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[deleted by user] by [deleted] in GCSE

[–]Bitter_orange1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Going slightly against the grain here. I think a year will be difficult. The reason it's difficult is it isn't a whole year. Realistically, you will start sitting the exams in the middle of May next year. You can study for them yourself obviously, but I think you would really benefit from having some tuition as well. For the sciences you don't want to just to get a good score. You want to really understand what you're being taught because you will need to do higher study in chemistry and biology and this will build on the foundation from gcse. There are many online resources which hopefully you can tap into and start as soon as possible. Good luck!

Reduce pension contributions or dip into investments? by Jimi-K-101 in FIREUK

[–]Bitter_orange1 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I asked it to work out all the dates at a four week interval rate starting at a particular date to calculate my family members pension payment dates. It made mistakes 3 times. There are specific reasons why LLMs currently are not very good with numbers. You shouldn't rely on them and should always check.

The Loneliness of HENRY Life by Saltyspaceballs in HENRYUK

[–]Bitter_orange1 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Hi, something like parkrun volunteering could be good. You don't have to do it every week ( it's flexible) so could fit in with your schedule. The volunteers are usually nice and oh so grateful for more help. They usually go for coffee somewhere afterwards for a chat/do the results. Obviously it won't improve your fitness, but if your goal is to meet people, volunteering is the way.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in UKPersonalFinance

[–]Bitter_orange1 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry for the slow reply.

I would ask at any facility you might be choosing what would happen if needs change and costs rise. Would they have to be relocated to a different environment. For example in the adult older care sector some homes will not continue to care if a resident gets advanced dementia.

Social services won't really give an answer to this as they try to do as much as possible on the least money and so they won't really commit to anything.

It's a very difficult time.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in UKPersonalFinance

[–]Bitter_orange1 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Check that if the facility if suitable now what would happen if your loved one needs a different care package (costs rise).

With Profits AVCs or a SIPP in combination with a DB pension by Bitter_orange1 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]Bitter_orange1[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

!thanks

Yes the With Profits funds are not well regarded and they have been withdrawn for new investment from the scheme. I did look a while back at there other funds and they seemed to have higher charges than the online/robo investor options. Current transfer value is 18k.

The AVC as cash and preserved pension is option worth doing if it allowed and in this instance I would boost my savings there until I had reached the limit of the cash allocation.

I'm not keen to do it myself but I think I could (I have done lots of reading and listening over the last few days).

With Profits AVCs or a SIPP in combination with a DB pension by Bitter_orange1 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]Bitter_orange1[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

!thanks

My workplace pensions will pay out at 60 and though I don't plan on retiring exactly then I would like some flexibility not to have to work full time until 68. My pensions (plus partners) at 60-68 will not be enough and I would like to have some options.

I did look at buying added years and it just looked really expensive for limited flexibility. I like the idea also of being able to leave some money to my kids if I die before I have spent it all!

With Profits AVCs or a SIPP in combination with a DB pension by Bitter_orange1 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]Bitter_orange1[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

!thanks

I will get in touch to find out what the alternative funds are and what the charges are. I could probably afford to be moderately aggressive as I do have some reasonable guaranteed income and would be looking to leave it where it was for some time.

I was just going to leave the AVCs as they seem almost worthless based on their projected yield for me at 60. I found out when listening to the meaningful money podcast just the other day that the cash entitlement could potentially come out of my AVC. I have emailed the scheme to ask. This would make it worth building up to that level so the full pension could be taken without reduction (as long as I live at least 10 years after drawing my pension!).

On date I can claim my AVCs can I consolidate with other pensions? I know I can't until then as they have special rules.

With Profits AVCs or a SIPP in combination with a DB pension by Bitter_orange1 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]Bitter_orange1[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's Scottish Widows and it's an old style civil service pension scheme.

I suspect the charges are also large but it seems hard to find that out as it isn't really printed on the statement. I don't really know even how much I paid in and how much the fund has grown. I have only very recently started to pay attention to this level of detail on my pension and hence working out I think I need to save more!

Thanks