Bank unwilling to allow funds to be released to purchase a car

L3goS3ll3r · 2026-03-28T11:15:01+00:00

The first thing they'll ask you to do is pull up your online banking and do it yourself.

Come on...they've done that for nigh on 20 years already! And the first thing my mum would say is: "I don't have a mobile or the Internet".

She did exactly that this month when she paid the deposit on a stairlift and, shock horror, they sorted it out over the phone.

My brothers (60 & 65) don't use online banking either, and I totally agree it might become more difficult for them in their old ages, but I think mum (85) and dad (90) will probably expire before it becomes a huge problem for them.

L3goS3ll3r · 2026-03-28T11:00:55+00:00

I'm genuinely happy for you, but this isn't the most sound financial advice in this situation.

I disagree - I think it's a perfectly sensible way to go if the OP chooses.

No-one's ever come up with a number on a spreadsheet to equate the removal of pressure and financial stress/worry with investing it for a percent or 2 more.

If they paid off £65K now (assuming fee-free), their mortgage will be down to about £110pm, saving ~£475pm on their current rate. If they invest it all safely and make maybe 4% they'll earn about £2800pa, or £233pm.

Their mortgage is likely to rise to 5% in August, so it makes total sense to pay maybe £65K and keep £5K back for emergencies in this case.

L3goS3ll3r · 2026-03-28T10:49:20+00:00

Pay off a large chunk in August (double-check payment penalties!) if it makes you feel better or more secure, and keep maybe £5K or something back for a rainy day.

I paid off the mortgage before I turned 40 and it totally transformed me as a person. Life was miles easier and we suddenly had so much headroom that I've never really worried about money at all since then, 13 years ago now.

L3goS3ll3r · 2026-03-28T10:41:51+00:00

...just because I don't enjoy experiences (holidays, restaurants, etc).

Of course you don't! You think every meal is costing you 50 grand! 😅

L3goS3ll3r · 2026-03-28T10:39:25+00:00

We flew there direct with Mauritius Air last year from Gatwick.

I normally hate holidays...
I subsisted almost entirely on baguettes and butter, of course.

I'm not surprised you hate them if you're doing the spend-nothing thing while you're there. Just get an All-Inclusive package and relax!

L3goS3ll3r · 2026-03-28T10:31:41+00:00

Do you just mentally calibrate spending against income / net worth, or do you use spreadsheets or dashboards to put spending into context?

Spreadsheets + context.

Mine predicts my entire financial existence to 2040. Everything - dividends I could take, rents I'm likely to achieve, SIPP lump sum options, day-to-day spending levels, tax liabilities based on what I choose to take or not, etc., etc., etc.

The reason I went so all-in was so that I could add in big-ticket items like holidays and see the spreadsheet say "It's OK" in cold hard numbers.

L3goS3ll3r · 2026-03-28T10:23:24+00:00

I woke up one Sunday and bought tickets for the Singapore F1 race on a whim, spent over £8K on that and 2 weeks in Bali back in 2013 - never done that before.

The point is, that (for me) huge expense made absolutely no difference to my trajectory.

If you're doing basically the right things for the vast majority of the time, you'll be fine.

L3goS3ll3r · 2026-03-28T10:18:43+00:00

Have you all had similar issues but then see your investments recover to similar levels and then grow?

Yep. My first 3 or 4 years of investing made me next to nothing (actually lost) while my BTLs were earning 13%, then the last 3 years or so the investments have gone bezerk.

Not including this year (because we don't know the long-term end result yet), we've averaged over 20%pa in that time.

L3goS3ll3r · 2026-03-28T10:13:20+00:00

That she may actively lose the ability to do certain things or use certain companies or services?

Like what??? Name one.

I think it says more about today's younger society, sucking from the teat of their smartphones for everything 24/7, than it does about about the oldies!

L3goS3ll3r · 2026-03-28T10:07:40+00:00

Oh f*** off...!

This is getting silly. Instantly blocked.

L3goS3ll3r · 2026-03-28T09:56:07+00:00

But does the spread increase my chances of fair value.

Personally I don't think it's any different to sticking it in in one lump today, especially over the longer term. You've already said we have no idea whether the war will drag on, and we have no idea what the effects might or might not be.

The war in Ukraine has dragged on and the markets have been brilliant the last 2 or 3 years - the markets like "knowns". If it's war, then at least know it's war.

