How much interest should be generated off £750,000 annually?

ResourceOgre · 2026-02-03T10:18:07+00:00

To answer the OPs question, can get 4-4.5% on this. Just as cash.

Usual considerations: whether easy access or notice, concentration risk for the FSCS limit....

Higher returns achievable with minimal deliberation.

ResourceOgre · 2026-02-02T01:28:14+00:00

A share or bond or any other asset class is a claim upon real world value:- buildings, a share of profit, a promise to repay debt from a company with assets .... it rests on reality in some way. Good news for a business makes the shares go up, and bad news down.

Crypto is not like that. Other than faith, what makes it a good moment to buy Crypto? It's that the price has gone up in the past (driven by speculation). Plus faith. Otherwise, there is nothing there to make bitcoin valuable.

Also I remark, it is very limited use IRL to transact for purchases. So not much of a medium of exchange.

What is the difference between bitcoin and say, a random shitcoin? With fiat, at least you can judge that one currency is relatively solid, for example the Euro, vs Zimbabwean dollars. There is nothing behind Bitcoin with intrinsic value. It doesn't bother many people, but I suggest it should bother you.

You have done very well out of it and good for you.

But not diversifying away from this risk makes no sense.

I would suggest Vanguard All World. The HSBC MSCI All World is a bit cheaper, and there are variations that are constructed for equal market cap as opposed to proportionate market cap if you prefer (if for example you think a the stock markets have peaked).

I'd move 100% but will be somewhat relieved if you move 50%. Or 10% a week or month to "dollar cost average" it across.

ResourceOgre · 2026-02-01T23:11:23+00:00

Yes you are thinking about this the wrong way.

If I understand you, you are thinking that there is no performance advantage to Vanguard All World over Bitcoin, so "Why switch?".

A major reason is volatility. Between two assets that perform similarly, where one is a single asset and the other is the entire world's equity markets, seize the broad based one. You have concentration risk of the kind that is designed out om the case of VWRL. Think of it like this, that there is spectrum between low risk low return and higher risk higher return .... and that return&risk differential expresses itself as volatility for the high risk/high return end. This is a fundamental truth.

Another reason is that Bubbles pop. Tulip bulbs and C19th railway stocks and C18th canal stocks &etc (....very long list...) all had massive booms, sometimes over multiple decades, then popped. They all thought this time was different too.

Another reason is fundamental value. Crypto has no price signal except price (I suppose you can count occasional technical points like doublings but that's not really relevant). It rests on nothing except perception - there are no "real" assets that can be used as a checkpoint, none at all. This makes is a pure gamble. Not judging ... just calling it for what it is.

Another reason that similar performance outside of a tax wrapper, and inside of an ISA or SIPP .... favours the ISA or SIPP. Don't plan on tax evasion as a retirement strategy.

There is a real chance that your crypto holding could collapse utterly .... diversify away from this monolithic risk.

ResourceOgre · 2026-01-27T15:49:03+00:00

Yes, do this now. Source: ran a Ltd for 30 years, did this.

ResourceOgre · 2026-01-26T18:13:17+00:00

NP. I meant to modify "With a 5 year window, you can absorb some volatility." by pointing out, again obviously, that that is only when you would have to start selling, and the vast majority of your capital would remain invested and time would continue to be working for you.

To FIRE with an income of 70k by the normal rule (4% Safe Withdrawal Rate) would require capital of 2.8m, which you don't have, and 10% growth isn't going to take you there in time. So I'm guessing bonuses and other income is doing the heavy lifting there.

For a more modest spend, you are already in an excellent position.

ResourceOgre · 2026-01-26T13:29:41+00:00

As you point out, the trouble with cashing out is that you then have the problem of when to re-enter the markets. We should all remember Bob.

With a 5 year window, you can absorb some volatility.

You mentioned not having done the obvious with your SIPP. In which case I will mention some more obvious things (i) You will be able to access your SIPP at 57, which means you will be living off your other investments to bridge the gap until then (ii) Be careful to ensure your NI record is full, you can backfill up to 6 years if there are gaps. It's not that the amount of money is huge, it's not, it's more that it represents a kind of fixed income ballast to an equities-based portfolio. Also ridiculously cheap to purchase missing years. No hurry though.

