As you know I established in my book that debt was not in anyway to be feared and in fact that it is the greatest single ally to wealth building you can get. But that debt was to be respected and treated with great care.

But a question that I am commonly asked is: - Is there a right time to pay off your own mortgage?

Well traditionally our home mortgages have been paid off with a repayment mortgage, or an endowment policy, or a pension mortgage. Also people's mortgages have been cleared when they have inherited money.

Everyone is taught to have their repayment vehicle in place, and if you haven't got one then you are considered foolish for living beyond your means.

Well firstly the only reason endowment policies and pension policies were ever able to pay off the mortgages was the fact that money de-valued so much over the term that these pathetic vehicles were able to cover the cost, and then in more recent years this has not even been the case.

But in each scenario the down valuation of money has been the solution, the most costly way I believe is the repayment mortgage, you actually pay over real money at today's value when in fact you can leave it to down value for twenty five years and then pay with de-valued 'future' money, so why we all were sold this 'pup' and then bought into it I really don't know.

The funny thing is that nearly all commercial mortgages still look for the mortgagee to repay the loan over 10, 15 or 20 years. So they are still very much out of touch with how property really works.

Until recent years residential property investment was frowned upon as 'not a real investment' by the city and the sophisticated investors. However, even most of these hardcore sceptics have come to and are coming to realise that residential property investing is 95% capital growth and 5% rental income.

So now people are buying investment properties as an alternative or a supplement to a pension. Nothing new there. However, what isn't discussed enough in my opinion is the ability for someone to use their buy to let properties to clear their own mortgage should they want that comfortable feeling.

And that's what it is all about really, a comfortable feeling. We want to know because we have been brought up to believe that it's all going to stop tomorrow, it's over and all of a sudden you wont be able to pay your mortgage and you'll lose your home.

Now there is some truth in that for a few individuals, but in the main for property investors, this is not really an issue. Because if you have sorted out cashflow, you have enough time behind you and a large enough property portfolio, then you can weather most storms.

However, even I have that nagging, 'You should at least pay off your home mortgage!'

So is there a good time to do it? Well yes there is. However, I would only be paying mine off to increase my comfort zone because as soon as I pay it off then my ROI in my own home drops to around 10% a year. Which to me is just a painful thought. But I can see a time when I will want to do it (I know I shouldn't really be thinking about my own home as an investment, but as far as I'm concerned capital growth is capital growth an I always want the max I can get).

So how am I going to do it, when and if I chose to? Well the first rule for me has to be, when I pay it off, I will not be paying it off with my money, as that would be silly. So how I will pay it off is one day, I will have built up significant equity in the portfolio and I will simply release some and clear my home mortgage.

I think that simple system is far better than an endowment policy, a pension or a ridiculous repayment mortgage.

So how can you do this easily so that you don't have to worry about ever paying off your own home?

Well firstly wait until money has down valued significantly. Twenty five years will be plenty, I bought my house in 2000 and it cost me £400,000, today it is worth £750,000 to £825,000. So in 20 years time it will be worth £3,200,000 and I'll have a £400,000 loan on it.

All I would need is another house worth £400,000 today and if I wait 20 years it will be worth at least £1,600,000. So I'll release £400,000 and clear my original mortgage. It really is that simple.

So if your house is worth £250,000 and you are currently paying a repayment mortgage on say £200,000 and we'll say for arguments sake that the repayment element is £8,000/year. If you stop paying that then you have £8,000 more a year for use in a better investment.

Now you go and buy a £250,000 property using creative finance. You rent it out having borrowed £37,500 creatively. That money costs you to repay over 10 years £50,000 or £5,000/year. So you are still £3,000/year ahead. Now you rent it out and you have a rental shortfall of upto £250/month, which equals £3,000 (both of those can be significantly improved on by the way).

So now you're even, even if you do a deal at this poor rate. But now in just 10 years you'll have doubled your money in your investment property, by year twenty five you'll have a significant amount of money left in this property even after you have repaid your own mortgage.

Now you tell me, is this better than an endowment policy, is it better than a pension mortgage, and I think even someone who is mathematically impaired can see this is a whole lot better than the ridiculous repayment mortgage.

Property is the cash machine that keeps giving, if you're still holding onto that repayment mortgage then why not stop it for a trial run and see how it feels. You can keep putting the money aside into a savings account, so you can always change your mind later and pay it in, but I know from personal experience that as soon as you make the switch it will be like coming from inside a cave into a sunny day.