Invest or Overpay Remortgage

racing_blue

I hope you are right P. Here is one link which mentions it:
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/saving/article-2518704/Autumn-Statement-2013-New-Isa-limits-announced-year.html

gadgetmind

A lot of people are using ISAs for retirement planning, and HMG seem to have a deep dislike of those who save their own money to spend in old age, so anything could happen.

Thrugelmir

mark88man wrote: »

I think jamesd was referring more to arguments like
* over the period in which I saved paying an average mortgage interest rate of <x> which was equivalent to £y in todays money, versus
* a portfolio (insert your portfolio choice here but eg Vanguard World Tracker, or FTSE tracker or 25%, 25%, 25%, 25%) would have returned <z> which was worth so much more or so much less than that

Hindsight is a wonderful tool if you possess it. Along with forecasting employment, relationships and health. So many variables to consider. Not just investment returns.

Wilkins

atush wrote: »

Markets can and do crash. But not normally 25%+.

But it is worth looking at history in this case and seeing how far apart these occurrences are, and what happens (quite often immediately or soon after) as in many cases you can make up what is lost by staying invested and not leaving the market.

A "crash" usually is something like 25% or more but they don't happen that often. A 15%-20% fall, though, comes along every few years.


Autumn 2008 - Summer 2009 was such a wonderful time for investors (it enabled me to take early retirement), but I don't expect it to be repeated any time soon. Nevertheless, I still keep a good cash reserve and even a 10% fall would be most welcome.

gadgetmind

I've also made hay over the last few years and am massively ahead of where I expected to be.

planteria

racing_blue wrote: »

I hope you are right P. Here is one link which mentions it:
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/saving/article-2518704/Autumn-Statement-2013-New-Isa-limits-announced-year.html

yes. i just don't see that happening. the annual limit was as expected. and CTFs can now be moved into JISAs:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/savings/10534380/Child-trust-fund-savings-can-be-moved-to-Junior-Isas.html

planteria

gadgetmind wrote: »

A lot of people are using ISAs for retirement planning, and HMG seem to have a deep dislike of those who save their own money to spend in old age, so anything could happen.

i don't see that at all. the risk is that they like people doing it too much because it means that they can pull their other 'benefits' on account of affordability [if things go red again].

gadgetmind

planteria wrote: »

i don't see that at all.

Annual Allowance reductions, Special Allowance knee-jerk legislation, Lifetime Allowance reductions, threats to PCLS, threats to ISAs, you may not see it, but it's there.

Thrugelmir

gadgetmind wrote: »

Annual Allowance reductions, Special Allowance knee-jerk legislation, Lifetime Allowance reductions, threats to PCLS, threats to ISAs, you may not see it, but it's there.

All pale into insignificance though if the link between the state pension and inflation is broken. With the state pension linked to average pay instead. Probably wouldn't happen this side of an election as so obviously a vote loser.

Which means that saving for ones retirement in any form becomes even more important. The vast majority simply do save enough to fund even now.

racing_blue

Wilkins wrote: »

Autumn 2008 - Summer 2009 was such a wonderful time for investors (it enabled me to take early retirement), but I don't expect it to be repeated any time soon. Nevertheless, I still keep a good cash reserve and even a 10% fall would be most welcome.

Do you attempt to time the market, generally?

(genuine Q- I have read so many times that this may be a flawed approach)