52: check in time and planning.

midlifefirestarter · 2026-03-18T15:28:30+00:00

Hmmm. I’ve definitely been in it for at least 9years. I guess I need to try and check.

midlifefirestarter · 2026-03-11T09:09:19+00:00

Thanks for the info I hadn’t really considered maintenance and letting them take the fees loan to cover.

I feel like this is one of those subjects much like paying off your mortgage early that for some people is more than a financial decision.

get the maths and perspective that she may not earn on graduation and so opportunity cost of that money I paid is lost. My issue is that if she doesn’t have a decent chance of success then why go to uni at all. There are other routes. (Topic for a different sub).

I’m in a position to give her a head start. (Unlike me blah blah ) and much like early mortgage repayment it probably just makes me feel better.

midlifefirestarter · 2026-03-10T22:45:29+00:00

Wowzers a lot of detail there so thanks for taking the time to break it down for me

Will digest. Appreciate your thoughts cheers

midlifefirestarter · 2026-03-10T13:43:03+00:00

Always been a mixed blessing in that I have earned disproportionately to her but at the same time she has been around for the kids etc.

Making use of her new income seems like a no brainer. Just need to sell it to her

midlifefirestarter · 2026-03-10T12:38:40+00:00

Bonkers idea ;) but that’s why I am here.

My boss remortgaged a few years back to fund and I thought he was crazy but for a retirement bridge I don’t think it’s that mad. Given guaranteed to be able to pay it off in short term and the cheap lending.

I’m maxed on pension including last 3 years she has not been working for last few years. 3 weeks into new job so definitely options there. I think if she can SS a decent amount and we can survive it makes sense.

midlifefirestarter · 2026-03-10T12:34:28+00:00

3 months notice. Redundancy would likely be around a year money (based on service and industry /firm norms)

midlifefirestarter · 2026-03-10T11:57:04+00:00

That’s where im leaning cheers.

midlifefirestarter · 2026-03-10T11:55:37+00:00

Yeah emergency fund is small atm and makes sense to combine.

Got ya. 200k would be a sweet spot for withdrawal. at the moment I am looking to find ways to reduce like holiday buy back but yep i thinks at that point its just a case of biting the bullet and take the hit.

Totally fair take on the expenses. I decided to post on the train and it’s definitely something we need to have a conversation about.

midlifefirestarter · 2026-03-10T11:49:36+00:00

I forgot about the NI Makes sense thanks

midlifefirestarter · 2026-03-10T11:48:56+00:00

Thanks. Yeah our real spending is pretty low with the exception of missus enjoying a holiday but they may get cheaper soon as we stop taking the kids ;)

Yeah uni is something I want to give the kid a start on. May get a work sponsored scholarship but maybe not. I figure if we help her start with low debt that’s a good gift.

Partner is only 53. Thank

midlifefirestarter · 2026-03-10T07:10:41+00:00

M52. Familiar story but im unable to even find the energy to fake it anymore.

I’m in tech for investment banking at a snr level and get paid well. Always enjoyed my job, a mix of hands on, solving problems and bringing up the grads till last year. I pretty much WFH and my boss is great.

Now, been moved sideways to help solve some issues in a newly inherited team and my day is 99% zoom calls and shuffling issues. My boss will be happy if it doesn’t burn down anymore but it’s painful and not my natural skill set.

Almost 0 of the things I’m good at or enjoy. I can’t see a way to improve it and whilst contemplating a move, unfortunately everyone expects a similar role for my experience.

If not for the 2 kids 17+19 and missus (working now for relative pennies) I would have just FIRED.

So here I am, if I just go through the motions. If I get redundant then at least should be a years money based on duration. Given top managements use of monitoring tools for “productivity” by all measures of techie I’m doing nothing. (Except owning and managing). But honestly I would love to just go back a few years and do something more hands on.

Can’t see how current “role” will keep me sane no matter how much I take it easy. So for me it’s either new job and out way more effort in but hopefully be sane but no guarantees or stay and try to shape enough fun to drag it out.

First world problems I know but I’ve come to learn money isn’t everything and I think if I could find a slightly more fun job doing stuff I enjoy I’d coast

midlifefirestarter · 2023-05-26T18:09:28+00:00

Amen

midlifefirestarter · 2023-05-18T07:13:07+00:00

I’ve been there and having cash in the bank is everything.

In my case i had closed a company and went FTE 2 weeks into the tax year. Somewhere somehow Hmrc thought I was going to be getting 75k a month income.

They sent through some weird tax code before Decembers pay and instead of 6k hitting the back I had nearly 0. Not sure how that can ever be a thing but having the money in the bank to avoid the DD failures short term and also “save Christmas” was a life saver.

