Savings & Investments Attitude

[Bayfox]

when I started work I spent every penny I had and some.

when I moved in with the missus I sorted all my debts, no cards or loans and once we brought our own house saved about 30k in 4 years.

when we started a family her 12 months off work ate into about 20k of that. partly as we lived the same lifestyle and didn't cut back.

12 months ago I had to get a credit card for the 1st time in 10 years. just to feed my kids and pay for fuel.

luckily I have just had a few quid windfall and paid off the card and am in the process of moving home. but the mortgage is gonna mean we now have to adjust our lifestyle.

hopefully over the next few years we can start to save again with the kids at school and not nursery.

we both have pensions and when we retire the house will be a nice little pot when it comes to downsizing.

[Raj]

been working for 20+ years snd always saved so got abit stashed away.Only 5 odd years left on mortgage.Dont owe anyone owt,no loans,credit card paid in full every month.

My dad taught me never to buy owt that i cant afford to pay.

Pay into a company pension,but fook knows if thats any good"

Unlike Sir F any shares i buy are sure to go down the next day!

My best investment/cherished items are my 2 beautiful kids!!!!

[Ross-Kemp]

I own a home in which I rent out and the tennant pays 100% of my mortgage each month which is on a repayment rate.

I rent a house twice the size of the house I own for less than the monthly repayments.

I've got a couple of thousand in an instant access account, just in case.

And with employer contributions, 18% of my salary goes into my pension with only 6% being paid in by me.

Not bad at 23 I think.

[johnny the fox]

Thinking of cashing in my share ISA.. and going for a "off set" mortgage , are they any good?

[johnny the fox]

I own a home in which I rent out and the tennant pays 100% of my mortgage each month which is on a repayment rate.

I rent a house twice the size of the house I own for less than the monthly repayments.

I've got a couple of thousand in an instant access account, just in case.

And with employer contributions, 18% of my salary goes into my pension with only 6% being paid in by me.

Not bad at 23 I think.

2 grand is shite.. ive had tenants who i couldn't get out for more than 4 months,... build up more of a safety nest egg mate.

[VLC86]

Thinking of cashing in my share ISA.. and going for a "off set" mortgage , are they any good?

Yep they are but you to have a sizeable chunk to put in it. Iv had customers that halved the time on their mortgage by taking one out.

People make me laugh with ISA's, you might earn 1% tax free but you offer them 3% gross on a tax paying account and they won't have it. I get the point about interest rates going up but that's still a fair way off.

[Webbo]

Hard to comment without knowing the circumstances - but I would see a shares ISA as at least a medium term investment (5-10 years). Did she buy shares or funds?

 

The best cash ISA right now is about 2% I think. Not worth it

I don't know, it was all organised by Lloyds bank. I think she was badly advised.

[cambridgefox]

I feel so lucky at the moment.not bragging but I've had some fantastic times with my mates,travelled the world,been skint,had times when me and the Mrs got paid and had no money for the rest of month,luckily now we have the full allocation of premium bonds allowed,do what we want until we get our new house that is,with a worrying mortgage,but I'm getting on a bit.just reading this makes me sound like a right cvnt but had a bit of luck along the way to be fair.

[cambridgefox]

Unless you are talking pensions when your employer is matching what you save and you are paying no tax on it.  Also share schemes can be pretty good.  Other than that I agree.

spot on,that's how we made a lot on share schemes,was lucky enough to quadruple my investments on share schemes at my old work on rolling 5 year plans.capital gains though!

[johnny the fox]

Yep they are but you to have a sizeable chunk to put in it. Iv had customers that halved the time on their mortgage by taking one out.

People make me laugh with ISA's, you might earn 1% tax free but you offer them 3% gross on a tax paying account and they won't have it. I get the point about interest rates going up but that's still a fair way off.

cheers.

[ozleicester]

May not work for others but for my life i went with...

 

Live your life, if possible buy a house but dont kill yourself to pay it off, treat the mortgage like rent and accept its going to be there for 25+ years.