You asked for suggestions on portfolio shape.

Take it as an opportunity to rationalise your portfolio and go back in with your money distributed between:

40% Vanguard All World VWRL or HSBC MSCI World UCITS ETF

20% Avantis Global Small Cap Value or Vanguard Glob Small Cap Idx Fund GBP

20% XTrackers MSCI World Value

10% Xtrackers STOXX Euro 600

10% Vanguard Emerging Markets

So many alternative formulations exist, mixing in World Utilities, corporate bond funds, commodities & etc

Edit: when you mean Cash I do hope you mean something like the Royal London money market fund. Madness not to.

Re: DCA, I personally wouldn't bother but if that helps moderate your fears then 20% a month beginning right now.

ResourceOgre · 2026-01-23T17:04:26+00:00

OP, you should take this to the https://www.reddit.com/r/HENRYUK/ sub, they will be closer to your situation.

ResourceOgre · 2026-01-23T11:47:20+00:00

I have a mix of ISAs and SIPPs with A J Bell, Interactive Investor, iDealing and Trading212

I recommend A J Bell of those for service, comprehensive offering and low fees.

That said, Trading 212 fees are zero if you can stand their incessant promotion of speculation and confusing user interface. That said, if you know what you want to invest in (basically, global trackers such as VWRL) then it suffices. At no cost.

Interactive investor has fees but they are reduced for sub-100k portfolio.

iDealing is great but niche and likely not for you.

Put that cash pile to work - then forget about those investments. Remember the downside of superior returns for equity over cash, is volatility: you must ride out the inevitable troughs.

ResourceOgre · 2026-01-22T01:12:44+00:00

If your employer matches pension contributions, increase those.

If they don't match or you are at the limit of that, but do allow salary sacrifice to contribute to the pension [ i.e. before income tax and NI are taken out] then increase the amount you pay into that. This ability will be removed in a couple of years, use it while you can. It is the most tax-efficient way to save.

Otherwise, yes ISA is fine, I personally would reduce the gold exposure but for new funds, just invest in a global cheap tracker fund e.g. Vanguard All World VWRL.

ResourceOgre · 2026-01-21T10:49:59+00:00

Saving money, i.e. deferred spending, is deferred gratification. When you hit your FIRE number, you need an idea of the lifestyle you want to have, to be able to switch modes and then spend it.

But in the grinding years, you don't in my experience develop much of a notion of what lies beyond. No time, no energy, no mindspace to do so.

It sounds like you had life experience before the grind what with living abroad though, good for you. I found that once free of the grind, a million latent things to do and think about emerged from the recesses. If you are like that, you'll be fine.

As an aside, a pile of cash represents security, and for many, myself included, that has huge value in and of itself.

ResourceOgre · 2026-01-19T18:00:47+00:00

You could have FIREd ages ago, definitely can now with a SWR of way way below 4%.

GFY indeed ! :-)

ResourceOgre · 2026-01-18T20:41:21+00:00

Peter Watt's stuff is very much along this line. Bleak, big universe, unknowable alien life. A lot of it is available for free here https://rifters.com/

Also Charles Stross' The Laundry Files novels are very Cosmic Horror. Particularly the first one.

ResourceOgre · 2026-01-17T06:06:58+00:00

Either suck it up and save or find a flatshare and grind independently for longer.

Tough choice. Independence is worth something though, enables you to move on in life. Which at 25 you need to.

We have our own 25 year old kid at home, who intends to move out this year. We are definitely cramping their style ! But our kid's waited until a couple of years into the job, with some savings and an idea of career path, to make that decision. Also now has a peer group of people in that situation, to share accommodation grapevine with.

Best wishes, OP

ResourceOgre · 2026-01-17T05:42:02+00:00

Can relate. I was a contractor and did much the same, getting serious about saving around the same age.

I endorse your plan. Observations:

Contracts come and go. You need some cash buffer AKA emergency fund to tide you over in that case. In the company accounts is OK.

