Savings and Investments thread

bobmunro said:

Rob7Lee said:

PragueAddick said:

Covered End said:

Each to their own.
My family, friends and interests are far more important to me than money.

PS I’m on a luxury cruise which is superb and I couldn’t fault but the presumably rich passengers are the most miserable bunch of people.

Perhaps money doesn’t make you happy?

May seem funny coming from someone who effectively left 32 years ago, but I so agree with these sentiments. Moving away is always a very personal decision, so general advice is always a very limited help. the one thing I would say is, I believe you have more chance of being happy if you moved in the first place for positive reasons; i.e. you actively want to live in the place you’re going to, rather than because you are fed up with Britain. And I honestly don’t think that better weather alone will be enough of a positive reason. 

But it’s such a complex topic I wonder whether it actually deserves a threat of its own?

Agree with all of that. A new thread (threat?!) may be worthwhile.

It's just one of the options we are considering for retirement (possibly me more than Mrs R7L!). I also have the option of trying out somewhere new for my last couple of years at work. Like I've said if I didn't have children we would by now almost certainly have already gone, whilst maybe not permanently I would have transferred my work place.

The third alternative to staying in the UK or not will be a place abroad to spend the dark and cold winters. If I were a betting man thats I suspect where my wife will land and it'll be Cyprus 1st choice, Lanzarote 2nd, especially if there's a hint of Grandchildren before then which will be her nemesis!

Similar to you - I'd be off but Mrs M would take some convincing to leave family (that said our current crop of grandchildren will be in Malta from April). Big tax changes and we may think differently.

We've also thought about buying a holiday home abroad but fear it would become a chore to frequently go back to the same place, plus maintenance, ongoing costs and tying up capital that wouldn't necessarily be easy to realise. We just wouldn't use it enough. An alternative that we are seriously considering is medium term rental. For example - rent a villa in the Canaries for January and February, maybe a villa in the Algarve for May with some golf, summer in the UK and perhaps a villa in Spain for September/October (again with some golf). No ongoing commitment, and a variety of locations each year - and if we want to do something differently one year (or indeed nothing at all) then we can.

Let's see what Rachel in accounts says first!

Similar thoughts, on the maintenance side, my mate has a place in Sotogrande, whilst it is silly expensive there he has maintenance guy who does the gardens, pool etc on a retainer and odd jobs around the place, not overly expensive (if you are away from the UK for a lot of the summer you'd likely have to pay a gardener etc anyway in the Uk at probably a higher cost). But of course there are the usual other running costs.

The one beauty of your own place is it's just how you like and all your things are there, so all you need is a carry on bag when flying out. If I took my Mrs away for 2-3 months she'd be using all 4 of our suitcase baggage allowance and probably shipping a crate out as well :-)

My old boss retired (he's an Aussie but had been over here 35 years), he sold his big place in Sevenoaks and bought a really nice flat in Tonbridge. So he shuts the door and forgets about it when he leaves as he spends about 9 months of the year now back in Sydney (which interestingly despite all 4 sons being born and grew up in the UK, three now live and work in Australia, benefits of a dual passport!).

Diebythesword said:

Markets going to open with a significant overnight gap. Wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a new all time high before Christmas. 

New York now open. Let’s see how it goes often this morning’s rises in other locations.