Pension plans/retirement

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On 08/03/2018 at 21:10, Marmite said:

Since Xmas I have started to save £100 a month for when I retire in around 30 years. I am thinking about buying £100 worth of premium bonds each month or would it be best to pay it straight into an ISA account? 

 

Are ISA's the best for savings these days considering all personal savings are now tax free up to a limit (no tax up to £1k interest I think). Premium bonds have ridiculous odds but I guess you could get lucky.

[yorkie1999]

On 08/03/2018 at 21:10, Marmite said:

Since Xmas I have started to save £100 a month for when I retire in around 30 years. I am thinking about buying £100 worth of premium bonds each month or would it be best to pay it straight into an ISA account? 

 

You’d be better off borrowing 20 grand and buying a field on the edge of a town and paying it off over 30 years cos by then it’ll be worth a fortune 

[Bellend Sebastian]

8 hours ago, Rob1742 said:

They never give honest advice. They only make money by doing something, so unfortunately you need to do the homework yourself rather than rely on them. I have seen loads of them, and everyone has just been interested in selling something or getting their hands on your pension commissions. They are basically robbers in suits, hiding behind a nice title.

How can you tell?

 

51 minutes ago, separator said:

Are ISA's the best for savings these days considering all personal savings are now tax free up to a limit (no tax up to £1k interest I think). Premium bonds have ridiculous odds but I guess you could get lucky.

You're right in that a cash ISA doesn't bring much to the party, but Stocks and Shares ones still worthwhile for those that can stomach risk because there's not Capital Gains Tax.

 

On 3/8/2018 at 21:10, Marmite said:

Since Xmas I have started to save £100 a month for when I retire in around 30 years. I am thinking about buying £100 worth of premium bonds each month or would it be best to pay it straight into an ISA account? 

 

Assuming that you're eligible to make the contributions (and chances are you are), assuming that your retirement date ties in with when you can access your pension (either 55 or 57 depending on how old you are), pension all the way.

 

Tax relief, tax relief, tax relief

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20 minutes ago, Bellend Sebastian said:

 

You're right in that a cash ISA doesn't bring much to the party, but Stocks and Shares ones still worthwhile for those that can stomach risk because there's not Capital Gains Tax.

Yeah I ditched a cash.ISA and went the stocks and shares ISA route. Got a few quid tucked away in divi-paying FTSE100 shares and small amounts in AIM listed mining and oil firm chancers. 

[CollinsLCFC]

I feel people just dislike and discourage  people not to use financial advice because they don't think of the long term benefits and don't become a millionaire over night.

 

Financial advisers plan your retirement for the future. Because they take commission in the present and you won't really see the benefits until the future, doesn't mean they are bad.

 

Financial advisors are heavily regulated, and their career depends on providing suitable bespoke advice, hence the high costs. It takes a lot of work and hours behind closed doors. They try and get every detail about your current assets, goals, expenditures and work their advice around that.

 

Obviously, do your own research on advisers. Use unbiased.co.uk

Edited 10 March 2018 by CollinsLCFC

[Rob1742]

On 09/03/2018 at 22:45, Bellend Sebastian said:

How can you tell?

 

You're right in that a cash ISA doesn't bring much to the party, but Stocks and Shares ones still worthwhile for those that can stomach risk because there's not Capital Gains Tax.

 

Assuming that you're eligible to make the contributions (and chances are you are), assuming that your retirement date ties in with when you can access your pension (either 55 or 57 depending on how old you are), pension all the way.

 

Tax relief, tax relief, tax relief

Just experience. 

 

1. Everyone of them will tell you they can do better with your pension. You could have taken one out yesterday, but today another will say they could do better as they want to earn money from it.

 

2. Had one insist I wasn’t thinking of my family as I didn’t take out illness cover, yet I had enough in the bank to be off ill for years.

 

3. Another targeted my private medical, assumed I would just hand it to them to deal with. This is a classic, they want this as the commissions are high.

 

4. Another one tried to sell me another insurance product I didn’t need, despite me telling him I didn’t need it, he still gave a quote and told me I wasn’t providing adequately for my family. This was despite me showing him figures that proved I didn’t need it.