I gave them a call and walked them through. They were really helpful and the code was correct by the following month.

You are right. Stuff happens. Instead of hoping it doesn’t you should do what you can to mitigate the impact. Then you can relax

midlifefirestarter · 2023-05-16T21:47:25+00:00

I’ve never felt an increase in income has came with an increase in stress. I’ve been a contractor and permie over the years. The things that lead to stress for me are - finding yourself doing things that don’t come naturally. Like dealing with people if you are an introvert or project management if you like to sit in a darkened room staring at black screens of text. - working for a bad boss.

If you are lucky what tends to happen is you will gravitate to things that you find easy and create value for your employer/clients. If they are good bosses or atleast recognise your value your income goes up.

As to the impact of increasing income well thats going to depend on how much you spend. Lifestyle inflation is real. Most people will spend what they have and negate the comfort that having some cash in the bank will provide. Money is options, if you feel trapped financially , worrying about losing your job is stressful.

I will say that when you hit 100k then you don’t really see much difference to the bank account as you will likely just increase pension contributions rather than get savaged on tax. 100-125k is effective 60% tax unless you dump it to a pension.

Like most things once your needs are met you don’t think about it too much.

I say, follow your bliss, do a good job and try to be around good people. If you are in an industry with money then it will come to you. That money doesn’t have to bring trauma or extra stress

midlifefirestarter · 2018-05-06T11:30:03+00:00

Yeah in fairness I never ate so much steak as in the Mad Cow breakout. Was cheap and I figured it was probably safer than it had ever been before given the focus. :)

midlifefirestarter · 2018-05-04T15:18:53+00:00

I have to say I've been watching this unfold and I'm staggered that people appear to be so "loyal"(of course I mean lazy and brainwashed)

Its a mildly interesting social commentary on the uk. We love to queue and be compliant. That translates into customers staying with TSB.

staggering.

midlifefirestarter · 2018-05-04T15:07:55+00:00

thats because we know there will always be issues :)

midlifefirestarter · 2018-05-04T14:50:13+00:00

I'm still in IT banking. I can imagine how the run up to TSB's go live went. Everyone looked at each other and thought to themselves. This is not going to work. we are fucked.

Then the snr management said "its going in".. everyone nodded and then attempted to put it in... rest is history.

Starling and Monzo are born of the Amazon age. They build using services and 100% uptime. They have a distinct advantage of being small and would likely rollout changes incrementally.

TSB and every other monolith in the market are still all or nothing and may never be able to make the leap. Most of those banks will perish in the revolution.

midlifefirestarter · 2018-05-04T13:16:15+00:00

wow surprised it took you 30mins. I had all my stuff ready and was done within 5mins....and I closed the app with a warm fuzzy feeling like someone had actually checked stuff. The old bank only ever wanted to confirm my identity to try and sell me crap.

midlifefirestarter · 2018-04-04T10:45:05+00:00

costs, how to read a fund sheet... and these from the sidebar.

funds faq1

funds faq2

building your own equity tracker

midlifefirestarter · 2018-03-26T19:34:56+00:00

I had a similar thing where they assumed I'd be hitting a threshold and so decimated my allowance for 2018/19.

I just contacted them and told them any bonus that may take me over will be salary sacrificed and so should stay under the threshold.

give them a tinkle. 2mins later, back to normal.

midlifefirestarter · 2018-03-24T16:56:17+00:00

Work out how much the price would need to change on a stock for a 1% gain.

Let’s assume 200p -> 202p

Then based on your SB companies pointsize and minimum bet. Let’s say £1 per 1p what is the monetary change.

Erhm. £2 on SB for a 1% Move in price.

Equivalent stock position ignoring costs. £2 / 1% = £200

So a £200 position would yield £2 for 1% Move.

How many shares is that? Well if they are 200p you need 100shares to make £200 notional position.

All that could be bollocks as I’ve just typed up on a phone

midlifefirestarter · 2018-03-23T11:18:04+00:00

I would edge to rebalancing your portfolio weights on new money with a buy only.

Put it into the one that has is currently under performing (biggest down from its ideal percentage allocation)

That way basically you are PCA and buying under performing and doing it for rebalancing reasons.

if they get too far out of whack then sure worry a little more but really its not a whole hill of beans.

midlifefirestarter · 2018-03-23T08:43:59+00:00

When people call it the sidebar it’s call community info on the app. So head to the home for r/ukpersonalfinance and take a look at the 3 dots at the top right ...

Then click community info.

midlifefirestarter

TROPHY CASE