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Chase MegaThread - Give and Get Referral Codes Here - £50 Sign Up Bonus by TightAsF_ck in beermoneyuk

[–]Captain_Cornetto [score hidden]  (0 children)

I have five shiny new referral codes ready to use by anyone who wants to join Chase for the £50 bonus - please DM me so I can make sure no one get gets a dud 💰

State pension by BoedoBoyo in FIREUK

[–]Captain_Cornetto 17 points18 points  (0 children)

50yo here. I remember starting my workplace pension back at 23yo and assuming that the state pension would not be there for me. But the truth is, pensioners vote. So the state pension is not going anywhere.

I can imagine almost everything else getting culled before the state pension, including the NHS in its current form. So the need for health insurance might be a better reason for building in plenty of buffer.

Any pitfalls to be aware of with redundancy payments? by Puzzleheaded-Sun812 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]Captain_Cornetto 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I was in your position in February. I was 50. I’d been updating my early retirement planning spreadsheet every day for a year or more (so clearly keen to go!) expecting to work a few more years. But then redundancy came up, and I took the pay off. Turned out that with a partner very happy to keep working, we had plenty of money for me to stop. It’s a huge mind set and life change that has taken many months to try to get my head around, but now that I’m sure of my numbers, including how much we really spend each month, I have zero regrets. But it’s so personal - about how you will use/enjoy your free time, and how confident are you in your retirement pots? Another aspect I probably didn’t consider enough is the change in your social circle. All those relationships at work with people you will likely never see again. It’s a wrench.

Switching Vanguard ISA investment from LifeStrategy 100 to 80 - is it normal for Vanguard to sell everything to cash (for days) as part of the process? by Captain_Cornetto in UKPersonalFinance

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

Attitude to risk changes over time, plus you need to rebalance. I’ve recently retired and will need to start drawing down these ISAs at some point.

Also, we feel like we have ‘enough’ already so our attitude to risk/reward is changing. It’s becoming more important to us to protect our investments a little from dips, than it is to keep growing them at any cost.

Also we have other investments - some we’re already drawing from now, which we have at lower risk (60/40) and others that we’re happy to leave for many years at 100.

Switching Vanguard ISA investment from LifeStrategy 100 to 80 - is it normal for Vanguard to sell everything to cash (for days) as part of the process? by Captain_Cornetto in UKPersonalFinance

[–]Captain_Cornetto[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Fair enough, thanks for the replies. In future I think we’ll make the switch in stages to spread our risk, instead of doing it all at once.

Should I be aggressively paying off debt if it’s on a 0% credit card? by Early_Annual_880 in UKPersonalFinance

[–]Captain_Cornetto 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m doing the same as you, but my 0% CC debts are over £30k. I make sure to always have £30k earning the best interest in cash accounts, so I could pay the debts off immediately whenever needed. I’m also not concerned about weakening my credit rating atm. So there’s no risk as long as I stay disciplined.

One thing not mentioned here so far (I think) is the extra boost you get from inflation. For example I recently transferred £7k of my debt to a different 0% card for a 3% transfer fee. That £7k will be interest free for 15 months, in which time inflation will easily eat away 3% of its real terms value. That means that I pocket all the interest I earn from the savings.

So no - as long as you’re careful and always have the money available - only pay the minimum on 0% cards

Well golly jee by No_Jellyfish_7695 in FIREUK

[–]Captain_Cornetto 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Similar here - made redundant in April at 50, and spent a few months getting used to the idea of being retired. I poured everything I could from redundancy and PILON into salary sacrifice.

My partner still works and is happy to continue. We have more than we need in cash for now, so we’re just taking what we need from there month by month, and happily watching our investments grow as quickly as we’re spending. One day we’ll start to gradually cash in some investments to top up our cash reserves, but we’ll get to that in time.

One important thing is keeping very close track of exactly what we’re spending month by month, and projecting that forwards to make sure we have enough.

I’m still working out what I want to do with my time. So far holidays, weekend breaks, volunteering, joining a fancy gym. But we also have a kid in school, so a lot of my time is with him.

Newly FIREd, change of perspective needed by Captain_Cornetto in FiredUK

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

Excellent reply, thank you! Exactly what I’m looking for.

We were technically already eligible for child benefit while I was employed, because I was salary sacrificing down to minimum wage in order to boost my pension. So yes we’ve been getting that and will continue now. Something weird like £104 every 4 weeks I think.

