Endowment mortgage - a type of investment which aims to build up the lump sum you need by investing in shares or unit-linked schemes. You must save into the investment plan every month until the mortgage term ends.

Life insurance - is built into it. Some policies include cover for critical illness, accidents or unemployment.

Risk – varies with the type of investment you choose. With-profits funds are aimed at people seeking medium-risk investments; unit-linked funds often enable you to switch between funds, so you can choose the risk profile that suits you.

Commission and charges – these are taken out of the fund which means less of your money is invested to grow.

Inflexible – there may be financial penalties if you stop paying into the plan before the end of its full term or cash it in after only a few years.

Keeping track – Your policy provider will send you reviews every 2 years. You may need to increase your payments if the investment is not performing well.

Individual savings account   (ISA) mortgage –

You put your savings into shares or unit trusts. The ISA wrapper means that growth from investing your savings is tax-free.

Tax – currently the return on investments held in an ISA is free of personal taxes.

Choice – You can use cash, stocks and shares to build up your ISA savings.

Flexibility – You can vary the amount you save, stop paying in or withdraw your money at any time. You can also switch investments easily.

Limit – you cannot pay more than £7,000 into an ISA in each tax year.

Commission and charges - set-up costs and a percentage of the fund must be paid each year.

Life insurance - not included.

Risk –could be a problem if you need access to your investment when share prices are low.

Keeping track – could be a problem as there's no automatic review process. You may not realise when you need to increase your payments. You may need to increase your payments if the investment is not performing well.

Pension mortgage

your savings are paid into a personal pension plan from which you eventually take a tax-free lump sum and use it to repay the loan.

Tax – you get income tax relief at your highest rate on contributions you make into the pension plan. The lump sum you get when you retire is tax free.

Life insurance – is built into the pension?

Charges and premiums – can be high if you need to ensure your investment will pay off the mortgage.

Inflexible – you can't take any of the money till at least age 50 and this could rise to 55 by 2010.

Life insurance - not included. But if you die before pension age, the money in your fund could be used to pay off the mortgage - but it may not be enough.

Risk –There will be less money for your retirement because you're using the lump sum to pay off the mortgage.

Keeping track - could be a problem as there's no automatic review process. You may need to increase your payments if the investment is not performing well.