Mortgages are just loans, that's not the relevant part. The relevant part is what the mortgage is being used for. If it's being used as means of owning property and if you always have positive net equity in that property then you're not saddled with a mortgage for 30 years. If you're smart you keep around a bit of savings and if you find yourself in a situation where you can't pay your mortgage any more you simply sell the house (or rent it) and move somewhere cheaper.