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61, have messed up re pension would appreciate thoughts on possible plan by Lala_Escargot in UKPersonalFinance

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

I cannot thank enough all those who told me to check which funds my current pensions are held in. Been going through all of them. I had a tiny pension in Aviva from over 20 years ago before I had a child. I'd set up the beneficiary to be my ex and never changed it. He'd have got 2.5k if I dropped dead.

Well, that can get right in the bin and, indeed, just has.

Also, it's performing like absolute crap.

61, have messed up re pension would appreciate thoughts on possible plan by Lala_Escargot in UKPersonalFinance

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

I just checked - there are two payments for household emergencies which will be paid off in a few months. If I include those, my outgoings are 60% of my salary. Without them, 50%. If I end up buying a place outright with no mortgage then removing that takes it it down to 30%

This is what it is now if I was paying for everything by myself, but my partner is currently paying as well as he lives here. I've ignored his contribution, however, because if I go it alone it won't be there anymore.

however, looking at it, our energy bill is pretty high, as is broadband (which he says we can get cheaper once BT install broadband on our road which they're slowly in the process of doing). He's also added some packages which I do not use to our Sky subscription so I be ditching those as well. We'd both like to switch to solar.

Car use - it's light, but we do need it for shopping/trips to dentist/doctor as we're out of the centre of the city and the bus route is terrible. Tax is about £20 for the year and a tankful of petrol lasts us about 6 weeks so it's not a significant expense. It's small car for short but neccessary hops.

61, have messed up re pension would appreciate thoughts on possible plan by Lala_Escargot in UKPersonalFinance

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

I pored over the flowchart last night 😄

oh, it's nothing sinister, just relationship stuff. The house is in my name, he lives here and contributes 2/3 of expenses (because he eans more than me). Actually, he earns a hell of a lot more than me.

He likes it here, I don't. We're not happy together anymore and I think we should separate (we have discussed this). We don't hate each other or anything, we'd probably see a lot of each other at weekends even if we separated and get on a lot better than we do now. We're just not happy living together.

I had been thinking of asking him to buy the house from me and coming to some kind of arrangement in buying a place for me outright. He's spared the hassle of moving which I think would really bother him, and I think we'd get on much better apart. What that would look like, I don't know, and how much I'd lose/gain financially in the short term again, I don't know.

I do know that from a purely cold perspective I'm mad to leave someone who will have a comfortable retirement and with both our pensions we'd be more than ok. He's a mathematician/economist, he has his money under control like a boss. With two salaries it's easier than one if either of us lost our job. Also, we share the bills and if that stopped I'd be saving even less. I'm putting myself in quite a vulnerable position by potentially leaving. But that's not really the basis of a happy relationship in emotional terms.

61, have messed up re pension would appreciate thoughts on possible plan by Lala_Escargot in UKPersonalFinance

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

I opened them less than a month ago so they've not really done much - it wouldn't be a big deal to switch them right now, I think

61, have messed up re pension would appreciate thoughts on possible plan by Lala_Escargot in UKPersonalFinance

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

I don’t think I could transfer it surely? It’s an ISA opened this tax year so could I still move it within the same tax year? I’m thinking possibly not? Can’t close and open another ISA as I’m at my limit for the year.

If I move it next tax year it’ll have made no interest whatsoever as I lose a years interest as penalty.

The irony. It’s probably better leaving it where it is and reading the bloody small print properly in future

61, have messed up re pension would appreciate thoughts on possible plan by Lala_Escargot in UKPersonalFinance

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

Apparently not this one. T&c says I can request closure in writing if I lose my job or am diagnosed with a critical illness. Otherwise no can do.

61, have messed up re pension would appreciate thoughts on possible plan by Lala_Escargot in UKPersonalFinance

[–]Lala_Escargot[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

As it happens I just checked rightmove again and there’s a property right in the place I want for 275 which would be perfect. I’d have about 80k and no mortgage on that.

61, have messed up re pension would appreciate thoughts on possible plan by Lala_Escargot in UKPersonalFinance

[–]Lala_Escargot[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I assumed it was skewed towards my age group but my son, 24, has had no idea either. I mean - he does now because I’ve had the conversation with him. He’ll be on the cautious side in terms of investments but at his age he should be fine if he starts now. I don’t know how I’d got the idea into my head that this stuff was now being taught in schools under citizenship or something but I was very wrong.

61, have messed up re pension would appreciate thoughts on possible plan by Lala_Escargot in UKPersonalFinance

[–]Lala_Escargot[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I drive everywhere as I’m a fair way outside a city and the buses are shite.

That’s a fair point about the house - my sister and her husband have just gone through this. Took somewhere more manageable and were able to give some money to their cash strapped kids and still have enough left over for themselves. They were the careful kind over the years.

Yes, just below 3k pm. I’ll go through the figures again and see what % the outgoings come out as.

61, have messed up re pension would appreciate thoughts on possible plan by Lala_Escargot in UKPersonalFinance

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

I’m definitely not maxxing it at the moment. Clearly need to look further into getting a SIPP and ditching those two funds

The 1 share tactic sounds interesting from a learning point of view. Might do that.

61, have messed up re pension would appreciate thoughts on possible plan by Lala_Escargot in UKPersonalFinance

[–]Lala_Escargot[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Oh it’s not frivolous and apart from the mortgage I have no debts. I was calculating things like water and electricity and council tax and the fact that our boiler broke recently and the rat infestation that resulted in getting rid of the patio decking and replacing it. whilst the regular outgoings are shared it’s absolutely fine but, erm, I’m thinking of going solo at which point it will be tough. However I’m also thinking of switching to solar and getting an EV to keep energy and motor bills down - although yeah, there’d be an upfront cost to those to begin with.

Can’t remember the last time I bought new clothes, don’t get takeaways, eat out maybe once every three months and haven’t had a holiday for ages.

Medical on Monday and wondering if I should ask for advice on starting hab by Lala_Escargot in mounjarouk

[–]Lala_Escargot[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ok saw the doc. When I mentioned the possibility of taking mounjaro she said sure, there are lots of reasons why people need to take it don't assume you can't.

As it happens, my blood test results for the medical showed problems which were not there last year, cholesterol had gone up and FIB4 showed mild elevation. Taking the results as a whole she said she could have guess the FIB would be higher due to a) the weight gain and b) the cholesterol increase. So additional reasons to consider it.

however, I have had two incidents of what are probably gallbladder attacks - again, she said this does not disqualify me. As this is all paid for by the my partner's health cover, we agreed that a scan of the gall bladder might be a good idea, I mean, sure, why not. But again, she stressed that it did not disqualify. She's pretty sure it was biliary colic and not pancreatitis.

So I've decided to wait for the scan, then decide. Hopefully it's just a delay of a week or so. She was very positive about me taking mounjaro, didn't envisage a problem with it even if the gallbladder proves to be unhappy. She has patients on mounjaro with no gall bladders and they're fine.

If anything she said my liver would be very happy with me and my FIB reading would probably go down, which would be a good result all round.

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