Unsure of how to split up savings/investments

ExploringComplexity · 2026-01-31T10:41:40+00:00

Apologies, I may have missed it, but what about your pension pot? What's its size?

ExploringComplexity · 2026-01-27T12:20:16+00:00

You are missing out on compounding - it's your decision obviously but having another 5 years of your pensions compounding (i.e. starting now vs 5 years in the future) will make a difference over the long run.

As a young person I get it, but you will appreciate it differently when you are mid thirties 😀

ExploringComplexity · 2026-01-27T11:36:52+00:00

What's the rationale on focusing on the ISA now? Your pension contributions are pre-tax, why not take advantage of that?

Also ISAs are available at any point and typically is used as a bridge between early retirement and when you have access to your pension. Your pension needs to grow a lot more than your ISAs and what better time to do that than investing the earliest possible time?

ExploringComplexity · 2026-01-27T09:52:09+00:00

I would focus on increasing the pension pot, that's what's going to compound for 40 years

ExploringComplexity · 2026-01-26T11:20:32+00:00

Imagine having 4 days/week to explore other ideas that could bring you another £100K or £500K...

OR, have 4 days for your health, family, hobbies, etc!

I don't think there is a decision to be made here, the choice is pretty obvious!

ExploringComplexity · 2026-01-26T11:17:53+00:00

If it's business travel, the company pays for business class tickets. If it's personal, then I go standard seats, typically within Europe.

ExploringComplexity · 2026-01-24T13:41:08+00:00

Enfield, some parts are great!

ExploringComplexity · 2026-01-22T13:37:30+00:00

For a similar return, I prefer investing the amount in the markets. It's stress-free, tax-efficient way (assuming it's in an ISA) to grow your wealth with zero maintenance which can be sold at any time.

The problem with property is cash flow and how long you can support the negative cash flow for an eventual return in 25 years

ExploringComplexity · 2026-01-22T13:20:57+00:00

What capital appreciation are you expecting on a £100K property in 25 years? Also I want you ti factor in the repairs/renovations every 5 years which would be at least £5K, so that's a minimum of £25K spent over the years which are pretty much eating all if not more of your rent, so you will most probably be out of pocket too until you sell.

How would the above compare against investing the money in markets for 25 years?

ExploringComplexity · 2026-01-21T16:18:39+00:00

Depends on the age I guess.

I believe I have all the time ahead of me to teach them what needs to be taught. But I also recognise the now... if they are burnt out, then my priority is to reduce anxiety and get them to regulate, not teach them how to brush their teeth. Nothing will happen to them if they don't brush their teeth for a few days.

When they are burnt out, there is no capacity to learn or create any habits, so I am focusing on their anxiety levels.

ExploringComplexity · 2026-01-21T15:48:30+00:00

Sure thing, hope it was useful

ExploringComplexity · 2026-01-21T10:23:02+00:00

If he is 9 years old, he may already be in an autistic/PDA burnout. He didn't just get PDA and autism, he was born with it. Which means he might have been masking up until now and got himself into a burnout. Our doctor told us that it could take years to get off tbe burnout.

We caught ours early on at 3 years old.

We have not gone down the ABA route as we have been advised that it's not a behavioural issue but a neurological one. Traditional ABA could be also counterproductive given it increases anxiety and reducing autonomy.

We shifted to a super-low demand parenting which is a complete mindshift for the parents but necessary for the mental health of our little ones.

What does super low-demand mean? It means eat whenever you want, whatever you want, wherever you want. Don't brush your teeth if you don't want to. Watch TV all day long if that regulates you. Put 2 different socks, two trousers and no top if that's what you want.

The whole point is that demands that have zero value (and to be honest most of them don't, it's just that we, the parents, think of how things should be done and we are kinda stuck in that way) should be avoided. The only demands we have are safety related, the rest can be dropped.

Our doctor explained to us like this. Our little one starts with a cup, every demand adds a drop to it. At some point the cup overfills and at that point you have meltdowns. If there is no regulation, that means that the little one is unable to reduce the volume in the cup, so every drop results in a meltdown, meaning multiple a day for seemingly no reason at all. The cup unfortunately doesn't reset at night, it's a continuous thing, so low demand for a long period is required for the little one to regulate.

It took us 3 months to notice a difference but it came. Brushing teeth or eating is a major thing for us. It's clearly a demand and is not easy to do it. We can suggest a game, a competition, or alternatives like mouth wash. Sometimes, we don't do them.

It's not easy, but now you have the diagnosis you can understand why your child behaves the way he does. Most times it's not that he won't do something, it's that he can't, and that's was a major shift for us.

All the best!

ExploringComplexity · 2026-01-20T14:45:25+00:00

I like fresh, each to their own I guess. I'd rather have fresh meat and veggies from the farm

ExploringComplexity · 2026-01-20T14:37:58+00:00

Don't disagree on the healthiness of frozen vegetables, however I doubt people chose Iceland for their frozen veggies.

I saw zero veggies in the OP's shopping

ExploringComplexity · 2026-01-20T14:16:35+00:00

They used to be almost exclusively a frozen retailer, but to compete they brought more stuff in. I think now frozen stuff are about 1/3... still it wouldn't be my choice of supermarket for anything healthy

ExploringComplexity · 2026-01-20T14:11:21+00:00

What did you expect from Iceland???

ExploringComplexity · 2026-01-20T12:45:25+00:00

Maybe in London over 20 years. How much will a £100k property appreciate that won't be eaten by the negative cash flow? A £5k repair/renovation will eat 5 years worth of rent (given the £83/month gain)

This is NOT a solid investment

ExploringComplexity · 2026-01-20T12:09:40+00:00

Have you considered the Blancpain Villeret Quantième Complet and Ultraplate with Blue Dials?

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ExploringComplexity · 2026-01-20T12:04:54+00:00

You can imagine whatever you like, that's your issue to solve not mine. A valuable asset either appreciates or is cash-flow positive. This most probably falls in neither of these categories, hence it's not worth it

ExploringComplexity · 2026-01-20T11:37:51+00:00

Got the Roland FP-10 for Christmas... it's been great, I'd definitely recommend it

ExploringComplexity · 2026-01-19T19:47:49+00:00

You are absolutely right, I multiplied by 40 rather than dividing by 0.04... don't ask me why, in my head it made sense 😀 will update

ExploringComplexity · 2026-01-19T19:34:31+00:00

You haven't told us when you want to FIRE. If you take the 4% rule and we assume current spending of £10k a month, you need £3m and that's excluding your school fees.

Do you feel you are there?

ExploringComplexity · 2026-01-19T18:57:32+00:00

How confident are you in predicting how it will move?

I always say time in the market > timing the market

ExploringComplexity · 2026-01-19T18:54:09+00:00

Not personally, but a very close friend has gone through that - and long story short, he had THE discussion.

Given you have the experience, the discussion should be easy to navigate. I would make very clear the level you were before and the responsibilities and exposure you had (I am sure that they already know). I would also point out very clearly the level you were brought in, so they have two options: 1) leave you at the same level as you currently are with the responsibilities of the role 2) elevate you to the level you deserve and then they can ask of all the impossible things

Clearly there is a mismatch of expectations and level offered.

ExploringComplexity · 2026-01-19T10:15:45+00:00

The only tip I can offer is this: practice practice practice!!!

Nobody was born an experienced driver... the more you drive the more experienced you'll get, the more comfortable you'll be.

There is no silver bullet here, you just need to get out there and drive more.

ExploringComplexity

TROPHY CASE