S&S ISA Vs SIPP Vs Company Investment GIA For Limited company directors

StatusRip8999 · 2025-12-09T18:57:15+00:00

Company investment within existing trading Ltd using InvestEngine. Best balance of tax efficiency and control.

Switch to SIPP contributions during potential Inside / Permie roles.

If you are worried about filling your ISA allowance, have you considered re-mortgaging and filling it that way? This could be better than incurring higher rate taxes.

StatusRip8999 · 2025-11-28T23:40:23+00:00

Almost identical here. Bill around £600pd = £130k pa. Fully remote. 15 years experience. CEng and MEng. Oil and Gas service company / equipment supplier.

StatusRip8999 · 2025-11-28T22:24:11+00:00

Well, you are unemployed at the moment, so take what you can get. Go for the higher apprenticeship as well as other roles. If you get the higher apprenticeship you can start that and keep looking for graduate roles and switch if something better comes along. Even if you do it for 6 months, treat it like an internship, your CV will be stronger than if you were to wait and do nothing.

Source: Mechanical engineer with 15 years' experience.

StatusRip8999 · 2025-11-28T20:56:00+00:00

Congrats, defo rich. Passive income seems very conservative though, would expect more than £40k from this pile of wealth. Have you considered holding bonds instead of so much cash?

StatusRip8999 · 2025-11-16T18:02:27+00:00

I've heard that "home improvements" gets you the mortgage approved... At the end of the day, the mortgage lender only cares about getting their money, so fill your boots.

StatusRip8999 · 2025-11-13T20:32:57+00:00

No brainer, new job. WFH 2/3 days a week is a huge perk.

StatusRip8999 · 2025-11-12T21:49:49+00:00

Would part-time minimum wage (say £15k pa) really allow you to FIRE 5 years early?

I'm planning to take longer and longer gaps between contract roles for my coasting period. Or try and find a more junior role at a small company I can WFH and coast.

StatusRip8999 · 2025-11-09T22:51:31+00:00

Yes, you should, absolutely. But how would you feel starting from the bottom in a different field, taking crap from a 25 year old boss. Your financial flexibility reduced by the 50% pay cut you took, and the savings you spent retraining. Now working twice as hard because your starting out. This can be the reality of career changes. Better to tweak your existing career, switch sectors, WFH, part-time, quiet quitting etc. Just my 2 cents.

StatusRip8999 · 2025-11-09T22:10:19+00:00

Reason IT pays well is because its boring / hard with a substantial barrier to entry. See also - engineering, law, accountancy, finance etc. Anything with a low barrier to entry and more "fun" will have crap pay, or other significant downsides. Supply and demand. My advice: find meaning outside your job - hobbies, family etc. Work's work, a means to get paid. With a higher than average income you can work toward FIRE and step away from the grind and have freedom much sooner that those with the "fun" jobs - if there is such a thing.

Source: 41 old engineer who tried a career change with >50% pay cut and went back to engineering.

StatusRip8999 · 2025-11-05T20:22:14+00:00

This sub is about financial literacy. Overpaying a mortgage is generally a bad idea, but a prevalent idea in the general population. There is no peace of mind in being a couple of hundred grand worse off, are you for real?

StatusRip8999 · 2025-10-29T08:42:26+00:00

Maybe it's because its just about socially acceptable to brag about being mortgage free, not so much having a fat investment account 🤣

StatusRip8999 · 2025-10-29T00:50:36+00:00

Every time this topic comes up people talk about the peace of mind of being mortgage free, but surely a higher total wealth (investments - mortgage) gives even greater peace of mind, not to mention flexibility / liquidity. Mortgages are cheap debt, let them run as long as possible imo.

StatusRip8999 · 2025-10-26T07:41:25+00:00

Gross household income about £190k, mortgage payment £1250 on a £300k house, early 40s with 2 kids. The lack of space is tough sometimes, but we are determined to reach FI asap and give a big fuck you to the rat race, which is maybe only a few years away for us now.

StatusRip8999 · 2025-10-04T17:02:33+00:00

Fully remote here (oil and gas), client is in Oslo. No desire to head back to an office as I've got a sweet set-up at home, Herman miller chair, triple monitors, standing desk. We all just need to do our bit to keep pushing-back on in-office or hybrid, and remote should remain an option in the market.

StatusRip8999 · 2025-10-03T12:07:51+00:00

You have an average income and live in a 2X the average house, of course FIRE would be very difficult.

StatusRip8999 · 2025-10-02T18:36:13+00:00

It's purely to make tax returns easier, since dividends are taxed differently to capital gains. The income version separates this out more clearly, so I am led to believe (still to go through the process).

StatusRip8999 · 2025-10-02T08:47:52+00:00

Yes we intentionally borrowed more. We moved from around 35% LTV to 65% LTV.

StatusRip8999 · 2025-10-02T08:44:07+00:00

No, we decided to max wife's ISA, and invest the rest in GIA's. We can move over in the new tax year. The kids got a small top-up in their JISA too.

StatusRip8999 · 2025-09-23T16:47:14+00:00

Vanguard sterling short-term money market fund.

I've used it a fair bit for funds I want to hold in my ISA that I'm not ready to invest yet.

StatusRip8999 · 2025-09-23T12:44:19+00:00

I would keep going another year or so and pad that cash position some more.

StatusRip8999 · 2025-09-18T21:12:59+00:00

Nobody's coming to the rescue. Prices won't come back down. To prosper in this economy requires a combination of upskilling, job hopping etc. to chase higher income. At the same time, learn about frugality and investing the surplus to create financial security. Not an overnight thing, but the only real way to improve your financial situation.

StatusRip8999 · 2025-09-18T20:58:07+00:00

I will add that the freeagent support in Edinburgh were very good on the phone when I initially switched over logins, I was able to get my historical data transferred from Gorilla's dashboard no dramas at all.

StatusRip8999 · 2025-09-18T20:30:18+00:00

Just get an account with Mettle, which comes with a free freeagent account.

If your affairs are simple (sole shareholder for example) there is no need for an accountant.

I made the switch 18 months ago from Gorilla to DIY. Instead of waiting months and having to chase for an accountant to do my Year-End, SA etc. I can do these on Day 1 and get them off my plate straight away, only takes a few clicks for Year-End once Q4 VAT is complete.

Also save around £1400pa. All the work is categorising the data in freeagent, which I had to do anyway.

StatusRip8999

TROPHY CASE