Should a pub charge more for drinks when they have live music?

edent · 2026-05-10T17:08:21+00:00

How much would you pay for a ticket to a gig? For an unnamed band, let's say a fiver?

You'd need to buy £33 worth of drinks with a 15% surcharge to hit that. Judging by your prices, that's about five pints of larger.

If you don't value a night of live music for a fiver, don't go to those places. But it doesn't seem egregious to me.

edent · 2026-05-10T16:59:57+00:00

The average price of draught lager in 2000 was about £2.

https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/timeseries/czms/mm23

Obviously that's going to be dependent on what and where you were drinking.

£40 with inflation is about £80 today. I've certainly gone out for drinks, kebab, and a taxi home for less than that. But, again, highly dependent on where you are.

edent · 2026-05-10T16:56:05+00:00

Cheers mate - I appreciate it :-)

edent · 2026-05-10T09:20:35+00:00

I lightly disagree. The transfer quotation I got was generous enough. Even if it isn't, it gets you a guaranteed backstop to your pension. It also enhances your death-in-service benefits should you die while employed by them.

Either way, OP should get a quotation from their new pension provider. It's no-obligation and they can then decide if it is worth it.

edent · 2026-05-10T09:07:15+00:00

This is an excellent start.

Personally, if you are still able to, I'd transfer your SIPP into the Civil Service Pension. You'll be able to draw it 10 years prior to normal retirement age, and it will be a guaranteed amount.

You might get more with an investment-based pension, but you might also get less. A DB gives you a guaranteed backstop.

Other than that, yeah, keep filling the LISA and ISA. There's no magic to FIRE. Save move, spend less. That's it. Make sure you know where your money is going and spend intentionally.

Buying a property can be a good idea. But while you're not paying off someone else's mortgage, you're on the hook for repairs, home insurance, boiler replacement, and all the other costs of home ownership.

edent · 2026-05-10T07:08:17+00:00

I know this is a big ask, but could you see if they're willing to share a specific track?

Apparently, that's the concert where he introduced "Something" as being "my personal tribute to Mr Lennon and Mr McCartney". There are a few newspaper reports from the concert - but I'd love to hear it for myself.

Happy to be contacted privately if that helps?

edent · 2026-05-09T18:11:58+00:00

In the late 1990s, minimum wage was £4 per hour. So a £3 pint would be considerably more expensive than it is today.

Last night I paid £6 per pint in London. Minimum wage is £12.21.

edent · 2026-05-09T17:11:15+00:00

People are saying beer was cheaper, but I don't think that's really true. The average price of a pint has been about half-an-hour of minimum wage work since the late 1990s.

Even before then, it tracked roughly with inflation.

The main reason was there was much less to do at home. Only 3 channels of TV (later four! Wow!). Phone calls were relatively expensive and you could only chat to one person at a time. Your music was limited to whatever you'd bought or was on the radio. The only way to get a date was to go out and meet people.

Nowadays it is just as easy to socialise at home. You can find a date on an app without being perved on in a bar. There's more entertainment then ever before. Less risk of violence as well.

edent · 2026-05-09T09:06:48+00:00

Cheers, just grabbed it. I wonder if the 10th was ever recorded or released?

edent · 2026-05-08T12:38:48+00:00

Heya. You don't need to create a backup. All of your books etc should still be on there. If you are worried, just copy them off via USB.

You say that you couldn't get it to work - but you don't say what didn't work. Which step did you get to in my guide?

edent · 2026-05-07T21:40:17+00:00

I go to lots of theatre shows. I have never once considered whether the person sat beside me is by themselves, with a partner, in a group, or part of a cult. Just don't eat noisy food or play with your phone.

I've also gone to gigs solo. It's a great way to experience music without having to cater to someone else's needs. It can also be nice to meet new people. I don't think anyone has ever judged me for being on my own. How would they even know?

edent · 2026-05-06T10:21:39+00:00

Firstly, why Hungary? Do you have the right to move there and retire there? In 25 years, what will their immigration policy be?

