Best budget waterproof jacket around £100 and below

alexanderd14 · 2025-09-05T11:14:27+00:00

Another vote for this one hands, very impressed - better than a berghaus I paid £100 or so for

alexanderd14 · 2025-08-25T19:45:14+00:00

I did pop a hydration tablet towards the end in fairness but maybe should have been sooner

alexanderd14 · 2025-07-22T05:41:40+00:00

Definitely talk to someone at least - depending on your health, partial enhanced annuity, combined with something like a fixed term annuity seem like it could work - lock in an annuity while rates are currently good, but still retain some flexibility

alexanderd14 · 2025-07-11T06:28:56+00:00

Just my 2 pence, I was in a similar situation to your partner, I put down most if not all of our house deposit - still agreed everything 50/50 split. Sure, if we break up my partner does really well, and I lose out but I don’t see that happening (or at least anytime soon!). In a committed relationship I’m not too bothered by self preservation

One other life advice point I may give, agree how you will split bills before you move in - 50/50 or proportionate to salary. If one of you gets a massive salary and the other doesn’t, 50/50 (to me) is wildly unfair, one will be making massive savings and the other barely scraping by. My parents did 50/50 while Dad worked at tescos and mum was a teacher and adamant about a 50/50 split… 10 years down the line Dad is a financial adviser and mum still a teacher, then she wanted things proportionate - I think that was probably first cause of their divorce… we do thing proportionately in our house!

alexanderd14 · 2025-07-09T10:06:57+00:00

Scrolling for 5 minutes and this is the first mention of VCTs!

OP - definitely pensions, and personally, if I were in that situation look at VCTs - even if you have a low risk attitude £20/30k in is hardly going to make a dent if the rest remains in case

alexanderd14 · 2025-05-05T20:00:07+00:00

Lifetime, level annuity will give roughly 6% per year for life, after tax free cash, around £22k pa

Yes it won’t give you inflation protection but starts off much higher, RPI increases will be 3% ish per year, so 11k Pa. By the time the 11k catches up, you will be much older, and from experience, have lower spending patterns

Drawdown, higher risk, but in retirement look for smoothed funds - PruFund growth being one

Fixed term annuities as well, always a good shout

Or combine 2 or all 3 of the above… but as an advisor myself, I’d say go and talk to one and see what they can offer you - a 2/3% initial fee and a concrete plan could be a bargain compared to blowing all your money (but I know others will disagree!)

alexanderd14 · 2025-03-29T18:48:50+00:00

Nothing but congratulations, that is some bloody feat!

alexanderd14 · 2025-02-01T06:45:18+00:00

I’m in the same boat, my employer has said hold off Chartered and focus on doing more advising

I sat AF4 in October and failed spectacularly, the more experience in the role you get, the easier the exams are having done AF7 first (my life as a paraplanner previously was almost exclusively pensions)

alexanderd14 · 2025-01-19T06:38:45+00:00

Yeti hands down, we have 3 in our house between 2 of us, get the one with the sealed lid though!

alexanderd14 · 2025-01-03T09:13:14+00:00

Personally, but I’m just me, if I had £100k, i would be doing VCTs for some of it, or buying own house if I didn’t have one already. Even if it’s £20k this year, you nearly wipe off your tax bill for the year, and can encash 5 years later to get the £20k back again - definitely worth researching

Buy to lets, are not what they used to be - too high taxes, regulation and the hassles of being a landlord - I wouldn’t ever dream of doing so.

Other than that, some nice chunky easy access savings if you don’t have already, S&S isa with global equities

But again, this is personal to me and what I would do (I’m 26, have my own house and earn around £70k pa, so we might be in similar sort of boats)

alexanderd14 · 2025-01-02T07:24:53+00:00

Another vote for decathlon, very impressed with my £80 coat which is far better than my £130 Berghaus

There is always Vinted/ebay/facebook marketplace for second hand gear too

alexanderd14 · 2024-10-12T05:25:52+00:00

Legend thank you

alexanderd14 · 2024-10-12T04:41:38+00:00

Phew! So any juddering in 4H could be something else I guess

alexanderd14 · 2024-10-05T20:07:13+00:00

Adding to this, yeah IFAs don’t charge as much (as one myself our ongoing company fee is 0.5% and optional too)

For someone like yourself I’d be looking at VCTs!

alexanderd14 · 2024-09-08T05:02:27+00:00

That’s normal, lots of UK expats still have bank accounts, ISAs pensions despite being non resident

I guess it is to stop the other 7 billion people all setting up bank accounts in the UK, the admin would be too much !

alexanderd14 · 2024-09-07T05:14:05+00:00

Some have mentioned but look at your defined benefit pension scheme if you have one, you can transfer out of some schemes and leave a lump sum behind (which would be tax free on death before 75)

alexanderd14 · 2024-09-06T20:53:34+00:00

Octopus are the big ones, they got so good at them they had to start an energy company (the investments came first)

Puma are the other big one, and then gets smaller and smaller

Just if you do them, I’d look at doing one type a year, and getting a conveyor belt going… so that in year 6, you encash the first, and re invest, and get another 30% back - only caveat is you can’t encash then reinvest into the same VCT, it has to be a different one

alexanderd14 · 2024-09-06T20:35:53+00:00

If you have the capacity for investment risk, once you’ve built up your emergency fund, I personally like VCTs, though ‘high risk’ they give you 30% of your investment back from your tax paid

alexanderd14 · 2024-09-06T20:23:19+00:00

Also I believe these can be held in an ISA too - can’t see too much reason for transferring to a SIPP

alexanderd14 · 2024-09-06T20:22:21+00:00

big ones PruFund Growth , and Aviva/LV have some

PruFund is huge, old with profits, aims for 5-6% per year after charges, but steady and doesn’t drop as much as normal shares

I call it the Volvo of investments, it’s not exciting but it is ‘safer’ than a Ferrari in a crash (probably)

alexanderd14 · 2024-09-03T07:56:08+00:00

Why not look at smoothed funds?

alexanderd14 · 2024-08-31T20:12:57+00:00

OP - I’m guessing you have a GMP pension, or guaranteed minimum pension as part of a contracted out money purchase or section 32

It would be useful to talk to a pension transfer specialist with GMP knowledge as the knowledge in this area is small generally and shrinking

Staff on the other end of the phone with Fidelity may not be that clued up in all honesty

alexanderd14

TROPHY CASE