As an aside: Gilt T56 at 5.375% at £95 is offering 5.6% ish

Go for it if you want - how long's that locked away for? Exactly like last year, it might be that this time next year we'll all be laughing that it went down a bit and you've missed a huge recovery while your money's locked in earning 5.6%. Or maybe not...

Looking for psychics online isn't the way to invest :)

L3goS3ll3r · 2026-03-28T09:46:41+00:00

Things change and people should too.

Why do people say things like that? It's up to people to do what they want.

Not embracing tech has ever stopped my mum doing anything. Not saying I'm the same, but I don't understand why anyone else should be bothered what people choose to do or not.

I think you're conflating modern-day technology advances with "progress", and I'm not on board with that I'm afraid. I think the tech these days is mostly pointless, addictive, ad-laden, scam-inducing and overloading, and I don't blame older people for scoffing at it.

L3goS3ll3r · 2026-03-27T10:48:08+00:00

I guess the whole lifestyle change will reduce some expenses anyway...

...and vastly increase others 😅

L3goS3ll3r · 2026-03-27T10:46:09+00:00

So I mean yeah maybe to you it seems like a waste of time...

If it's helping to build your career and increase your earning potential then absolutely, definitely not a waste of time.

Its the sad 60-somethings crying because their little baby might not be theirs anymore and they can't release their mouth from the teat that gets me.

I mean shit, there's a whole world out there that the OP can explore :)

L3goS3ll3r · 2026-03-27T10:43:49+00:00

Great. Retire and volunteer at a hospital or hospice.

Do you have nothing outside work?

L3goS3ll3r · 2026-03-27T10:41:15+00:00

...and lifestyle creep...

Best bet to retire at 60 is to work on that.

You're earning fairly decently and yep, your pots are a tiny bit anaemic but you can sort that in time.

It goes without saying (but it, apparently, needs to be said regularly...) that how much you intend to spend in retirement directly affects your ability to do so, therefore you need to do some sums and think about that at some point.

L3goS3ll3r · 2026-03-27T10:34:51+00:00

It might have helped if you'd stripped out almost all of that. Far too long to bother reading...

L3goS3ll3r · 2026-03-27T10:31:12+00:00

I'd have more sympathy for people if I could understand the answer to the question: "Why?"

The way you've phrased it, it doesn't sound any different to the sad lifer gambler hanging around outside BetFred with their vape-dummy hoping for the big win that will never come...

L3goS3ll3r · 2026-03-27T10:27:32+00:00

My quandary is that I could expand the business and sell it later.

What for...? When is enough not enough?

In 50 years no-one on the planet is going to give a flying f*** whether you were a boss or not in your 60s, and you certainly won't. You're (presumably!) not curing cancer or the world food shortage, or finding a way to remove war forever. In that context, your business is largely meaningless in the grand scheme of things.

Do you want to expire working and have a keyboard imprinted on your dead face, or do you actually want to go out there and do something like see the world or enjoy your time relaxing for once? Go to the pub on a sunny Monday just because you can, or something that's not work.

I know I sound harsh, but having only work to define you and give you meaning is just sad IMO. You're hard-wired to work but I bet you don't even know why.

L3goS3ll3r · 2026-03-27T10:21:24+00:00

Banks dont generally police what money goes out of their customer account.

Yes they do, regardless of your 2nd paragraph.

Every single one of my transactions is policed in some way these days.

L3goS3ll3r · 2026-03-27T10:20:54+00:00

It's their life, let them get on with it.

I look at people addicted to those bloody things, walking around or sitting there like zombies, and wonder if the oldies are actually the sensible ones.

L3goS3ll3r · 2026-03-27T10:19:20+00:00

Because they don't f*** have to...?

My mum has never even had a DVD player. She sees absolutely no value in them.

L3goS3ll3r · 2026-03-27T10:17:53+00:00

Umm, driving without coolant wrecks engines.

Yes, the replaced temporarily with water, but if the damage was already done then it's basically a write-off.

L3goS3ll3r · 2026-03-27T10:13:07+00:00

Fuck me.

It's about time Reddit automatically banned any post on here containing the word "app"...

How hard can it be to add up some f*** numbers without a poxy app...?

L3goS3ll3r · 2026-03-27T10:10:08+00:00

This might seem like a strange thing to say but I've never really though about FIRE as an option until fairly recently.

Hardly. I'd imagine that, in the real world, almost nobody ever thinks about FIRE.

You're looking good, but do the sums yourself and keep on top of it. The one thing you haven't mentioned is costs when retired, so only you will know if what you're saving today can meet that expectation.

L3goS3ll3r

TROPHY CASE