 

5. They all tell you to leave your investments in, as this way they are guaranteed continued income from it. There line is always the same. If there is a dip, they say it will always come back, if it’s high, they say it’s doing well so keep it in.

 

6. Point 5 is true unless they suddenly offer you a different one, which is guaranteed to have higher costs involved.

 

7. Another one I saw,  I asked for all the costs as they never show you everything. Then when he insisted that was it I agreed to do it. Then I turned a page and there was some more costs. I asked what they were, his response was “oh they are just other costs, they aren’t much”. 

 

They just cant help themselves, they are just second hand car salesmen who have a better title. I have met loads, it’s the same with them all. They are just into making a few quid and tart it up to insist they know what they are doing and providing a good service.

 

I have set up some investment online through my bank. I have got just as good returns, but with much smaller costs, and the benefit of not having to meet any of these oiks. It’s brilliant, same results, no oil to deal with. Set up in minutes.

 

People say they will speak to their Financial Advisor as if it’s a good thing to say, some sort of status thing. I am embarrassed when I have to see them. I  would much prefer to have a minor operation than spend time in their company.

Edited 11 March 2018 by Rob1742

[Mark 'expert' Lawrenson]

One for the financial brains on here, I set up a private pension in 1989 with the Pru paid a small amount into it monthly for a few years until I had the opportunity of a work place pension in around 1996, forgot about my original pension, or let’s say dismissed as not worth anything until yesterday when I received a letter with my pension update stating it had a transfer value of 66k, and despite me having not contributed for 20 years had grown by 6k in the past 12 months! I called them and they confirmed the value of my pension but I still can’t believe it’s not a mistake, I guess what I’m asking is it feasible a small amount of contributions ( can’t remember how much) can have grown this much over the last 20 years?

Thanks.

[Dr The Singh]

8 minutes ago, Mark 'expert' Lawrenson said:

One for the financial brains on here, I set up a private pension in 1989 with the Pru paid a small amount into it monthly for a few years until I had the opportunity of a work place pension in around 1996, forgot about my original pension, or let’s say dismissed as not worth anything until yesterday when I received a letter with my pension update stating it had a transfer value of 66k, and despite me having not contributed for 20 years had grown by 6k in the past 12 months! I called them and they confirmed the value of my pension but I still can’t believe it’s not a mistake, I guess what I’m asking is it feasible a small amount of contributions ( can’t remember how much) can have grown this much over the last 20 years?

Thanks.

Sorry pal, you lost me after that, the bullshit radar went of right off the scale.

 

Glad you made some money, pal

[Innovindil]

10 minutes ago, Mark 'expert' Lawrenson said:

One for the financial brains on here, I set up a private pension in 1989 with the Pru paid a small amount into it monthly for a few years until I had the opportunity of a work place pension in around 1996, forgot about my original pension, or let’s say dismissed as not worth anything until yesterday when I received a letter with my pension update stating it had a transfer value of 66k, and despite me having not contributed for 20 years had grown by 6k in the past 12 months! I called them and they confirmed the value of my pension but I still can’t believe it’s not a mistake, I guess what I’m asking is it feasible a small amount of contributions ( can’t remember how much) can have grown this much over the last 20 years?

Thanks.

Any ideas what sort of amount you had in there when you stopped paying in? 

 

The last 12 months increase is 10% isn't it? I'd say it's high, but definitely possible with the right investments. 

[Mark 'expert' Lawrenson]

2 minutes ago, Dr The Singh said:

Sorry pal, you lost me after that, the bullshit radar went of right off the scale.

 

Glad you made some money, pal

Lol no bull, genuine question 

[Mark 'expert' Lawrenson]

1 minute ago, Innovindil said:

Any ideas what sort of amount you had in there when you stopped paying in? 

 

The last 12 months increase is 10% isn't it? I'd say it's high, but definitely possible with the right investments. 

No idea whatsoever it was a long time ago, hope it’s not a mistake ?

[Dr The Singh]

16 minutes ago, Mark 'expert' Lawrenson said:

Lol no bull, genuine question 

I was only kidding mate, it was the financial brains bit, cus there aren't any.

 

I had a pension with standard Life 20 years ago and only put a few grand in, and now it's worth nearly £15 grand.

 

Interested to read answer to your question.