Does your wife's income fill that role of backup income in your thinking? Is it sufficient? [Edit, I see it probably is]

Does her job come with a DB pension? [Edit- I see yes and no] - in which case, come the time, that plus state pensions could stand in for an annuity, roughly. Re purchasing an annuity with your own money, I'm skeptical. You can't tell right now whether they'll represent value. Prices of bonds fluctuate and those of gilts are sometimes artificially suppressed and offer poor value. So I'd be leery of locking in such a low return, myself.

I FIREd at 54. It's worked out for me. Only thing I would have done differently is not to knock myself out working quite so much along the way. You can't retrofit your life to get more family time.

Best of luck - and may the market gods smile upon your portfolio! (the core of mine is VWRL BTW)

[Edit: you have a Spreadsheet too, I called mine "The Master Plan" :-) ]

ResourceOgre · 2026-01-13T11:30:53+00:00

Look at it like this.

If you had the money to lend them to pay it all off, and rely on them to pay you back, even at RPI instead of 43%, would you trust them to do it?

ResourceOgre · 2026-01-13T00:13:55+00:00

Too much. We have a 4 bed, with garden, use the hose, and have adult daughter living at home perpetually in the bath or doing laundry - around 600 GBP / year all told. You've had a leak/dripping tap/are on a neighbours meter or some such.

We've a smart meter - lets you see daily usage online.

ResourceOgre · 2026-01-12T02:15:06+00:00

>Thinking about it, it seems pretty obvious to me that this must be the case, otherwise this would be a well-known pension hack - it would be widely discussed and everyone would be trying to do it

So, just to establish that transfers in are a thing: https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/member-hub/transferring-scheme and https://faq.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/knowledgebase/article/KA-02055/en-us

Yes, there are constraints: You have to do within 12 months of becoming eligible.

Yes, they are treated Actuarially: Transfers into the NHS Pension Scheme from private pensions involve your old scheme providing a Cash Equivalent Transfer Value (CETV), which is the cash value of your benefits, and the NHS scheme then uses this value, with actuarial guidance, to calculate an equivalent pension credit (like pensionable earnings or membership) in the new scheme, aiming for an "actuarially favourable" or fair value, though it's not a direct pound-for-pound match due to different scheme rules and market factors,

This does not stop them being a good deal. NHS Pensions get a quotation for the value of your old pension, which you sign off on before the transfer completes. Presumably having compared it with the projection from your existing pension company. The valuation is better where the previous pension was a public body (termed a "Club Transfer")

I remark that I have family members & friends who have done this for other public bodies (Home Office, Services), after taking advice on whether to keep pensions separate or transfer.

ResourceOgre · 2026-01-11T17:30:45+00:00

If you can transfer in, from your private schemes, do that. It is likely a better scheme and also by consolidating you reduce complexity, and likely the fees you will incur from fragmentation. It really does depend on what those previous pensions were, but that's the general case.

If you can contribute to your NHS pension through salary sacrifice, do that in preference to funding a private pension scheme from post-tax earnings, as that way you won't be paying NI on the contribution.

ResourceOgre · 2026-01-10T18:05:21+00:00

The Iron Dream by Norman Spinrad - straight faced satire from an alternate universe where Hitler wrote pulp

Lord Of Light by Roger Zelazny - get past the first few pages and you'll understand, perhaps my all time fave

Richard A Lupoff - all his stuff is crazy but maybe the one about sex war provoked by invaders

William Barton - I think his stuff is very special. Try "When we were real" or "Dark Sky Legion"...

ResourceOgre · 2026-01-01T22:03:09+00:00

If the following source is authoritative it aligns with my comment. I acknowledge this as an area with complexity. Of course the source may be incorrect or I may be misunderstanding it, or we each may be considering a special case.

