The march to financial freedom

Brogden

I hope your mum is as well as she can be Ali

I know a lot of peeps are not that interested in pensions but I know we are so I'm talking to you about them !!

Sorry the IFA experience is not all you had hoped for. It's easy though really isn't it? I think you may be thinking along the same lines as me. If you think about a pension fund of £200,000 then that would always have been OK but with the new 'freedoms' it is an absolutely brilliant thing to have. A huge 'emergency' or 'buffer' fund if required but hopefully a sensible source of reasonable income.

That idiotic Pensions Minister said we could spend it on a Lambo :mad: Well.......we could but we probably won't. As far as keeping the wolf from the door is concerned it is absolute gold dust. Yes....taxable in part but maybe not and the tax reliefs make paying the contributions an absolute pleasure . In the old days the low percentages that could be accessed as income and low annuity rates made saving in pensions not too attractive.

The pension freedoms have for me been the most incentivising thing that has ever come from any government though their motives were, as usual very poor !!

I am looking at the proposals of the various pondlife parties on tax relief changes and for the normal guy or gal like you or me its the Lib Dems to avoid I think :rotfl:!!

Sorry to sound like an advert but this is really something everybody should be thinking about!

Broggers x

Ali-OK

Mum is fairing up very well considering, getting through and over pneumonia is a challenge for anyone and on top of the PF, it's a long slow road. But she's still battling and I'm thankful for that . Wish I could get there more frequently but driving isn't getting any better for me .

It was your post on pensions that switched my retirement light bulb on to an incandescent 100 watts :rotfl:. I now see the value of the tax relief and for the first time in a long time, am in a position of being able to push up the contributions. So I am

I'm not sure I'll take advantage of anything more than the 25% tax free lump sum to start with, but I've got plenty of time to learn more and along with NISAs (ooh hark at me :rotfl:), that's forming part of my strategy. After the election though That'll dictate when I do what .

Annuity rates seem to have dropped through the floor I was reading recently - the new pension rules seemingly being the cause. I'm sure they'll be lots of changes between now and when we retire. Luckily for me and SE, I can ramp down to part-time and hopefully have things right for when I'm ready.

One new rule I didn't realise until recently was that DS can inherit my pension too.

I've got a couple of books that I bought back in 2006 when I first joined MSE - alongside Martin's book :money: I got the Millionaire Next Door and the Automatic Millionaire. I'm going to start re-reading and see what else I can do to make my money work harder for me.

I'll do a separate post on today's small DFW things I think

Ali-OK

More energy today :j and I'm being productive and doing all the small things that make a difference to the pennies

- Washing loads done using soap nuts
- Drying outside on the line
- No heating on (it's warmer but cloudier today)
- Gas/Elec readings taken and spreadsheet updated
- Took advantage of free parking in town
- Shopping around for cheapest nail files and cuticle sticks
- Using fresh stuff in the fridge for lunch
- Batch chilli out and defrosting for dinner tonight
- Checked birthday card stash and only bought needed ones - all of June now sorted
- Bought cheap sunglasses (£1 a pair) and hair scrunchies in Primarni as I always lose/break them.

- Did business banking
- Put £25 into DS's Halifocks Young Saver account for May
- Asked if I can renew the 4% Club Lloyds Reg Saver when current one ends next month - apparently I can :j

Motoring along today. If I can get housework done this afternoon, then tomorrow I can pick a project area and make some progress. Study or garage - time to toss a coin :rotfl:

liltdiddylilt

Hello lovely Ali - it is our job so we ought to be good at it and you're very welcome, nothing owed, hopefully lots gained

Yes you're right, annuities have dropped through the floor post pension reform. We haven't done a single one since that particular lot of legislation fell and some annuity companies just keep on and on ringing us to ask if we have stopped doing pensions... :rotfl:

An annuity would have given you an average of £6000 per £100,000 saved. Unless you had some serious health issues and they might give you a bit more with the assumption you would die earlier. You'd be hurt financially for sailing through a medical with them as well :eek: - the new reforms make it a lot easier to live from your pot and adjust your outgoings accordingly.

Brogden I could have kicked him when he said they would all be buying ferrari's and lambo's. What an idiot.

