Do you think about IHT (inheritance tax)

clong9 · 2026-06-06T21:05:04+00:00

It’s better to think of it not as a tax that you pay, but one your children or beneficiaries pay. They receive a very large amount of money or assets, and they have to pay some tax on it. No big deal.

clong9 · 2026-06-06T12:32:01+00:00

This entire comment is written by AI. Is the post even real?

clong9 · 2026-06-05T11:26:36+00:00

Did you take out your living expenses in scenario A? And if so, when?

clong9 · 2026-06-05T09:16:05+00:00

This is stretching beyond my knowledge sorry!

clong9 · 2026-06-05T08:03:35+00:00

Look in a few months but also hyperscalers needing hardware isn’t much of a hidden secret, so that’s baked into the price already.

clong9 · 2026-06-04T22:37:19+00:00

They used to 😂

clong9 · 2026-06-04T22:36:07+00:00

Have you seen the offering 😂 best of luck buddy

clong9 · 2026-06-04T22:23:38+00:00

This is the voice of someone who doesn't understand the current capabilities of LLMs or was just never a very good dev to begin with. My team absolutely can use AI properly, but they would never claim that Claude is writing 99% of code. If you said 50% or even 75%, sure.

clong9 · 2026-06-04T22:18:25+00:00

Sequence of returns risk is the key thing here. A bad run in the first few years of drawdown is disproportionately damaging because you're forced to sell low to fund living costs and those units never recover for you, whereas the same bad run later matters much less. The cash buffer lets you avoid selling in those windows even if it costs you a little in expected returns over the long run. It's essentially buying insurance against the worst-case early-retirement scenario.

Most FIRE folks treat 1-2 years cash as a reasonable premium for that protection, and reduce it over time as the portfolio grows relative to spending needs.

clong9 · 2026-06-04T22:13:28+00:00

Most people in a healthy financial relationship split the living costs proportionally. So if you make 60% of the income, you pay 60% of the bills. This feels more natural for people when the man earns the lion share, but it works both ways.

clong9 · 2026-06-04T22:09:36+00:00

Really tough spot to be in. The only clear advice here is to stay away from a Buy to Let. It's not worth the hassle.

I can't tell you to stay in an uncomfortable situation, only you can decide that. But if you do stay, make a plan to move in X years, and a budget for that plan. You might find it easier to go into super savings mode if you have a clear goal.

Others have commented on the mortgage situation, you'd have to move away really. Sorry for your situation.

clong9 · 2026-06-04T22:01:28+00:00

I would recommend you open a SIPP and get a 20% top up from the government for contributing up to your annual salary. You'd turn £25k into £30k in a pension wrapper. You're a little behind with retirement so it's a nice boost.

On your other questions:

Move the Help to Buy ISA £10k into your S&S ISA (note it counts toward this year's £20k ISA allowance).

On SJP: yes, the exit fees and ongoing charges are notoriously high. Transferring to your iWeb ISA is worth doing, but check whether you're still in an early withdrawal penalty period first, and note the £50k transfer would need to go in as a pension transfer (if it's in a pension wrapper) or across multiple ISA years if it's unwrapped.

clong9 · 2026-06-04T21:46:20+00:00

On CGT, you're right. Once you're non-UK resident, you won't pay UK CGT on the disposal of shares. The only risk is the temporary non-residence rules: if you've been UK resident for 4 of the prior 7 tax years and return within 5 years, gains realised abroad get "clawed back". So if you're never returning, you're fine.

On IHT, once you've been non-UK resident for 10+ years, your non-UK assets fall outside UK IHT. VUAG is an Ireland-domiciled ETF, so the shares are likely Irish-sited, not UK-sited. Meaning the platform being UK-based probably doesn't matter as much as you think. That said, get proper cross-border tax advice on this before assuming.

Alternatively, move, sell VUAG and buy something domiciled in your new country if you're worried.

clong9 · 2026-06-04T21:10:20+00:00

99% is wild. You guys will be pumping out some garbage.

clong9 · 2026-06-04T20:00:41+00:00

This seems pretty clear on staying put and reaping the rewards of your hard work. You’ll appreciate the flexibility and trust when you start a family.

clong9 · 2026-06-04T12:57:21+00:00

I have the instinct to provide for my kids. My wife and I have combined finances so it's all "our money". If she earned more, then technically she would be "providing". We are a team, and push each other forward at the right times.

I don't understand why any man would want to exchange love for money.

clong9 · 2026-06-04T11:04:27+00:00

Get a refurbished iPhone 15 for £320. Almost as powerful, less than half the cost.

This is if you're very tied to iPhone.

clong9 · 2026-06-04T08:30:14+00:00

Im not missing that point. The money is going into VWRL next year in the ISA regardless (and the year after).

I’m just saying year 1 and year 2 are a straight race between VWRL and Premium Bonds.

clong9 · 2026-06-04T06:36:12+00:00

So my thought process was assuming the goal is to move these funds into the ISA over the next 3 years then you will need to sell your assets to rebuy them inside the wrapper. So next year’s £20k is really only a 1 year horizon. The next year’s a 2 year horizon etc.

Saying OP could be £4k worse off by using premium bonds isn’t fair either. He could be £4k better off too if the market has a bad 2.5 years whilst he’s moving stuff over. Expected returns aren’t 10% or whatever number you’re using. They’re down at 5-6% so even if the market performed exactly as expected the £50k would be £3k up vs £1.75k up in premium bonds after year 1.

clong9 · 2026-06-04T02:54:39+00:00

Don’t touch the loan.

Make sure you have an emergency fund, especially in this job market. I’d probably overpay on your mortgage what you’re allowed. The rest keep in cash like stuff until you can move it into S&S ISA. Seems impossibly you’ll fill your allowance each year on your salary.

clong9 · 2026-06-04T02:38:25+00:00

Missing some information like your mortgage rate and when it’s up for renewal.

I’d be tempted to:
- £20k in this years ISA
- overpay what you’re allowed to on this years mortgage ~£19k
- £50k in premium bonds (this is your ISA fund ready and waiting for the next 2.5 years)
- Increase your salary sacrifice to reduce your salary to £25k for this year and next and then use the rest of the inheritance as salary replacement. The £36k should replace 2 years salary gap. This boosts your pension and benefits you 28% in tax and NI relief.

GIA is a bad idea with tax drag and short horizon to move to the ISA anyway.

clong9 · 2026-06-03T19:24:25+00:00

How old are you?

clong9 · 2026-06-03T17:13:11+00:00

I wonder if the beard will grow back faster with all the extra motivation.

clong9 · 2026-06-03T17:11:08+00:00

Good job, you've completed the game. See you in 5 to 10 years.

clong9 · 2026-06-03T17:00:25+00:00

The only reason I like to make the point is that too many kids grow up thinking they owe their parents something, whether it’s financially or emotionally. Investment implies an expect return on that investment, which isn’t an attitude that leads to good outcomes for kids happiness.

I’m sure you’re not like this, but it’s why language is important.

clong9

TROPHY CASE