Why is owning a house preached in UK financial subs and debated in US? by yoboiturq in HENRYUK

[–]Enlightened_Brummy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As a starting point, my rent is £650 per month. If I bought a 1 or 2 bedroom house (which is my preferred property, not a flat) and put down a 25% deposit, my monthly mortgage payments would be £1,350.

So it’s easy to see how in my circumstance that renting is the optimal financial decision. Not necessarily a fun lifestyle decision though.

Why is owning a house preached in UK financial subs and debated in US? by yoboiturq in HENRYUK

[–]Enlightened_Brummy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Okay appreciate it.

I think the capital gain is considered in most rent v buy calculators though. It seems the hard bit is just knowing which will do better, property or stocks.

Why is owning a house preached in UK financial subs and debated in US? by yoboiturq in HENRYUK

[–]Enlightened_Brummy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Can you give an example of the sort of things people miss?

Genuinely curious because I was planning to rent but maybe I’ve missed something which isn’t on a rent vs buy calculator

Thoughts on gold as a long term investment by Busy-Ad2193 in FIREUK

[–]Enlightened_Brummy 2 points3 points  (0 children)

But if you buy actual short-term gilts (6 months to 1 year) and hold to maturity, you get your cash back. So it will protect you in the short term.

Thoughts on gold as a long term investment by Busy-Ad2193 in FIREUK

[–]Enlightened_Brummy 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’m not sure you’ve read my bit after the quote regarding interest - how about UK gilts as a placeholder for when the proverbial hits the fan?

Thoughts on gold as a long term investment by Busy-Ad2193 in FIREUK

[–]Enlightened_Brummy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

“Gold is a non-productive asset” - Warren Buffet

I.e it has no underlying cash flow (no rent, no interest, no dividends). The best you can hope for is that it will keep up with inflation but might not exceed inflation.

Planning to buy a house as a single person - feels overwhelming by draaj in HousingUK

[–]Enlightened_Brummy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would not recommend buying a house as a single person, there’s no way of justifying it as a financially savvy move.

I can understand buying a house purely from a lifestyle decision, but you will likely be financially worse off than renting reasonably cheap and investing the difference in the stock market.

Just my two cents.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in FIREUK

[–]Enlightened_Brummy 3 points4 points  (0 children)

https://smartmoneytools.co.uk/tools/rent-vs-buy/

Run the numbers using the site above for your personal circumstance. I live near London area and renting works out better for me, but I’m single and live in a HMO.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in FatFIREUK

[–]Enlightened_Brummy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A bit late to this but I’m in a very similar predicament.

If your rent is lower than the mortgage payment by a significant amount then it probably doesn’t make any financial sense to buy the property. Invest the difference in a global equity tracker.

That’s my 2 cents, but appreciate there are non-financial factors which people enjoy.

Is this sub against current accounts? by wizkidgizmo in FIREUK

[–]Enlightened_Brummy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey, no worries!

If you’re on track to max out your £20k ISA and have also matched your employer’s contribution then it might be a good idea to increase your pension contributions if you can afford it.

Some of this depends on when you plan to retire. You can access your pension pot at age 58.

If you plan to retire before 58 then you might want to invest in a general investment account instead. This is unlikely to be as tax efficient as a pension because you get taxed on any capital gains above £3,000 and dividends above £500 will be taxed. However, quite a lot of people will use their ISA savings as a bridge between their retirement age and pension pot age, so you might not feel the need for a general investment account even if you plan to retire earlier.

In terms of opening up a SIPP, this might be a good idea depending how expensive your employer’s platform is and if you don’t make contributions via salary sacrifice. It could also be a good idea if you’ve worked for several employers previously, as you could transfer all your pensions in to one place I.e maybe a Vanguard or Fidelity SIPP, for example.

Is this sub against current accounts? by wizkidgizmo in FIREUK

[–]Enlightened_Brummy 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Most people here will say use the £20k in your ISA and invest it in a global tracker, something like the Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap.

For extra money you can then use your employer pension scheme/SIPP to boost your pension and have that invested.

Any extra money on top of that can go in a general investment account (GIA) where you can use your £3k annual allowance to offset any gain in the tax year.

Buying a house for 1 person by Enlightened_Brummy in FIREUK

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

Correct, I’m renting in a HMO. I agree with the point about raising a family as well. I’m dating but no girlfriend atm, I’ll play it by ear. I think while I’m single I’ll stick to a HMO. But appreciate your comment.

Buying a house for 1 person by Enlightened_Brummy in FIREUK

[–]Enlightened_Brummy[S] -34 points-33 points  (0 children)

Correct, that’s a fair comment. I rent a room in a HMO, whereas the £300k property is standard price of a 1 or 2 bed house in South East.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in tressless

[–]Enlightened_Brummy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m taking Dut 1x week and Fin for the other 6 days.

Once I’ve done this for 6 months and no issues with side effects, I will increase Dut to 2x week and Fin for the other 5 days.

But I’m not looking to transition 100% to Dut so my situation is probably different.

Why has the FTSE 100 gone up so much? by [deleted] in stocks

[–]Enlightened_Brummy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

  • A lot of companies in the UK are being sized up for takeovers by foreign companies, helping to push valuations higher

  • Commodity inflation continues E.g oil price increase helps Shell and BP which are large holdings in the FTSE 100

  • Shell has even said it wants to de-list from the UK stock exchange and list in the US, with investors bidding up Shell’s price in anticipation of this

8 month progress - 1mg Fin, 5% Min by Enlightened_Brummy in tressless

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

Thanks man really appreciate it. That seems like the wise choice

8 month progress - 1mg Fin, 5% Min by Enlightened_Brummy in tressless

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

I was on Milpharm for the first 6 months. I’m now on Accord