 

My initial thoughts are that the money was made during late 80's/90's when interest rates were very high

[Mark 'expert' Lawrenson]

18 minutes ago, Dr The Singh said:

I was only kidding mate, it was the financial brains bit, cus there aren't any.

 

I had a pension with standard Life 20 years ago and only put a few grand in, and now it's worth nearly £15 grand.

 

Interested to read answer to your question.

 

My initial thoughts are that the money was made during late 80's/90's when interest rates were very high

I thought that too about the 80’s and 90s I can only assume it’s the length of time and good investments, nice surprise anyway ?

[Bellend Sebastian]

1 hour ago, Mark 'expert' Lawrenson said:

One for the financial brains on here, I set up a private pension in 1989 with the Pru paid a small amount into it monthly for a few years until I had the opportunity of a work place pension in around 1996, forgot about my original pension, or let’s say dismissed as not worth anything until yesterday when I received a letter with my pension update stating it had a transfer value of 66k, and despite me having not contributed for 20 years had grown by 6k in the past 12 months! I called them and they confirmed the value of my pension but I still can’t believe it’s not a mistake, I guess what I’m asking is it feasible a small amount of contributions ( can’t remember how much) can have grown this much over the last 20 years?

Thanks.

It's perfectly feasible for an investment to move 10% in a year, although without knowing what your plan is invested in I can't say whether it was to be expected.

 

The pension pot I have that's easy to keep track of has turned £32,000 into £42,000 in about 3 years, albeit invested quite aggressively.

 

Also, in more than 20 years in the industry I don't think I've ever seen an insurance company issue a statement that's been wrong by more than a few pounds so I expect you're OK on that front

[Claridge]

Start smoking and drink heavily. No need to worry about a pension then

[RODNEY FERNIO]

One thing I'm not sure on pensions is that I understand when you draw on your pension pot

... 25% of the pot is tax free. The question I have is does that mean that you have to draw

the full 25% in one go or can you say draw 10% and the other 15% a few years later.

Also if the latter applies is the 15% based on the value of the pension pot when you made

the initial withdrawal or when you make the second withdrawal ? 

[Bellend Sebastian]

30 minutes ago, RODNEY FERNIO said:

One thing I'm not sure on pensions is that I understand when you draw on your pension pot

... 25% of the pot is tax free. The question I have is does that mean that you have to draw

the full 25% in one go or can you say draw 10% and the other 15% a few years later.

Also if the latter applies is the 15% based on the value of the pension pot when you made

the initial withdrawal or when you make the second withdrawal ? 

Basically, pension benefits are either 'crystallised' (you've drawn on them) or 'uncrystallised' (you haven't). The rules say you don't have to crystallise it all in one go, although your contract may or may not let you do this (you can always transfer to one that will though). Your 25% tax free is based on the value when you crystallise, so you can come back to what's left years later, crystallise what's left and get 25% of its value tax free, whatever that is at that point.

 

Does that make sense?

[RODNEY FERNIO]

13 minutes ago, Bellend Sebastian said:

Basically, pension benefits are either 'crystallised' (you've drawn on them) or 'uncrystallised' (you haven't). The rules say you don't have to crystallise it all in one go, although your contract may or may not let you do this (you can always transfer to one that will though). Your 25% tax free is based on the value when you crystallise, so you can come back to what's left years later, crystallise what's left and get 25% of its value tax free, whatever that is at that point.

 

Does that make sense?

Thanks for that ... very helpful.

 

[Mark 'expert' Lawrenson]

2 hours ago, Bellend Sebastian said:

It's perfectly feasible for an investment to move 10% in a year, although without knowing what your plan is invested in I can't say whether it was to be expected.

 

The pension pot I have that's easy to keep track of has turned £32,000 into £42,000 in about 3 years, albeit invested quite aggressively.

 

Also, in more than 20 years in the industry I don't think I've ever seen an insurance company issue a statement that's been wrong by more than a few pounds so I expect you're OK on that front

Yes, I went online and checked last years statement and it’s correct, amazing, I’d dismissed it as worthless, still won’t give me much of a pension but every bit helps 

[Carl the Llama]

Anybody on here had any experience investing in stock & share ISAs? How the bloody hell do they really work? 

