made redundant can i live off 170k.

gozomark

eeja wrote: »

....serious conditions attached to a major bond such as Barclays, which will not pay any coupon or interest on ones bond unless the shareholders are paid a dividend. Who could even have imagined such a clause in a Corporate Bond ?

TBH, its just the sort of condition I'd expect to see

eeja

gozomark wrote: »

TBH, its just the sort of condition I'd expect to see

You mean expect to see from Barclays ? Or from all corporate bank issuers ? ?
No mention of this condition which basically links fixed interest with equity, is mentioned on bondscape or selftrade the two major GBP corporate bond websites accessible to the public ,either by asterisk or note alongside NOR is this info volunteered by their dealers if and when you get to speak to them to discuss / obtain prices for Barclays corporate bonds .........honestly .
If the dealers know they certainly do not mention this pre-condition of receiving your bond interest to a prospective bond purchaser .
I firmly believe they should . Am I wrong gozomark ?

gozomark

I only ever traded corporate bonds in Asia, and it was commonplace there.

gozomark

eeja wrote: »

NOR is this info volunteered by their dealers if and when you get to speak to them to discuss / obtain prices for Barclays corporate bonds

why should a dealer tell you ? A salesman possibly yes, but not a dealer - a dealer is there to give you a price

moana

srg751 wrote: »

ive just been made redundant at 54 with little hope of a job in the forseeable future. I claim £60 a week jobseekers allowance, have a pension pot of 35k and £135k in savings. Can someone please advise me on how to invest this money to enable me to have some income. My mortgage will be paid off later this year but even then I will still be left with an annual shortfall of 9k Any advice would be appreciated.

This was one of the best threads I've read on this site except for the last page or so.

I was interested in it because I retired aged 50, 10 years ago and one of my pots for retirement had 170 k in it.

We had three properties in UK and overseas and we wanted to split our time between UK and our overseas home. No outstanding mortgages or any debt.

There is some very good info in the answers above and some not so good. You'll have to work out which is which yourself as IMO it will be situation dependent.

What did I do with my 170K Well I went to a very well known IFA and asked for info about where and when to invest hoping for a 10k pa return.
I bought what they suggested even though the best they could offer only gave me 6k pa.
Since then we've had 911 and a few other downs as well as the current one.

My other investments which I made myself have kept me in good stead and the big UK IFA has really been poor or worse with very little, in fact, no help from them since.

What did I learn.

Well I wouldn't use an IFA or recommend one.

You mustn't think that you can invest your pot and forget about it. You need to be flexible and adjust where you have invested to make the best of what is actually happening.

Martin's site should be a daily read, sift it's ideas and use what suits you.

170k wouldn't have been nearly enough for us and we live quite simply, nothing special.
Mind you we also wanted capital retention, doesn't everyone.

What might you take on board from all the posts above.

Firstly I'd say keep looking for employment and don't get too down if you don't find anything immediately. Times are now tough and if you don't look now then in a year or two when things improve you will have lost the impetus and will find it harder.

While looking for employment take some time to learn about investment and decide how you will invest your 170k, there's no great rush for 6 months. I'd say the economy isn't going to immediately turn around no matter the bear market rallies we have.

Good luck.

gozomark

moana wrote: »

there's no great rush for 6 months. I'd say the economy isn't going to immediately turn around no matter the bear market rallies we have. .

markets tend to discount atleast 1 year ahead - I suspect the economy will bottom later this year, or early next. I think we have already seen the bottom in equities

eeja

gozomark wrote: »

I only ever traded corporate bonds in Asia, and it was commonplace there.

Well GOZOMARK these Barclays Corporate bonds were traded in Asia !
Furthermore the bank that sold them was Barclays Asia Private Banking. The bank undoubtedly had a duty and responsibility to inform their client of the risks when selling these bonds which they accepted and did.
All the risks were clearly explained , EXCEPT that is ,the one risk that should Barclays not declare a dividend to shareholders, their corporate bondholders would not receive any interest this year ...not a penny !!

So why did the Private banker dealer not do his duty , one wonders ?
Two guesses :
1. The trader was unaware of this most unusual covenant with a fixed interest corporate bond OR
2. As Barclays has not failed to pay a dividend to their shareholders even once in the last 100 years ( as reported in this forum) it was considered a risk too small to be even worthy of mention !

As the matter could end up being purely hypothetical and Barclays do indeed declare a dividend to their shareholders on that day, it's been decided to leave this issue/possible dispute in abeyance until 24 April when Barclays hold their AGM, as the matter could end up being purely hypothetical (with them indeed declaring a dividend to their shareholders on that day.)
It would advisable for other Barclays Bank corporate bondholders to do the same and await Barclay's boss Mr Varley's decision to be announced at the AGM .
Thank you

gozomark

was it not in the T&C of the placement memorandum ?

I disagree that its the dealers/traders duty to inform you - its the salesmans

eeja

gozomark wrote: »

was it not in the T&C of the placement memorandum ?

I disagree that its the dealers/traders duty to inform you - its the salesmans

Sure, it must have been disclosed when the bonds were issued originally and is also in the US government's SEC filing by Barclays available online but even there it is very vague as to whether when dividends resume ( should they not be declared in any year) the unpaid corporate bond interest due from the previous year will then be paid.
Only a QC could decypher the ambiguous statement on this point in the SEC filing .
Re the second point you are of course right concerning traders but this was not a trader but a private banker who was paid a fee for private banking services....Yes, Barclays do charge in Asia an annual fee for private banking services.

purch

If the dealers know they certainly do not mention this pre-condition of receiving your bond interest to a prospective bond purchaser

Caveat Emptor