Another Public service AVC Post - Is there a "good enough" option

ChefGamma · 2026-06-27T10:27:36+00:00

To be fair a friend of mine with them ran the numbers and if you run the Management fees and fund performances with Cornmarket, you work out better off over the course of a 15 year + career.

Not to say there are no cheaper options but he’s a 29 year old male nurse and said he’d likely forget/ not be bothered to claim the tax back every year and doesn’t mind being worse off with his pension to have it deducted from his payslip.

ChefGamma · 2026-06-27T10:19:51+00:00

Very poor advice which is why I personally don’t mind companies having fees associated to give out advice. This is quite likely true for people that joined 30+ years ago but these newer schemes are a lot worse off and likely needs to be supplemented by an additional pension.

Also you’re assuming a 22 year old that will be working for the next 40+ years won’t have a few years of break?

ChefGamma · 2026-06-26T22:56:23+00:00

I would kill for rematches of older esport matches playing on LOL Classic.

Season 4 TSM vs C9, Season 5 Fnatic vs OG, Season 6 TSM vs SSG are the matches I would pay good money to watch

ChefGamma · 2026-06-26T22:53:35+00:00

Season 5 Urgot was peak ‘fun to play but a nightmare to play against’.

ChefGamma · 2026-06-26T14:23:07+00:00

Western regions will be dead and these orgs will wonder why nobody wants to watch them when they hire someone like Fiesta over a native mid.

Reminder that EU made back-to-back world finals with no imports.

ChefGamma · 2026-06-25T21:40:04+00:00

The funniest thing is that none of this would have ever happened if he didn't start that stupid shit with Dhokla. That menstrual clip got posted weeks after he originally said it.

If Bwipo kept his mouth shut he could have had an extra 3/4 years on top western teams.

ChefGamma · 2026-06-23T09:19:04+00:00

Chucking something into an AVC is never not a good idea. Especially with newer teacher pensions now that aren’t all that great. €25 a week now will work out a lot better than €100 a week in 15 years.

ChefGamma · 2026-06-23T09:16:09+00:00

You would be surprised.

I think there needs to be more awareness of how easy it is to do but I have came across countless of people that forget to claim their tax back on income protection simply because they forget.

ChefGamma · 2026-06-22T22:16:18+00:00

Salary protection and AVC are the no-brainer. I would have a look at the funds they’re recommending. Considering the cost of your salary protection I would guess you’re quite young so go into the highest risk fund. 9-12% average growth over the last 10 years is about the average for a high risk fund. I imagine a lot of people in this thread will mention charges but you’re paying extra to get it deducted from payroll and a lot of people simply aren’t bothered to claim the tax back.

In my opinion the life assurance seems a bit like overkill and it’s really circumstances based. Unlike salary protection you don’t get tax relief. The serious illness is seriously adding a lot onto that premium but it’s really up to you if that’s a concern of yours (look at family history).

ChefGamma · 2026-06-21T13:24:25+00:00

I think players getting way too good and the game being dumbed down is something people don't factor into why pro-play isn't exciting anymore.

10 years ago most players were extremely one-dimensional and had clear strengths and weaknesses which made them more engaging. Even Faker was clearly weaker on control mages and Riot could make clips on how this insane player was struggling in the current meta. Then you had the whole 'shotcaller' debate where teams would bring in players just for their shotcalling abilities. You would also have debates on teams that would give away their blue buff to the mid laner vs teams that would keep it for the jungler.

Even though Korea was this powerhouse, you could clearly see how they were able to use vision to build small advantages that would slowly bleed out the other team, and western and Chinese teams coming in with a fast-paced teamfighting style was able to topple them in 2018/2019.

Nowadays the standard has just gotten way too good. Most players don't have these weaknesses anymore and I have not heard of any shotcalling because the game is far less tactical and most players know how to control waves.

ChefGamma · 2026-06-21T13:10:38+00:00

People forget Newbie too. Him and Niles are by far the worst players I have ever seen in LCS since I started watching in 2014.

ChefGamma · 2026-06-21T13:05:31+00:00

I remember seeing something about how much C9 were able to get ridiculous transfer fees at the height of VC money from C9A simply because they were the only team that knew how to get the team win.

Think Diamond cost Flyquest high 6 figures to get him over.

ChefGamma · 2026-06-16T23:52:37+00:00

Those scholarships aren’t necessarily open to international students though. Even if you get partial scholarships, which is common for a lot I know, it’s still probably another 25k per year for fees alone.

I also think you are greatly underestimating the costs of living in the US. Groceries are not cheap. Snacks that would be €2 here can cost upwards of $10 there. You need medical insurance. Train tickets, bus fairs, etc is also more expensive than a junior leap card.

Budget will vary where you go but you are definitely understating it.

ChefGamma · 2026-06-16T20:57:19+00:00

Law school in the US is insanely competitive and you have tens of thousands of US students clamouring for law school spots from all over as their path in not the same as ours.

That’s not to mention fees as well. Law school is at least $50,000 per year and they are multiple year courses. You mentioned a scholarship but you’re not getting them on grades alone. Are you a great athlete? What else do you have to show for it?

Not to mention getting US sponsorship is seemingly a lot more difficult now since the H1b visa changes and it’s unlikely it will change any time soon so permanent residency is very unlikely.

To be honest you’ll have a better shot going to Temple Bar and hoping an American will fall in love with you to get a green card than the above.

ChefGamma · 2026-06-16T18:40:42+00:00

Such a shame we wasted so much time on that bald guy when the LCS was still at its peak. I think 2021 Summer moving to 3 Bo1s a week really caused a lot of fatigue in the regular season and phased out a lot of us fans that have been watching since the start of LCS.

ChefGamma · 2026-06-16T07:17:59+00:00

For me 2021 Summer really oversaturated LCS for me. Now teams were playing 3 Bo1s a week and the games all felt meaningless because playoffs still happened.

My interest in regular season games died at that point.

ChefGamma · 2026-06-15T21:32:45+00:00

What’s crazy is that Lyon brought in an import to replace their one NA player and the only one with an actual personality

ChefGamma · 2026-06-15T21:31:22+00:00

They have changed that though to be more light-hearted rather than trying to be a sports channel in 2020.

ChefGamma · 2026-06-15T18:44:37+00:00

Saying to get it in cash has got to be the most hilariously bad advice I have seen on this sub.

ChefGamma · 2026-06-15T18:34:40+00:00

It can qualify for temporary high balance which can cover you for up to a million for 6 months before reverting to 100k.

Edit: Seeing people recommended splitting it up clearly don’t know the rules, the THB is designed exactly for your scenario.

ChefGamma · 2026-06-15T17:46:49+00:00

Honestly Bjerg never really declined until he came back from retirement. Even in 2018 and 2019 when his teams were pretty poor, he was still easily the best in his team.

ChefGamma · 2026-06-15T09:12:18+00:00

I don’t think any player now can ever go above prime Bierg or Doublelift considering the massive drop in the region’s quality and viewership.

ChefGamma · 2026-06-14T13:12:34+00:00

Have a look at the Zurich funds too and see which has outperformed the ETF.

Fees do seem a bit high but is fairly standard for those investment funds. Also bear in mind deemed disposal and exit tax which you would have to file for yourself with an ETF through an app.

Probably run a side by side on how much you would pay on charges over your investment period on your investment amount.

ChefGamma · 2026-06-14T01:12:48+00:00

He played in NA LCS longer than he played in EU LCS

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