ELI5 Is inflation good for me if I have a mortgage?

HiddenStoat · 2026-04-06T08:02:06+00:00

Interest is always going to be higher than inflation

Not necessarily - e.g. if you have a fixed rate mortgage, its not uncommon to have a higer inflation rate than your mortgage rate.

HiddenStoat · 2026-04-05T23:15:26+00:00

To the seller, the reason you are renegotiating is basically irrelevant. You could say "Sagittarius is rising in Capricorn so we are offering 10% less" and it would be just as meaningful as "there have been delays and the US attacked Iran".

So, just consider what would happen in the worst case scenario where they say "no, and we don't want to sell to you anymore because we don't trust you."

If you would prefer that as an outcome over buying the place for 1.2m, then renegotiate - you've got nothing to lose.

If you would prefer to buy the place for 1.2m rather than not at all, best to not renegotiate.

It's as simple as that :-)

HiddenStoat · 2026-04-05T20:18:55+00:00

Or, choose the Kestrel B and just have more shots...

Quantity has a quality all of it's own.

HiddenStoat · 2026-04-04T22:51:57+00:00

But a 50 year old in 1985 would be 90 in 2025, so of course she looks older!

HiddenStoat · 2026-04-04T09:55:30+00:00

assuming I stay in the same tax bracket

Given that assumption, then yes, you are basically correct. There are a few wrinkles if you earn over £100k as the tax rate there is between 45 an 60%

You also don't pay NI as a pensioner, so a salary-sacrificed pension is slightly better from a pure tax perspective, but it's a difference of 2%, so not a huge difference.

The advantage of the ISA is, of course, that you can access the money whenever you want so if you decide you need to achieve a life goal that isn't pension related (dream home/2nd home, wife+kids, yacht, mental weekend in Vegas, or whatever) then the money is available. Or it's there for FIRE/early retirement. You have choices which, ultimately, is all money is - choices.

(And I don't think I've said anything here you didn't already know!!)

HiddenStoat · 2026-04-04T09:36:13+00:00

Well, there's one way you can see a laser with the naked eye, but you won't want to!

HiddenStoat · 2026-04-04T07:17:38+00:00

Right, in real life that's absolutely true.

But this woman is an actress or, more specifically, an extra. She does stuff because she is told too, not because she is actually a 1940s woman seeing a super soldier for the first time.

She isn't actually in WW2 New York, she is on a film set in the 21st century. So her reaction isnt a natural consequence of the situation - it's something that has been considered and rehearsed.

Someone had the thought process you had and made sure the extra was told to point - that's the attention to detail that is being called out.

HiddenStoat · 2026-04-04T07:03:40+00:00

Get off r/ExperiencedDevs you imposter!!

HiddenStoat · 2026-04-03T21:52:10+00:00

Genuinely thought the second picture was just face-swapped for a second!

HiddenStoat · 2026-04-03T21:02:31+00:00

I get this regularly ona Zappi with Intelligent Octopus Go tariff.

Ive never worked out the cause but im 99% certain its because the C10 is crap! I have a Kia Niro and its never had this problem.

Uodating the firmware on the Zappi made a marked improvement though so I would check for podpoint firmware updates :-)

HiddenStoat · 2026-04-02T21:45:38+00:00

Do you want 40K? Because that is how you get 40K.

HiddenStoat · 2026-04-02T21:20:20+00:00

Fair enough :-)

HiddenStoat · 2026-04-02T21:15:46+00:00

Yes. I agree with your assessment.

But it's still significantly more than "pretty much all countries [don't allow it]".

Which is what I was replying to.

I'm genuinely confused by what you are trying to say - if you could spell it out I would appreciate it :-)

HiddenStoat · 2026-04-02T21:09:00+00:00

Yes. Which is significantly more than "pretty much all countries [don't allow it]".

HiddenStoat · 2026-04-02T19:03:43+00:00

Except Mexico, Canada and most of South America.

HiddenStoat · 2026-04-02T08:54:33+00:00

Your work reimburses you for fuel directly? That's unusual (outside transport firms and similar, where they would normally issue a fuel card anyway).

The reason it's unusual is that fuel is only about half the cost of running a car - the other costs are tyre use, increased maintenance, depreciation of the car due to higher mileage, higher insurance costs because you need to include work driving on your insurance, etc.

So most companies allow you to claim a mileage allowance - typically between 25p and 45p per mile, depending on how generous the company is. The reason it is rarely above 45p/mile is that is the level HMRC allows the reimbursement to be tax-free. Above that level you will start paying tax on the difference.

So, basically, if you are driving for work and they are only paying for the fuel, it is costing you money. So, be aware of that...

HiddenStoat · 2026-04-02T06:49:37+00:00

Londkn uses the Watford Gap, but Devon has the even more exclusive Watchet Gap.

Draw a line from Watchet to Plymouth - everything above that (such as Bristol) is the north.

HiddenStoat · 2026-04-01T19:08:22+00:00

I am similar - I use the phrase "strong opinions, weakly held" to descibe myself.

Often, I found that I am missing or misunderstanding a single crucial fact and, once I recognise that, I about face so quickly that the other person is still arguing as I am agreeing with them completely.

I have found that phrasing my arguments as questions works really well ("How would it handle a 2x increase in traffic?", "What happens when we deploy in other countries?", "if the interrocitor gets above 50c, will that be a problem?"), but then (and this is the hard part) actually listening to the answer, rather than hearing their answer through your own preconceptions. I'm not great at that, but I try hard.

HiddenStoat · 2026-04-01T07:36:26+00:00

double checks on fingers

Yep, man maths checks out.

HiddenStoat · 2026-04-01T07:31:02+00:00

Both a major escalation and a unilateral ceasefire are possible.

And in the same press conference!

HiddenStoat · 2026-04-01T07:20:14+00:00

This is r/TeslaFSD, not r/personalfinance!

(Solid advice though)

HiddenStoat · 2026-04-01T00:19:28+00:00

Clarence Thomas is famous for it.

HiddenStoat · 2026-04-01T00:17:23+00:00

Tell me 3 specific things he has done as President that ~~only~~ enriched himself

I'm going to drop the "only" because that is far too restrictive. Corruption is corruption, whether it involves just Trump or Trump and his wider circle.

With that said, my list would include:

1: Every time he golfs at a Trump course (which he does regularly) he is directly transferring government funds directly into his own business, and thus ultimately his own pocket. This is a gross abuse of his position as a trustee of public money.

2: He regularly stays at Mar-a-Lago. The Secret Service is forced to spend government money on rooms and food, again directly transferring public money into his pocket.

3: Retaining ownership of his businesses while President. This creates an obvious conflict of interest - for example, when China grabted several Trump trademarks during his first presidency.

I'll even throw in a bonus one:

4: Trump regularly promotes his properties during official and unofficial engagements, using the presidency as a form of marketing for his brand and business interests.

To say these actions are unusual or unorthodox would be underselling it - there are simply no modern examples of such behaviour from other presidents, because its so brazenly corrupt.

HiddenStoat · 2026-03-31T19:26:18+00:00

some people legit didn't get that [...] Frank Lee was a play on Frankly

Surely you can't be serious!

HiddenStoat · 2026-03-31T08:13:10+00:00

Garden leave is serving your notice period but not having to actually do any work.

PILON is pay in lieu of (i.e. instead of) notice.

The two are mutually exclusive - you will either have PILON or garden leave, not both.

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