 

I'm considering shifting some cash from an old ISA I've been neglecting (on purpose mind you - I find shoving these things to the farthest recesses helps avoid the urge to spoon off and defeat the purpose) to make it more profitable so any sage advice from more wisened heads would be gratefully received.

 

Then again would it be fair to say that a run of the mill ISA's probably the best place to leave my money right now if we're headed for another economic nosedive with all this Brexit malarkey?  

[ozleicester]

In my 20s, (The 1980s) they told me I would be working a few days a week by my 40s and retired by my 50s (computers robots etc)

 

They told me societies biggest issue would be how to fill all of the leisure time we would all have....

 

The retirement/pension age is now 67 in Oz (and looking at 70) so if they get their way...my forced superannuation payments wont be available till my 60s or 70s.

 

My point with this whine.... dont think for one minute, that the plans you make today will be relevant in 30-40 years time.

 

Live today

 

[Bellend Sebastian]

3 hours ago, Carl the Llama said:

Anybody on here had any experience investing in stock & share ISAs? How the bloody hell do they really work? 

 

I'm considering shifting some cash from an old ISA I've been neglecting (on purpose mind you - I find shoving these things to the farthest recesses helps avoid the urge to spoon off and defeat the purpose) to make it more profitable so any sage advice from more wisened heads would be gratefully received.

 

Then again would it be fair to say that a run of the mill ISA's probably the best place to leave my money right now if we're headed for another economic nosedive with all this Brexit malarkey?  

An ISA, like a pension, is just a holding vehicle for assets, and acts as a shelter from tax.

 

Unlike a pension, with an ISA you can take your money out whenever you like.

 

The success or otherwise of using either ultimately depends on what you invest it in. If you're going to go for stocks and shares, you need to take a five year view at least. You can make money in less than that, but of course you can lose some of it too - invest for long enough, and the chances of that happening are actually relatively small.

 

Don't invest anything that you're planning to spend anytime soon e.g. don't invest in the stock market to pay for a house deposit/daughter's wedding/interest only mortgage in a couple of years' time.

 

Impossible to predict effect of Brexit etc on markets, especially in short term - if in doubt, invest regularly rather than with a lump sum

 

 

[Carl the Llama]

3 hours ago, Bellend Sebastian said:

An ISA, like a pension, is just a holding vehicle for assets, and acts as a shelter from tax.

 

Unlike a pension, with an ISA you can take your money out whenever you like.

 

The success or otherwise of using either ultimately depends on what you invest it in. If you're going to go for stocks and shares, you need to take a five year view at least. You can make money in less than that, but of course you can lose some of it too - invest for long enough, and the chances of that happening are actually relatively small.

 

Don't invest anything that you're planning to spend anytime soon e.g. don't invest in the stock market to pay for a house deposit/daughter's wedding/interest only mortgage in a couple of years' time.

 

Impossible to predict effect of Brexit etc on markets, especially in short term - if in doubt, invest regularly rather than with a lump sum

Cheers.  Since my goal with this one is to dump the cash somewhere and forget about it I have no problem with long term investments.  Looking online, a firm called London Capital and Finance are offering a fixed rate 5 year scheme with 8.95% interest (min. investment of £5k).  Considering the other fixed rates out there that's got to be too good to be true, surely?  Nobody else seems to come close, I smell a fish.

[Guest Kopfkino]

13 minutes ago, Carl the Llama said:

Cheers.  Since my goal with this one is to dump the cash somewhere and forget about it I have no problem with long term investments.  Looking online, a firm called London Capital and Finance are offering a fixed rate 5 year scheme with 8.95% interest (min. investment of £5k).  Considering the other fixed rates out there that's got to be too good to be true, surely?  Nobody else seems to come close, I smell a fish.

 

It's not FSCS regulated. It's not a stocks and shares ISA either as it's corporate bonds so essentially it's more like an unregulated P2P product. It's probably riskier than you're wanting/realise? 

[Carl the Llama]

4 minutes ago, Kopfkino said:

 

It's not FSCS regulated. It's not a stocks and shares ISA either as it's corporate bonds so essentially it's more like an unregulated P2P product. It's probably riskier than you're wanting/realise? 

Yeah I figured as much.  If I had the cash to play with I'd give it a punt but as things stand I'm not touching an investment like that.