Terry Ennis says having a mortgage in retirement is not as bad as it's sometimes made out to be.

Stuff reported on Sunday that an increasing number of people are carrying mortgage debt past 65 and it can cause significant mental health problems.

Terry Ennis said he was managing fine, even though he is not expected to pay his mortgage off until he is 103, in 2045.

Australian researchers said the impact of mortgage stress on older people was comparable to a long-term health condition.

But Ennis, of Papamoa, said he was managing fine, even though he is not expected to pay his mortgage off until he is 103, in 2045.

He and his late wife took out a large mortgage when they first bought a home in Papamoa in 2007, he said. But in 2016 they discovered she was unwell and downsized to a two-bedroom freehold unit in a gated community, leaving a mortgage of $120,000.

In 2018, Ennis's wife died and he was left on his own.

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His income dropped to a single person's pension of $411 a week, topped up with about $170 a fortnight from the accommodation supplement.

"My fortnightly mortgage repayments are $273.27. With the $715.03 left I am managing well. No luxuries, but I have my own home with the knowledge that nowhere could I find alternative accommodation for $136.63 per week."

He said he was not able to have overseas holidays or take cruises like some retirees did but he was able to do virtually everything he wanted to do, including visiting his family in Auckland when he wanted to, eating well and buying new clothes.

"I'm very happy. I'm in a gated community with great neighbours and a lot of support.

"So, although I have a mortgage, I am happy that when I die there will be ample funds to clear the mortgage, pay my funeral expenses and leave a good amount to my two children. Retirees should not be depressed because they have a mortgage, but be thankful that they have a home that they can stay in as long as they like and still leave some of the equity as an inheritance."

Ennis said he approached the bank when his wife died to determine whether he would be able to continue with the mortgage on his own.

But it said the budget he had drawn up was acceptable. The accommodation supplement covered 50 per cent or 60 per cent of repayments, he said.

He said he often spoke to people who asked how he could manage on the pension alone. "I manage quite well... I would not regard my situation as 'battling with' [a mortgage] but 'living with'."