Anyways... glad to hear mum is stable; hope her condition improves soon. Also nice to hear your own issues are stabilising! Since my initial sugar crash headache I haven't had a single one, have been bouncing energetically and eating less and less as the days go on. Not in a bad way, just sticking to my three squares and not even needing to snack today which was great I reckon I could stick to this! As long as I don't get too close to a mars bar!

You've done mad amounts of housework and stuff today. Very impressive well done!!

Hope you have a lovely evening xxx

Ali-OK

Lilt you're brilliant at what you do :T:T and make it simple for numpties like me

Great to hear your diet is bedding in and you're feeling energetic too. I'm loving being gluten-free, though need to get a move on in the making my own bread. Have a machine in the back of the cupboard just itching to get out and be used

Had a productive afternoon too:

- postal votes all filled in and ready to return
- May and June birthday cards all written, need to get 3 vouchers for some of the June ones
- Upstairs housework all done
- Washing all in and put away, just DS's shirts and a pair of chinos to iron
- Dishwasher load put on, finished and emptied
- Garage tidied up and some stuff binned
- Garden clear up after doglets
- Business mobile phone contract sorted with an updated phone on it's way, same plan but for £10 less a month :T

I've earnt feet up this evening I think :rotfl:

Hope everyone's had a good day

liltdiddylilt

Ooh, you've put it in writing!!! :D

I need to remember to vote, seriously. I hate that I can't go to the station by wor and have to divert to one that is *out of the way* for me.

I also need to start doing your magical birthday card writing at the end of the month!! :D so good, never forget one again! I normally send mine up in bulk in stages with my mum to save postage!!

Didn't realise the £10 drop included the same plan AND a new phone!! :T clever lady you are!

Definitely earnt your feet up, and a cuppa honey and strawberry well done on sticking to GF. I am not missing bread at all bizarrely as I used to eat loaves. xxx

Ali-OK

Been in strawberry heaven - a bowl with kiwi and pear tonight, as well as several hot water, strawb and honey combos. Hopefully it's all helping to be healthy

Struggling with breakfasts. Porridge or toast in winter is out, toast or cornflakes in summer is out I didn't eat breakfast at all up until last year :eek: Fruit mid morning and mid afternoon, usually a cold lunch of some sort and a hot dinner. Not craving biscuits, chocolate or cake, but I do like so many bread type foods and am missing those

Postal voting is really useful - had same issue with working in London and then coming home to DS in bed/ready for bed and though I could get to our polling station now, I've stuck with doing it this way. No queues either.

Yes, newer phone, same plan, cheaper price. A win-win there

Tomorrow I'm delving into the study, I maybe gone some time :rotfl:

Eager_Elephant

Ali-OK wrote: »

Struggling with breakfasts. Porridge or toast in winter is out, toast or cornflakes in summer is out I didn't eat breakfast at all up until last year :eek: Fruit mid morning and mid afternoon, usually a cold lunch of some sort and a hot dinner. Not craving biscuits, chocolate or cake, but I do like so many bread type foods and am missing those

Glad you are seeing the benefits of eating gluten free.


When I first started GF I used to have for breakfast either egg, beans, mushrooms/tomatoes or omelette or home made granola (I got the recipe from Memory Girl's blog), it is rather scrummy - I used normal oats in mine (most oats are gluten free but the box will not say this as the growing conditions do not meet the strict criteria of gluten free but if you are coeliac you definitely can't have them)


Now I tend to have egg on GF bread but now I have posted about the granola I must make myself some up!!


I honestly did not think I could survive without 'normal' bread but I did and actually I feel better for it.
What bread products are you missing?

Eager_Elephant

I'm glad this has become the new pension thread and that we have Lilt with a guiding hand as DH and I are discussing pensions at the moment.


I may need advice with his as he has a company pension set up with an old employer that he does not pay into (but is obviously charged each month) and his new company have enrolled him in their one and we thought he should put the two together but when he rung them he was told he had to send his paperwork relating to his old and they would decide if it was worth it??


Not sure if this is correct or whether we need to see an IFA?

Ali-OK

Home made Granola sounds good EE liking the sound of that. I can't see me doing the big breakfast thing, already up at 6 and just enough time for toasting bagels for DS and something quick for me. On the weekend though...yum

I'm missing things like pitta bread, crumpets, fruit bread, naan bread, garlic bread....

Definitely wait for Lilt to look at your pension question. I'm just starting on understanding the journey, even though I've been in it (blindly) for over 20 years :eek:. I've still alot to learn