Savings and Investments thread

Athletico Charlton said:

Rob7Lee said:

jamescafc said:

Early retirement soon @Rob7Lee? 

I’m currently obsessed with the whole FIRE planning and spend a fair amount of time reading up on the various strategies people are using, but you are right, regular contributions plus compound interest is a game changer

I always said mid 50's, but having changed jobs in 2020 and took a bit of a step back in responsibilities hours etc (although that seems to be creeping back upwards!) I'm enjoying work more than I have in probably 15-20 years. So no plans just yet, but I'll review at 55 and will likely do a more reduced hours at least. 

FIRE is fine, just don't take it too far.

My very simple financial advice has always been, if you can (as at the lower earnings end or at certain times in your life it's not always possible) live your life as if your salary is 80% of what it really is.

So that means living to that, to include savings and pensions, everything. The extra 20% is your extra investments/savings. I've been doing that broadly since my early to mid 30's and is a large reason I am where I am.

Conversely I have worked with people earning 3/4/5/10x what I do so some well into the millions who are literally cash and investment poor. All they do is spend to their limit and a bit more. £250k cars, £100k on holidays a year, mostly stuff that devalues.

Imagine you earned £2m a year and couldn't live as if you earned £1.6m! With that extra £200k net invested after 10 years and growth at about 8% you'd have approaching £3m.

Some people will always live to or beyond their means. I've literally know people earning £80k who have more investments and wealth than people earning £1m.

Basically just be sensible, save what you can, watch what you spend, and let compound do it's job.

Usually agree with much of what you say and whilst I appreciate that this is a thread on investments, to me a holiday never "devalues". Life is about memories, you can't take the cash with you.  I would spend £100K on holidays every year if I could afford it.  They are the best of times and best of memories.

I took the family for 9 weeks to Asia last year with 2 young children. Memories that will last my life time and theirs.

In monetary terms it cost a lot and meant I had to take unpaid leave but I was lucky enough that as a one off I could afford it (partially through one small "investment" with Paddy power)!  The holiday was undoubtedly the best investment decision I have ever made.

One of my best friends from school has spent most of his adult life travelling the world and doing cash jobs to get along on a tiny budget.  He has lived in more countries than I care to remember and visited much of the planet, met tonnes of people and lived an incredible life.  He will never have a family (doesn't want one), and will likely die at a relatively young age given the life choices he makes (I'm surprised he has made it to 46!) but I know he wouldn't change a single piece of it and has accepted that if he lives to a good age he will be potless at the end of it but have spent his "good" years living his best life (sorry, awful phrase!).

bobmunro said:

golfaddick said:

redman said:

Is this right? I have just received a letter from Virgin returning money to me as I had opened a 2nd cash ISA in the tax year. I had opened a fixed rate ISA in January for £5k. I then opened a 2nd with them in March. They have returned this latter money.
I had always been under the impression that you can only use one provider but CAN do it in stages. Seems I'm wrong. 

I would have to go into the one you originally opened. You can not have 2 ISA's of the same ilk in the same tax year. Even if it's with the same provider.

That's correct as at tax year 2023/24. Different now though - as of 6 April 2024 you can do just that. I believe I've understood the new arrangements correctly but please correct me if I'm wrong.

Siv_in_Norfolk said:

Athletico Charlton said:

Rob7Lee said:

jamescafc said:

Early retirement soon @Rob7Lee? 

I’m currently obsessed with the whole FIRE planning and spend a fair amount of time reading up on the various strategies people are using, but you are right, regular contributions plus compound interest is a game changer

I always said mid 50's, but having changed jobs in 2020 and took a bit of a step back in responsibilities hours etc (although that seems to be creeping back upwards!) I'm enjoying work more than I have in probably 15-20 years. So no plans just yet, but I'll review at 55 and will likely do a more reduced hours at least. 

FIRE is fine, just don't take it too far.

My very simple financial advice has always been, if you can (as at the lower earnings end or at certain times in your life it's not always possible) live your life as if your salary is 80% of what it really is.

So that means living to that, to include savings and pensions, everything. The extra 20% is your extra investments/savings. I've been doing that broadly since my early to mid 30's and is a large reason I am where I am.

Conversely I have worked with people earning 3/4/5/10x what I do so some well into the millions who are literally cash and investment poor. All they do is spend to their limit and a bit more. £250k cars, £100k on holidays a year, mostly stuff that devalues.

Imagine you earned £2m a year and couldn't live as if you earned £1.6m! With that extra £200k net invested after 10 years and growth at about 8% you'd have approaching £3m.

Some people will always live to or beyond their means. I've literally know people earning £80k who have more investments and wealth than people earning £1m.

Basically just be sensible, save what you can, watch what you spend, and let compound do it's job.

Usually agree with much of what you say and whilst I appreciate that this is a thread on investments, to me a holiday never "devalues". Life is about memories, you can't take the cash with you.  I would spend £100K on holidays every year if I could afford it.  They are the best of times and best of memories.

I took the family for 9 weeks to Asia last year with 2 young children. Memories that will last my life time and theirs.

In monetary terms it cost a lot and meant I had to take unpaid leave but I was lucky enough that as a one off I could afford it (partially through one small "investment" with Paddy power)!  The holiday was undoubtedly the best investment decision I have ever made.

One of my best friends from school has spent most of his adult life travelling the world and doing cash jobs to get along on a tiny budget.  He has lived in more countries than I care to remember and visited much of the planet, met tonnes of people and lived an incredible life.  He will never have a family (doesn't want one), and will likely die at a relatively young age given the life choices he makes (I'm surprised he has made it to 46!) but I know he wouldn't change a single piece of it and has accepted that if he lives to a good age he will be potless at the end of it but have spent his "good" years living his best life (sorry, awful phrase!).