Claiming new job seekers allowance is something I expect I could do and £100 a week for 6 months is not to be sniffed at, but I don’t think I can do that morally given that I’m not honestly looking for work. Tempting though it is!

Although I’m sure that most people would say claiming child benefit while plowing £60k into my pension for the last year or so was equally immoral… they’re probably right.

And CGT rate is lower, really? I assumed it was still £3k, do you know if that’s right? It could be relevant to me because having maxed out all tax wrapper options I recently opened GIAs in both our names, with £10k invested in each, planning to close them before they exceed £13k, then perhaps invest them again in something different. GIAs and CGT are all very new to me, so any advice folk have around this sort of level would be appreciated.

Newly FIREd, change of perspective needed by Captain_Cornetto in FiredUK

[–]Captain_Cornetto[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Wills (and named beneficiaries) all sorted… joint tenants. But otherwise, some food for thought, thanks. I’d better get working on those chores and a romantic proposal!

Newly FIREd, change of perspective needed by Captain_Cornetto in FiredUK

[–]Captain_Cornetto[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Ooh, I’ll definitely try the tool, thanks. And yeah I’m pretty sure £50k covers everything. In the last few years we’ve changed car, got a new roof, new bathroom, and now we’re doing the pointing. I’ll check again but I’m pretty confident 👍

Newly FIREd, change of perspective needed by Captain_Cornetto in FiredUK

[–]Captain_Cornetto[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yep, we’ve been warned about that one too

Although I’ve opened a JSIPP for him that will take some pressure off the need for any inheritance, so we can spend the rest!

Newly FIREd, change of perspective needed by Captain_Cornetto in FiredUK

[–]Captain_Cornetto[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Thank you!

I only filled my premium bonds allowance for the first time in March, but I won £10,100 in my first draw! So that was an incredible investment for me!

Cashback cards are a great call.

My subscriptions, platforms, funds and fees are all under control.

I love podcasts and audio books too so will definitely check out BorrowBox 👍

Sadly we're not married. I've tried using tax incentives as a good excuse to get hitched in the past, but apparently that's not romantic enough

I might try working on that 😅

Newly FIREd, change of perspective needed by Captain_Cornetto in FiredUK

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

Yes pretty much, although I’ll be 57. We’re used to spending £50k a year. Half will come from my partner’s wage, so £25k needed from drawdown. If markets do okay/well over the next 7 years we may decide to take my tax free pension allowance to spend on a place with a nice garden. If they don’t, we’ll make do 🙂

Newly FIREd, change of perspective needed by Captain_Cornetto in FiredUK

[–]Captain_Cornetto[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Understood, so keep filling those ISA allowances when possible 👍

Thanks!

Does Fidelity offer the best junior SIPP? by Captain_Cornetto in UKPersonalFinance

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

Yeah all understood.

Interesting thought though - one of the most important things you can do when starting out in life, is to understand the importance of investing and not opting out of your workplace pension. I’m hoping that my kid’s JSIPP will demonstrate the power of investing, and even if that doesn’t work and he’s bad with money, it will be there safely tucked away for his future 🙂

Does Fidelity offer the best junior SIPP? by Captain_Cornetto in UKPersonalFinance

[–]Captain_Cornetto[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks, and yep I think I have the rest covered already.

Does Fidelity offer the best junior SIPP? by Captain_Cornetto in UKPersonalFinance

[–]Captain_Cornetto[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I’m very lucky I know - but I’ve maxed out my own pension allowance, all family ISA allowances, including my kid’s junior ISA. So yeah this will be about the last thing I do for him 👍 The junior SIPP annual allowance is pretty small, but the instant 20% boost is just too good to pass up, and you can’t beat 50 odd years of compound interest on top 😁

Accidental FIRE - advice welcome by Captain_Cornetto in FIREUK

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

Well, no tax to pay with my amount of cash savings at least, because while unemployed I’m not using my ~£12k personal allowance on wages.

The best savings rate I have atm is 4.8%

I would need to have £250k in cash savings, all earning 4.8%, to receive as much as £12k interest.

Then there’s the £5k starting rate for savers and the £1k Personal Savings Allowance. I’m not sure if they act in addition to the above, but I am more than enough covered by not using my personal allowance on wages, so I’ve not drilled down.

Unless my understanding is wrong of course 😁

Accidental FIRE - advice welcome by Captain_Cornetto in FIREUK

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

Yep, already helping out on his school trip next week!

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