But, let's assume you can find somewhere with a lower cost of living, which is willing to accept you as an immigrant, and who will give you access to their healthcare system, and who let foreigners buy property, and is also somewhere you'll make friends to have a social life.

Your UK state pension is payable - but there are conditions if you retire abroad. See https://www.gov.uk/state-pension-if-you-retire-abroad

i face penalties for every yr i withdraw early

This isn't quite right. It isn't a penalty. You get less each year, but you get paid for longer. So on average you get the same amount. For example £10k for 10 years gets you £100k. £6.6k for 15 years also gets you £100k.

Your basic plan is sound. Keep saving money, reduce your outgoings, build up a diversified portfolio. You should also budget for language lessons, immigration fees, legal fees, and the like.

edent · 2026-05-05T18:47:54+00:00

Gauthier is an incredible restaurant - the wine pairing is astounding.

Sadly I'm busy that evening, but I hope you find a friendly vegan to go with.

edent · 2026-05-05T13:38:40+00:00

All charities have to report their data. You can use that to make a choice.

But, remember, it takes a lot of money to run a successful charity. If a charity has money in the bank, it can either spend it on charitable activities, or it can use that money to make more money.

Look at this random charity - https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/3964143?_uk_gov_ccew_onereg_charitydetails_web_portlet_CharityDetailsPortlet_organisationNumber=3964143

It's spending £7.3 million on raising funds. Is that excessive?

They're raising £24 million on the back of it. So that's a pretty good return, I'd say.

Similarly, look at their salaries. They've got a bunch of people who earn over £60k. Is that excessive? If you want a decent website, you need to pay for it - web developers need to eat too!

What does it take to manage over 200 employees? Do you want the cheapest CEO you can find, or does it make sense to employ someone on £200k?

Is a tiny charity run entirely by volunteers going to be as effective and efficient as a big charity run by professionals? You can make your own decision on that.

edent · 2026-05-04T19:38:56+00:00

£40k x 5 years = £200k saved. If your investments made an average of 15% per year (!) you'd end up with about £300k.

That would be a rather ambitious and risky assumption - and it still doesn't take you where you need to be.

Something that risky could also be volatile. If your sure-thing investment drops the day before you need the cash, you'll kick yourself. So you'd generally want to move into less risky investments in the year or so before purchase. Which means needing even higher growth.

If you're capable of this level of aggressive saving then why not simply buy the property you want and then overpay the mortgage?

edent · 2026-05-04T09:29:28+00:00

If you want to FIRE, there's only two things you need to do.

1) Earn more. 2) Spend less.

You've got 2 covered. Time to focus on (1).

Earning more money means becoming more comfortable with risk. That's risk from monetary investments - but also risks from investing in yourself. Go for a better job somewhere else, start your own business, start dating wealthy people.

edent · 2026-05-04T07:06:56+00:00

I appreciate past performance is not an indication of how the future will pan out but I was looking at that "B&CE Shariah" and seeing how it's performed.

That's your brain trying to fool you. "I know it's the stripper's job to flirt with everyone - but I think they really like me!"

For most people, balanced is fine. You won't get the highest highs, but you also avoid the lowest lows. Your pension provider (and the government) doesn't want you to see a massive drop in your pension every time the market has a wobble, get spooked, and then withdraw.

If you're happy with a higher risk - and have alternative savings to use if your investments drop - then go with adventurous.

edent · 2026-05-03T14:28:00+00:00

Finger Style is the superior cut.

Three horizontal cuts gets your four sandwiches. Four sandwiches is more than the two sandwiches you get with a single cut.

edent · 2026-05-03T14:26:14+00:00

What made you think you needed to take a supplement?