What's your mate doing now, for example?

Hats off to him 

Huskaris said:

RaplhMilne said:

FTSE RECORD CLOSE 8023.87

The easing down of Middle East tensions has helped push the footsie to a new record. An still the believe by some experts that London is under valued compared to other world indices….. 

Seriously considering may be time to reduce my share/fund holdings. 

I think the fall in the pound vs the dollar has had a big part to play in that! But yeah it's been a fantastic day. 

cafctom said:

Looking for some general guidance as a bit of a novice in the investing game.

I’ve got myself into what I think is a decent situation for my age (36) where I don’t have any debt outside of mortgage and have been able to save fairly well. 

For years I held off on investing as I was saving for as big a deposit as possible for my house, which I now have. Now I want to do a bit more with my savings so it’s not all just sitting there in cash.

I’ve maxed out Premium Bonds and happy to let that sit there without any risk. I’ve just maxed out last years allowance for Cash ISA with my bank. First time I’ve opened one. I did that in bit of a rush just to use up the allowance as I didn’t want to miss out.

Now I’m thinking of how I can invest in a way that’s a bit more ‘advanced’ without doing anything too complicated or too risky. I’ve been a 45% tax payer the last few years and expecting this year could be similar. 

My gut feel is saying that a Stocks and Shares ISA is the way to go as a way of getting started. Potentially then with a view to doing a bit more with stocks once I learn the ropes.

Is my thinking along the right lines here, or is there something more obvious I should be looking at (pension for example)?

Any ideas much appreciated. 

Carter said:

cafctom said:

Thanks both.

I’ve only recently started contributing more into pension. My contribution and employer contribution combined is about £1,500 a month (of which about £1,100 is my part).

Up until a year ago my contribution was much smaller - just the default amount. So part of me feels like I’m playing catch up on that side now. 

Ideally I want to be able to tackle both pension (long term plan) and ISA (short term and long term plans) and not miss out on the benefits of either. 

Before you read and pay more attention to this than you should, golfie and most of the others on here seem to really know their shit, I can only talk in layman terms I understand. 

In your situation, I would be paying more into my pension, let the compound do its thing. Much better to overpay now with more years for those compound seeds to grow into beanstalks and oak trees. 

ISAs the money is paid in AFTER you have paid tax on it so whilst I think they are brilliant. if you can pay a decent amount in its win win

cafctom said:

Looking for some general guidance as a bit of a novice in the investing game.

I’ve got myself into what I think is a decent situation for my age (36) where I don’t have any debt outside of mortgage and have been able to save fairly well. 

For years I held off on investing as I was saving for as big a deposit as possible for my house, which I now have. Now I want to do a bit more with my savings so it’s not all just sitting there in cash.

I’ve maxed out Premium Bonds and happy to let that sit there without any risk. I’ve just maxed out last years allowance for Cash ISA with my bank. First time I’ve opened one. I did that in bit of a rush just to use up the allowance as I didn’t want to miss out.

Now I’m thinking of how I can invest in a way that’s a bit more ‘advanced’ without doing anything too complicated or too risky. I’ve been a 45% tax payer the last few years and expecting this year could be similar. 

My gut feel is saying that a Stocks and Shares ISA is the way to go as a way of getting started. Potentially then with a view to doing a bit more with stocks once I learn the ropes.

Is my thinking along the right lines here, or is there something more obvious I should be looking at (pension for example)?

Any ideas much appreciated. 

golfaddick said:

This might be of interst to some of you.....or to your children depending on age.

Accord have just launched a 99% mortgage. Basically you only need a £5k deposit  - maximum loan is £495k. Usual underwriting but they typically lend around 4.5x income. Not available on flats or shared ownership - houses only.

Would suit those on decent incomes but dont have a good deposit  (2/3 bed house costing £300k would usually need a 10% deposit = £30k). Lots of lenders do 95% loans but Accord is the first lender I know that is offering just a £5k deposit. 

Only available on a 5 year fixed & interest rate is 5.99%. 

golfaddick said:

This might be of interst to some of you.....or to your children depending on age.

Accord have just launched a 99% mortgage. Basically you only need a £5k deposit  - maximum loan is £495k. Usual underwriting but they typically lend around 4.5x income. Not available on flats or shared ownership - houses only.

Would suit those on decent incomes but dont have a good deposit  (2/3 bed house costing £300k would usually need a 10% deposit = £30k). Lots of lenders do 95% loans but Accord is the first lender I know that is offering just a £5k deposit. 

Only available on a 5 year fixed & interest rate is 5.99%. 

WishIdStayedinthePub said:

golfaddick said:

This might be of interst to some of you.....or to your children depending on age.

Accord have just launched a 99% mortgage. Basically you only need a £5k deposit  - maximum loan is £495k. Usual underwriting but they typically lend around 4.5x income. Not available on flats or shared ownership - houses only.

Would suit those on decent incomes but dont have a good deposit  (2/3 bed house costing £300k would usually need a 10% deposit = £30k). Lots of lenders do 95% loans but Accord is the first lender I know that is offering just a £5k deposit. 

Only available on a 5 year fixed & interest rate is 5.99%. 

Sort of related, Golfie, a few of us were having a debate about the impact of rising rates and why we're not necessarily seeing delinquencies rising (I'm sure they are but it's not enough to be news yet and banks' provisions aren't rising massively).  

The main theory was that banks are re-mortgaging to 30, 35 years.  Is that something you are seeing?

Solidgone said:

Has anyone on here used Zopa for their cash ISA and are they okay? My bank wouldn’t let me transfer money over to them.