Dutch mortgages explained 

Is your current mortgage efficient for the 21st Century

If you took out a mortgage more than 5 years ago the probability is that at least part of it is in the form of a spaarhypotheek - the Dutch equivalent of a UK endowment mortgage.

In other words you would have (part of) your mortgage tied to a savings plan which - over the term of the plan is designed to repay your mortgage with tax free money.
The traditional savings element of such mortgages used a 'guaranteed' interest rate which was the same as your mortgage rate. Thus the premium you paid was back calculated from the gross amount that had to be available at the end of the term.
Thus, if you had a mortgage rate of 7and a mortgage term of 30 years you would typically be paying a premium of €150 per month to reach your target of €136,134 at the end of the term.

Nowadays there are what is known as 'Universal Life' plans (yes the Dutch use the English expression) which typically produce growth of 10 or more. They are the equivalent of the UK or US 'Unit Linked' plans.

€150 per month into one of these plans would produce €222,806 at the end of the 30 year term. However, the rules have changed with regards to these plans. Anything over and above the mortgage sum becomes taxable at 1.2 per annum!

Therefore - for the same money - you would have a taxable (at low rates) lumpsum of €86,672 over and above the amount required to redeem your mortgage.
Alternatively, of course, you could reduce your monthly costs to achieve the same goal and have no tax consequences.

If your current mortgage is more than 5 years old you are almost certainly paying more than necessary. Currently interest rates are anything from 4.3to 6.3depending on the type of mortgage you have and who you are borrowing from.

The other difficulty with these type of mortgage is that the savings plan is rarely transferable from one lender to another.

Mortgages are NEVER transferable from one property to another. When you sell one house to buy another first you redeem the old mortgage then you take out a new mortgage. However if you wish to link your current savings plan to your new mortgage then - usually - you have no choice but to go back to the original lender.

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