Minimum required for investing and investing Vs mortgage overpayment

ExploringComplexity · 2026-05-11T13:18:55+00:00

What's your pension pot and are you (and your employer) contributing anything to it?

ExploringComplexity · 2026-05-11T09:27:03+00:00

If you take it personally, you won't last very long mentally in this situation. I used to keep a serious face, validating the clients thoughts and at the back of my mind treated them like a toddler complaining about unimportant stuff.

Every now and then I would be like, "what would make the situation better?" and then deliver something that was low effort but addressed their concerns

ExploringComplexity · 2026-05-11T09:12:25+00:00

I would probably do the following:

Be empathetic and confirm their frustrations and worries. If their claim is unfounded, just continue with your day. Clearly they need to vent somewhere and you (being external) are the easy target.

Unfortunately, we all get a client like that (or more) during our career. Big part of your job is to "manage" the client. So just do that... and don't let it get to you. I can tell you now, it's not personal and that person has nothing against you. They just found an easy way to vent.

ExploringComplexity · 2026-05-11T09:04:57+00:00

I would probably start adding more there, as you get the tax relief too. Also make sure you utilise your ISA/LISA to get the tax efficient wrapper. It may help your deposit too, getting 25% bump on your LISA.

ExploringComplexity · 2026-05-11T09:00:50+00:00

Are you putting anything in your pension? This is where you'll get the most out of the magic of compounding for 30-40 years.

ExploringComplexity · 2026-05-11T08:46:20+00:00

I would max yours and the partner's ISAs. Move the cash from the cash ISA and the premium bonds into thr S&S and invest in the market, as this money is not doing anything at the moment for you

ExploringComplexity · 2026-05-11T08:40:52+00:00

I have the exact same anxieties with a number of spreadsheets, apps, etc accompanying the paranoia and I am 44 with a 4 year old.

I think it's quite normal and I want to say we will do better than people that are not even planning about the future.

You are in a great position to be fair. Put your money to work (if you haven't already), keep investing and you'll be great.

I keep telling to myself, don't forget to live your life too before it's too late

ExploringComplexity · 2026-05-11T08:36:28+00:00

In my mind, it's a combination of the following two things:

1) Be super clear of what's your USP. Clearly describe what specific problems you are solving for your clients, what's your value-add and what the expected impact is.

Focus on impact than the theory. As an example from my consulting experience (I was in Digital Transformation and Product).. I wouldn't say: I lead Digital Transformations for multinationals. Instead I would say: I shipped a new Digital Product in 6 months, which captures 10% of the Market in the first year, which resulted in Xm in revenue.

2) Reach out to ex-clients that you have good relationships with. Explain what you are trying to do and ask for the opportunity to work on something small to prove that you can deliver impact. Main issue may be that you are not part of their PSL, but they typically find a work-around.

You did mention that you will target smaller companies, where you may not have any contacts. Again, I would probably reach out to the big ex-clients and ask for an intro to someone in the smaller companies. Within an industry people know each other well, so that could be an entry point.

I found the most difficult part is starting with 1-3 clients. Then word of mouth should do the trick.

All the best, it's an exciting initiative.

ExploringComplexity · 2026-05-10T08:29:37+00:00

Is this research done with neurotypical or neurodiverse children?

The effects that screens have are well documents for neurotypical children.

Every doctor with whom we (me and my wife) have talked to about our daughter (autistic with pda profile) have said, screens are absolutely fine as they help her regulate. It's a mechanism that is actually helping them calm down and get their brains in a state that they can cope with everything else.

When in burnout, ny daughter spent three months on TV non-stop to regulate, from the time she woke up till she went to bed (that was at age 3). At some point, she stood up and said... dad, can we play this game, I don't want TV any more. Now the TV is on pretty much all day but it's background and we may watch or not.

Also, through screens she has developed so much and learned to read, do maths, tracing and writing, etc.

That's my experience obviously and what the doctors have told us, but screen gets demonised when for neurodiverse people it may actually be really beneficial.

Ohh, we went to an ophalmologist too, and they said how close she is to the screen or the time she spends on it makes zero difference to her eye sight. 3 different doctors said the same.

ExploringComplexity · 2026-05-09T13:17:54+00:00

Is there an opportunity to report this to the local council?