 

Spend on holidays, experiences and and helping others. Dont fall into the capitalist idea that every year must see a growth in your net worth, If you own a storage unit youve got too much stuff. If you are enjoying your life you are "winning". 

 

There will be times you are short, times you need to borrow and there will be times you have money in the bank and people (espec kids) will borrow from you.

 

Its really not about the money.

[Tommy G]

May not work for others but for my life i went with...

 

Live your life, if possible buy a house but dont kill yourself to pay it off, treat the mortgage like rent and accept its going to be there for 25+ years.

 

Spend on holidays, experiences and and helping others. Dont fall into the capitalist idea that every year must see a growth in your net worth, If you own a storage unit youve got too much stuff. If you are enjoying your life you are "winning". 

 

There will be times you are short, times you need to borrow and there will be times you have money in the bank and people (espec kids) will borrow from you.

 

Its really not about the money.

 

Good way to look at life, I think it's also true that you seem to have less money as you get older.

 

I felt I had more disposable income when I was earning 20k than when I'm earning 40k, but as you grow up there is more to pay for and thats life

 

Really interesting reading people attitudes, and attitude to risk

[absolutelegend]

What on earth do people spend all their money on?  I just buy records and clothes, it leaves quite a bit left

 

I spend 40% of my wages on taxes that pay for the workshy to sit on their arses all day.

 

The rest is:

mortgage

pension

bills; gas, electricity, council tax, mobile phone, landline, television, car breakdown, water

insurances; home, travel, car(s)

regular home maintenance costs; e.g. boiler service plan

irregular home maintence; painting, decorating, garden etc.

petrol

food

clothes

things that I know I might need to save for; moving house costs, wedding, holidays

gifts for peoples birthdays / christmas

the mrs

 

and what I have left I spend on stuff I like, which in my case is my bike, or save for unplanned events, which isn't as much as I'd like.  Some I save, some I invest.

[Babylon]

Saved ever since I was a little kid. I put it down to having parents who didn't have a great amount of money when we were growing up, we could see how important money was and if anyone wanted anything we had to save for it.

 

Every month I put £300 into a 6% regular saver, I over pay my mortgage monthly as well as paying off lump sums now and again, £200 into a pension, £100 into a stocks and shares ISA, with the odd flutter on other shares that take my fancy. Anything that's left at the end of the month gets put into my standard ISA.

 

Growing up a saver enabled to buy a house 5 years ago with pretty much a 50% deposit, which at the current rate of paying off will mean I'll be mortgage free come next December... which at the age of 36 will be a massive weight off my mind knowing nobody can ever take it off me and that if I lost my job I wouldn't be under any pressure.

 

At the moment paying off the mortgage is better than saving really, put I like to spread it all about in different places just in case.

[DennisNedry]

Where are people working to get such generous employer pension contributions?!

 

I opted out of the compulsory pension scheme the government has just brought in, since my employer would only pay 1%.

 

I think I'll have a serious look at pensions when I reach 30 and hopefully am earning enough to make it worth it.

[Tommy G]

Where are people working to get such generous employer pension contributions?!

 

I opted out of the compulsory pension scheme the government has just brought in, since my employer would only pay 1%.

 

I pay in 2% employer pays in 6% which isnt great.

 

Will up my contributions when I hit 30, in turn that will put employers contributions up.

 

Public sector is still the place to be re pensions but thats a separate argument....

[Guest MattP]

Where are people working to get such generous employer pension contributions?!

 

I opted out of the compulsory pension scheme the government has just brought in, since my employer would only pay 1%.

 

It's a long shot they'll even be there by the time most of us get there anyway.

 

Another Labour government will be along the way soon enough and a raid of the private pension pot would be almost inenvitable.

[Matt]

Where are people working to get such generous employer pension contributions?!

 

I opted out of the compulsory pension scheme the government has just brought in, since my employer would only pay 1%.

 

I think I'll have a serious look at pensions when I reach 30 and hopefully am earning enough to make it worth it.

 

1% is better than nothing though and also the more you hours you work/earn their contribution is more (It's still 1% but that 1% is a bigger sum based on earning).

