Nice people thread part 7 - a thread in its prime

silvercar

PasturesNew wrote:

The big question that occurred to me was whether I have to have a landline.

The short answer is no, we have virgin internet without a landline.

The long answer is that it could work out cheaper.

silvercar

chewmylegoff wrote: »

My thoughts are that it is not sensible to pass on the offer of free money, so I would be chucking cash into the pension.

If you pay off the mortgage then presumably your attention will then turn to your pension and you'll still be tight because you'll be worrying about whether your pension pot is big enough- you'll also have missed out on the compounding of the money you could have put into your pension.

chewmylegoff wrote: »

To some extent it does also depend on what the interest rate on your mortgage is though. If you're on a low cost tracker that strengthens the argument for shovelling into pension.

I agree that shoveling money in a pension earlier is better than later, and the notion of "mortgage free" is psychological when you have the money in savings or pension to repay when you want.

vivatifosi

michaels wrote: »

The mortgage is 2% over base tracker offset (effectively IO) currently I have about 60% saved elsewhere at higher rates, it runs for up to about 15 years at the moment. I have been trying to save about 20-25k per annum out of income as 'mortgage repayment. Next year I could give up 4500 of net income and pay 12k in to my pension. At 55(?) I can get back 25% of my pension pot tax free if current rules continue. I have paid about 9% of salary in to my pension for about 17 years but I suspect it is worth little more than the contributions currently.

I don't have enough info here michaels so forgive me if barking up completely the wrong tree, but taking your pension early in order to get to the 25% tax free is a very high risk strategy and should only be taken if you've spoken to an IFA and are sure it can work for you. The reason I say that is purely the following sentence of 9% of salary being little more than contributions. You'd get a reasonable lump sum out, but the rest is likely to be very poor and its whatever other options you have for when you are 65+ that then become a concern. With my scheme, what people get at 55 is very poor compared to 65. Can't remember the actual numbers.

Plus, as you say, you can't be sure that the 25% tax free rule will stand going forward. Nor for that matter, can you be sure that the age that has just risen to 55 won't rise again to say 60. Not that either of these are on the cards at the moment AIUI as they are too busy bringing in auto-enrolment. In fact one of the few things I've learned since I've been a trustee (12 years) that can be written in stone is that just when you think you've got a handle on stuff someone will come along with a new rule that changes everything.

zagubov

silvercar wrote: »

The short answer is no, we have virgin internet without a landline.

The long answer is that it could work out cheaper.

Are you saying you don't have a landline in the house, but possibly still use a mobile? If yes, that's the first time I've heard of that.

michaels

I think Martin is always posting deals where you get phone plus internet for about 15 quid per month by shopping around and using introductory offers.

PasturesNew

silvercar wrote: »

The short answer is no, we have virgin internet without a landline.

The long answer is that it could work out cheaper.

But is that cable malarky? Cable's only in a few areas (big cities), so not available where I am.

PasturesNew

michaels wrote: »

I think Martin is always posting deals where you get phone plus internet for about 15 quid per month by shopping around and using introductory offers.

The thing is ... deals are fine if you've got something and can wait for a deal, but I have a timescale to keep to.

I used his "put in your postcode.... now pick one of the following" chart yesterday and from that picked out the cheapest unlimited broadband (O2).

http://broadband.o2.co.uk/home/packages.jsp

Having said BBs £13, I've just realised it's £17.50 on there as I am not an O2 mobile customer. On the other hand, I don't know if I might be when I get that Android), or if I could/should to save £4.

vivatifosi

Pastures, you need to get over to the "Have a look at this" thread.

The house that's just been posted has this in its description:

The home has been within the family for many years now and we feel that now it needs to move on to pastures new.

Sorry, here's a link:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=57146393&postcount=6450

Not just posted, the latest comment on it was where I'd originally picked it up.

PasturesNew

vivatifosi wrote: »

Pastures, you need to get over to the "Have a look at this" thread.

The house that's just been posted has this in its description:

The home has been within the family for many years now and we feel that now it needs to move on to pastures new.

Sorry, here's a link:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=57146393&postcount=6450

Not just posted, the latest comment on it was where I'd originally picked it up.

Dealt with it ...

lemonjelly

zagubov wrote: »

Well really enjoyed yesterday's Derren Brown. If you didn't see it do yourself a favour.:beer:

Went to Skyfall today. Well worth seeing. It's got DS interested inseeing Dr No and the other old movies. I remeber reading them as yellowed Pan paperbacks back in the early 70s. i'd never have imagined they'd still be such a strong cultural hit today.

I'll be watching the derren show tomorrow on E4, as was at the classical doo-berry, finmding out more new nice music I didn't know I already knew.

On another cd, I found Mozarts clarinet concerto, which I keep listening too.

There's so much out there to find out!