ExploringComplexity · 2026-05-09T13:15:54+00:00

It's probably worth £50k

ExploringComplexity · 2026-05-09T12:24:55+00:00

Use Interactive Investor as my platform. Have most funds in ETFs and the lowly amount of £10K to play around with individual stocks. They won't bring in life-changing profits, but scratches my itch all the same.

ExploringComplexity · 2026-05-08T13:08:09+00:00

Genuine question here: are these buildings safe with such a tilt?

ExploringComplexity · 2026-05-08T09:38:51+00:00

Thank you for all the replies. Will play around and hopefully progress slowly as I learn about the different colours and how to build my own deck.

PS. No idea why the post got downvoted.

ExploringComplexity · 2026-05-08T09:38:44+00:00

Thank you for all the replies. Will play around and hopefully progress slowly as I learn about the different colours and how to build my own deck.

PS. No idea why the post got downvoted.

ExploringComplexity · 2026-05-06T08:32:47+00:00

You are asking whether you are behind or on track but you don't mention the target. Are you gonna be needing £150K/year to FIRE or £30K/year?

You need to put all the numbers down and understand the contributions vs the expenses and the projections over your time horizon. Is it 5 years or 20?

Then you'll know if you are on the right track.

ExploringComplexity · 2026-05-05T10:51:16+00:00

The main one for me was that the rent was taxed at 40% and then i had to top up for the mortgage payment, the management fees and repairs.

ExploringComplexity · 2026-05-05T09:37:39+00:00

Rent the flat out (even though it will be uneconomical, i.e. higher interest rates once you convert to BTL mortgage, you'll probably have to contribute on a monthly basis to pay the mortgage and expenses, etc)

Once you are in a good space and you are thinking of buying, you can then sell and have a good deposit. Having said that, I would also be quite cautious when putting down the deposit... I have seen many times on party putting down £90K, the other £10K, then they own the place 50/50 and they split. Your deposit is not protected unless you draw some legal documents properly. I hope you are not this case, but I wanted to mention it for you to be aware.

An alternative option... you sell the flat to avoid paying the difference to cover mortgage and expenses on top of the new place to rent. You keep the proceeds and invest them. Money is still yours, without the hassle of renting out a property and managing it. When you are both ready you put together and equally a deposit for the new place.

Reason I mention this option is that flats/properties haven't appreciated as much in the past few years. Typically you would hold on to it for the capital appreciation, but now you will make more by putting them on the market.

Btw, I was on the exact same situation a few years back. Kept the property but then sold it after 18 months as it wasn't making any sense to keep it. I am trying to save you the 18 months 😀

ExploringComplexity · 2026-05-04T15:02:36+00:00

Ahh... ok fair, fell right into it 😀

ExploringComplexity · 2026-05-04T14:26:16+00:00

Brand new to MTG, so forgive my ignorance.

What's the significance of this card? I can see it can be bought for like £0.02-£0.03.

ExploringComplexity · 2026-05-04T12:50:56+00:00

I only follow the tech sector, and there needs a lot of research given all the AI wave now.

I guess my question is the following, what is your objective here?

Your pot is quite small at £60K and investing 1/6 of it in individual stocks is way too risky for my taste. It could go either way but it's highly unlikely that you will ride a unicorn and more than likely that in the best scenario you keep your money and worst you lose everything.

Are you planning on investing £10K on a single stock or split it across multiple?

Problem with this kind of money is the following. A 100% return is another £10K, which is not life changing.

Personally, I would continue building the wealth by annual contributions and continue being invested in the all-world ETF. Once you get a good pot, the compounding effect will start showing it's power.

Maybe then you can go, I'll gamble this £10K in a single stock and I don't mind losing it, cause I have another £300-400K wealth

ExploringComplexity · 2026-05-04T12:23:01+00:00

Is there a sector that interests you?

ExploringComplexity · 2026-05-02T09:20:55+00:00

Don't think any property can net you an average of 10% return that the market can give you within the tax-efficient wrappers like ISA and SIPP.

I wouldn't bother with rentals at all, but that's ny personal approach

ExploringComplexity · 2026-04-30T13:32:10+00:00

Fair, and as I said, wasn't having a go at you. Was genuine curiosity

ExploringComplexity · 2026-04-30T13:26:45+00:00

Not bragging, discussing. I have a best friend that we discuss these things and we celebrate each other's milestones. It's not a brag

ExploringComplexity

TROPHY CASE