 

I wasn't keen on joining the company scheme as I was of the opinion of it's only 1% but was talked round.

 

The percentage does increase over the next few years, it does at my workplace anyway.

 

IMO there won't be a state pension when I come to retirement age, I wonder if there will be a retirement age if i'm honest, which riles me as when I open my payslip and see all the tax/national insurance deductions I think what is the point when i'm not really going to see much off it, when I know deep down it's unlikely i'll get anything back in regards a state pension.

 

My plan is to retire or go part-time at around 50 - 55, i'm not holding myself to it but it's an idea I have, the way i'm saving (whilst still living and enjoying life as I said in my first post in this thread) the plan could come reality, but I still have another 23 years or so to go and alot could happen in that time - who knows, I might not even be here but again like I said in my first post in this thread it's the risk i'm taking and i'm not missing out on anything, I still spend, I still buy what I want/do what I want and enjoy life.

[Babylon]

Well that certainly puts you in the minority. Being able to deliver a return of at least 15% per annum over the long term would put you comfortably among the likes of Warren Buffett and Neil Woodford as the best investors in the world.

I've regularly been well in advance of 15% per annum since around the end of 2008. Only because I first got interested in trading when the market crashed, I read an article about buying at the bottom and when I bought it was smack bang on the start of the market recovery. There have been a couple of duds, but in the main they have all gained massively. A couple are below but I've probably had about 14 different ones over time.

 

Britvic @ 281.00

Taylor Wimpey (my best one) at @ 05.00

Legal and general at @ 69.00

Whetherspoons @ 210.00

 

Luck more than judgement probably on some of them, but I usually just buy shares in companies I've experienced as a customer and I think they are doing a good job.

[MC Prussian]

I usually try to keep a tight check on my books and always make sure I have enough money on the side to support me for at least three months straight in case I should be made redundant or I should fall ill and be sidelined for a while (you never know).

 

I own one credit card and one debit card. I don't keep tabs on my credit card, but I usually think twice before spending too much and I have a pretty good overview of how much money I put on it per month.

Also, I usually try to sell old items first before going for new stuff.

[Merging Cultures]

I need to sort out my pension and insurance. This is the first time I've worked for a company that do not pay them. 

 

And now being fat and an expat, living in Lesotho, who travels to countries like Nigeria and DRC, it's difficult to find a decent life insurance quote.

[MooseBreath]

I've regularly been well in advance of 15% per annum since around the end of 2008. Only because I first got interested in trading when the market crashed, I read an article about buying at the bottom and when I bought it was smack bang on the start of the market recovery. There have been a couple of duds, but in the main they have all gained massively. A couple are below but I've probably had about 14 different ones over time.

Britvic @ 281.00

Taylor Wimpey (my best one) at @ 05.00

Legal and general at @ 69.00

Whetherspoons @ 210.00

Luck more than judgement probably on some of them, but I usually just buy shares in companies I've experienced as a customer and I think they are doing a good job.

Across your whole portfolio you've averaged higher than 15% every year since 2008? There were some serious gains to be had after the crash but again, 15% per annum is a better return than almost all professionals.

[Merging Cultures]

Tricky game though.

 

"No one knows if share prices are going to go up, down, or fvcking sideways, least of all stockbrokers."

 

It's a long game bet. The stock market continues to go up, but there will be short term blips in between. Do not panic when they happen or you lose out big time.

[Samilktray]

Ive paid about £15 a month into my pension with work for about 3 years now. I havent bothered raising the amount and I have no idea how much work pay into it for me either(no idea how to find out either ). Ill be shopping in reduced to clear bays when i retire.

[Merging Cultures]

Ive paid about £15 a month into my pension with work for about 3 years now. I havent bothered raising the amount and I have no idea how much work pay into it for me either(no idea how to find out either ). Ill be shopping in reduced to clear bays when i retire.

 

You should check out how much they contribute and try to max it out, sometimes they match your contribution up to a certain percentage, which is therefore basically free money.