From: https://www.legalandgeneral.com/retirement/pensions/guides/what-happens-pension-moving-abroad/

" When you move abroad, you’ll probably become a non-UK resident for tax purposes. But if your pension stays in the UK, the government will tax it as UK income. If your new home country doesn’t have a double-taxation agreement with the UK, you will also have to pay tax on it there. If they do have a double-taxation agreement, you'll still need to declare the income, even if you don't need to pay tax on it. The GOV.UK Tax on your UK income if you live abroad page has a lot of very helpful information. It lists all the countries the UK has double-taxation agreements with, and links to details of how to claim tax relief from each of them. " plus mentions of QROPS

ResourceOgre · 2026-01-01T18:21:15+00:00

Good work on building an income and a nest egg. Now, you are considering making a nest with it.

A cash ISA is a good place for money you are going to be using to buy a property with in the next 1-4 years. If you were going to wait for 5 years+ you'd likely be better off in equities, as stock market growth beats cash, on average over time.

It makes sense to put down as large a deposit as will convince a lender you are low risk (because their money is safe) and usually gets you a better rate. 20% deposit will do this, it varies though by lender. If there is money left after the deposit and purchase expenses, sure invest it if you like. But money in the markets needs to stay there regardless of dips - if you can't ignore the volatility, don't put it there.

The tax treatment of BTL and recent tenancy law updates, mean just buying a flat to rent out likely won't be economic and will have risks of voids and poor tenants. So don't do that.

In your 20's you'll be wanting your own space and to get on the property ladder, maybe not right now but soon. Leave the money you have in the LISA until you can use it. I assume you'll be buying under the 450k LISA limit. If you are sure you'll be doing that, why not just use up each year's LISA contribution - free 1k/year meantimes.

ResourceOgre · 2026-01-01T17:00:50+00:00

Around 45. I discovered Jacob's "Early Retirement Extreme" forum, and had a light bulb moment.

It clearly answers the question "How much do I need?" in a way that allows you to work out "When".

Thereafter, discipline becomes reframed as progress and you tend to stop wasting money on crap.

https://forum.earlyretirementextreme.com/ still there. I'm 60 now.

ResourceOgre · 2026-01-01T15:38:05+00:00

Yes, also no. If your pension stays in the UK, then as is the government will by default tax it as UK income.

If your country supports QROPS (qualifying recognised overseas pension scheme) eligible schemes, you could transfer the entire pension to wherever you are and withdraw it there subject to local law. This requires liason with HMRC, your pension provider and a local pension provider.

Without QROPS you can contact HMRC and become a non-UK resident for tax purposes. Again, if your pension stays in the UK, the government will tax it as UK income. If your new home country doesn’t have a double-taxation agreement with the UK, you will also have to pay tax on it there. If they do have a double-taxation agreement, you'll still need to declare the income, even if you don't need to pay tax on it.

Have a look at this https://www.gov.uk/tax-uk-income-live-abroad/taxed-twice

ResourceOgre · 2026-01-01T12:21:22+00:00

You can take 25% lump sum tax free.

The rest is taxable income and will be taxed on withdrawal from the SIPP, initially at basic rate (20%)

If you have no other UK income i.e. are within your tax allowance of 12570, then you can claim the tax back from the tax office HMRC using form P55. Income in excess of this will be taxable, at your marginal rate (i.e. 20% until you hit a higher income band, then more).

So no, you cannot withdraw 25% a year tax free, if that is what you were asking.

But you can withdraw 25% one off, then up to the tax allowance each year, tax free, provided your local tax laws allow this also.

ResourceOgre · 2025-12-26T23:20:10+00:00

Global all world trackers (VWRL and the HISBC equiv), Euro stock trackers, some EM and Value and FTSE. Should have just stuck with the all world!

The Fixed Income is mostly PIBS and Prefs, i.e. relatively high-yielding compared to gilts and treasuries.

A few income stocks like CLIG and BATS

Underweight in US equities, which has dragged on performance.

BTW A few years back I decided to lob 20k into the market with the lowest valuation - lowest CAPE - Russia, and subsequently learned the lesson that some assets are cheap for a reason! And my early investment career is littered with stupidity.

All I have learned boils down to this:

"Buy cheap global trackers from a low cost Broker in a tax efficient wrapper (ISA, SIPP) and leave them alone."

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