a. Assumes a 15% deposit, a 35 year mortgage term, a 2.5% interest rate and a 4.5X income multiple. In reality a sportsperson may have access to private lenders so could borrow more whereas some brits, depending on their circumstances, may not be able to borrow as much as 4.5X their income.

b. If sole trader or partnership, put down the average of last 3 years’ sa302 tax returns. Some lenders will accept 1 or 2 years’ so add that if it applies to you. If limited company director, lenders will base it on your combines salary and dividends. A small handful will also base it on your share of retained profits if you own over x% shares in the company.

c. Figures based on the average life expectancy of somebody born in the UK in 1990 (source = world bank)

d. In reality, an ‘ordinary person’ wouldn’t even be able to afford anywhere near 1 months worth of interest alone. In this case, Messi pays in interest alone each month. So we’ve rolled the total amount paid (interest and repayments) up at the end of Messi’s term and calculated to total amount of monthly repayments at current repayment amounts.