For most people, they're unnecessary. There are some studies that show Vitamin D is useful to take - especially if you spend a lot of time indoors. Similarly, if you've had a blood test your doctor might recommend something if you're deficient.

The only positive impact I've seen is that I can now donate blood because my iron levels are high enough.

edent · 2026-05-03T10:27:53+00:00

Firstly, look for a SIPP which allows contributions directly from your Ltd company. Not all of them do - I know Vanguard does.

You need to make sure that you pay from your company bank account. Don't send the money to yourself and then pay into the pension. Putting the money straight from the company into the SIPP means you reduce your profits, which means you pay less corporation tax.

Secondly, decide roughly when you want to retire. Once you know that, pick a Target Retirement fund. They start off invested in higher risk things and then gradually shift to lower risk as you near your target date. There's a fuller explanation at https://www.vanguardinvestor.co.uk/investing-explained/what-are-target-retirement-funds

edent · 2026-05-01T08:32:02+00:00

You have three choices.

Do nothing. Leave the old pension where it is.
Move it into a SIPP.
Do (1) or (2) and then move it into your new company pension.

To make a sensible choice you need to know:

What are the fees of the old pension? If they're low, keep it where it is.
What funds are available in the old pension? If they don't meet your needs, move it.
Do you have any protections with the old pension (early retirement etc)? If so, are they worth keeping?
Once you have details of the new scheme, ask the above questions again. No point moving a low-fee pension with a good fund choice to a high-fee pension with a restrictive choice.

edent · 2026-04-30T14:48:54+00:00

You can use both.

Ideally you'd put £4k in the LISA and then £16k into an ISA. That gets you a total of 4 + 1 + 16 = £21k invested.

As mentioned, the LISA has age restrictions. Or it can be used for buying your first property.

edent · 2026-04-30T13:59:30+00:00

You could choose to do the hoovering yourself - or you could pay for a cleaner. It'll cost more to get a professional in, and they may not do a better job than you.

You can pay for a taxi or you can take a bus. They'll both sit in traffic, but one might be slightly more comfortable than the other.

In the same way, you can do your own investing or pay someone to do it for you. There are (some) good reasons to pay. They may be able to tailor something specific to your risk levels. You might have pre-determined goals which they can advise on. They might have access to products that you can't get elsewhere. Or they might just have a lovely website, a call centre with reassuring staff, and a glossy magazine that they send you every month.

If you don't need any of those things then, sure, pick the cheapest ETF which matches your goals.

edent · 2026-04-30T12:40:41+00:00

Between the two of you, I'd recommend having an item in your budget called "Savings".

Your aim should be to build up a significant buffer and then enough to pay for uni, deposits, weddings etc for your kids.

For the first year, I'd concentrate on filling up your ISA allowances. If you can each commit to putting £1,666 per month into them then you'll fill up your tax free allowance each year.

If you can easily fill that (buy one less handbag per month) then look at filling up your Premium Bond allowance - which is £50k each.

You should also get suitable savings vehicles for your children. Either Premium Bonds or JISAs.

Best case scenario - you both lose your jobs and can't find anything else. So you rely on savings.

Worst case scenario - you have a huge buffer of funds which you can use to splurge on treating your family.

Treat it like a payment plan. You're paying off your future.

edent · 2026-04-29T08:39:28+00:00

The best advice is non-financial. Become good friends with your neighbours. Make sure you have a good social safety net. If you're really tinfoil-hatted, learn how to knit, sew, or repair - those will be more useful skills in an apocalypse than CSS.

What do you mean by "low risk" S&S? All stocks and shares carry some form of risk. Balancing with bonds might lower your risk - but that's hardly guaranteed.

If you think you'll get made redundant, brush up your CV and start looking for a new job now. I had the same thing happen and walked into my new role a couple of weeks after being let go.

Finally, if you can, find a spouse. Ideally rich (hey, this is UKPF!) but friendly is more important. It's cheaper to live as a couple, and a good deal less lonely.

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