investment you think is pretty much a winner) but not for most people. We’re £1.3 trillion in debt now as a nation – we didn’t get to that stage by being savvy with our borrowing. We don’t need any more encouragement to borrow more.

Or do we? Let us know what you think.