Breaking Through, Travelling On

Karmacat

DedicatedDFW wrote: »

Hey KC

Tax dark :think: I am confused tis easily done!
I will get on board with the stocks and shares and MB in the summer - in the meantime it is good 'hearing' you and Ed chat about it

Hi there :wave: Dedicated, honestly, "tax dark" doesn't mean a huge amount any more, it certainly doesn't mean what the monevator guy advocated, because that loophole has been closed since he wrote his post. Its a nifty focus, thats all - a way to think about maximising future pension income from whatever source by thinking and spending efficiently, thats really all it is. A focus helps, like having a diary helps.

mizmir wrote: »

Not even going to try to "catch up" but checking in to say hi and sorry for being AWOL!

I missed you :kisses3: kept meaning to find your diary and post an MIA notice luckily for you I didn't get round to it - I suspect you've been really busy making up that shortfall. I'll go check in a second.

I had a day out yesterday in London - went to see the Cheapside Hoard exhibition at the London Museum, lots and lots of Elizabethan and Stuart jewellery, it was amazing. http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/london-wall/whats-on/exhibitions-displays/cheapside-hoard-londons-lost-jewels/

Today, its all business again: my big 2 hour session, plus as many things on my list as I can manage. I wrote it out on paper while the computer was booting up: suffice to say its so long I'm not going to bother writing it out again plus I actually *know* I can't fit it all in - its just that these are the things I'd *like* to do in a perfect world

So today, its going to be a ta-da list, not a to-do list. And here's the start:
- washing machine on, stuff hung out.
- dishwasher cycle started.
- posted a query to my smallholder guru about eating strawberry leaves (I'm thinking of my home grown pesto: nettles, sorrel, mint, lemon balm, rosemary, chives, Alexanders and nasturtiums in the future, anything I can get in there). Adding blackberry leaves and raspberry leaves to this list, courtesy my smallholder guru I should have remembered tho!).

And I have to catch up here first, of course :j

edinburgher

Did you read the mention on the Simple Living on Sussex blog of using personal pension allowances for a sneaky tax refund/recovery if you're not working, but drawing down savings before your pensions kick in? Sounded quite useful for anyone not a million miles away from retiring.

Karmacat

I'm not very "up" on blogs, edinburgher, thanks for linking to that. I'll read it properly this evening. What really stands out is upping my income! But its really good to find some of the people who are thinking intelligently about this, and aren't driven to stay in the world of "we've all got wonderful jobs, lets run run run and work all the hours we can". On the mainstream media, thats what it sounds like. I should focus much more strongly on blogs!

List is carrying on apace. Dishwasher is on next, I need to get the place ready for client arrival at midday, thats kind of urgent

edinburgher

Agree 100% re. income.

I'm realising more and more these days that Tilly tidies, the money shuffle, shaving pounds off budgets and keeping it simple are all great, but they don't matter a whit if you've got nothing to save in the first place!

I'm limited by the amount of time available to me and my circle of competence (i.e. I don't know everything!) I really need to get back into the investing frame of mind for the new tax year, there is no magic money tree

Karmacat

One thing I'm going to adopt (have tried to adopt, must do better) is what Dedicated does - she and I both make monthly plans, and I often refer to mine in the first week or so, but when the month is past, she analyses what she's done, the success rate for each - thats brilliant! Manures the money tree, so to speak

Goldiegirl

Hello!


Just been browsing your diary, and found it very interesting, as we are at similar life stage - preparing for retirement!


My husband and I are hoping to stop work next spring... It's a big step to take, and I vary from 'I can't wait' to having very cold feet about it. It's not that want to carry on working, but it will be a bit scary not having salaries anymore! But the desire to stop being constrained by work overrides the cold feet!

Karmacat wrote: »

I had a day out yesterday in London - went to see the Cheapside Hoard exhibition at the London Museum, lots and lots of Elizabethan and Stuart jewellery, it was amazing. http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/london-wall/whats-on/exhibitions-displays/cheapside-hoard-londons-lost-jewels/

We went to that exhibition a couple of weeks ago. It was fabulous. I loved the emerald salamander brooch, I think it's something that could easily be worn today.


I'm subscribing to your diary, as I'd like to keep up with your progress

Karmacat

Hello Goldiegirl!

How lovely! Thank you for subscribing My aim is a bit later than yours, July 2016, when my younger sister is retiring, and having found the tax dark concept from Edinburgher and El, its given me a boost to have something concrete to aim for.

Wasn't the exhibition beautiful! That little salamander, those long, long chains of pearls and gold, the elaborate pendants, really gorgeous. We left much later than we thought we would, it was really something.

I'm glad you're subscribing, lets stay in touch about active retirement planning, the more the merrier :j

gallygirl

Karmacat wrote: »

I'm glad you're subscribing, lets stay in touch about active retirement planning, the more the merrier :j

:T:T:T Me too me too me too :T:T:T

Greying_Pilgrim

Ay up KC - I thought that I would pop over to *yours* because you keep on mentioning tax dark cookery and you know that my food-dar is extremely sensitive and picks up anything culinary related.....

Anyhoo, first things first, on your list you have, 'peanut butter thing Greying keeps wittering on about...' Do you mean THIS recipe? It is from a blog of an MSE'r - I can't remember her username, but I know that she is on the grocery board. If this isn't the one you mean, shout up and I'll search me culinary databanks again......... :rotfl:

I was thinking about what you were talking about and the whole retired/pension rate/living standards debate and thought that I might pitch in with a viewpoint if that is ok?

DP and I currently have £80 a month for our food (only) shopping. We have chosen that level for a number of reasons... one of them being finance available :rotfl: Anyhoo, forget the *why* and what I wanted to say is, I'm not sure, that in retirement - especially without a great big fat uuuuge final salary directorship pension plan - that our (available) grocery budget is going to be any better/more generous than it is now...... :rotfl: Especially since the goal-posts keep moving and DP's assertion that he'll *never* reach retirement age seem more truism than mere jest

So, instead of getting down-beat, DP and I are coming around to the idea of 'living in retirement', erm, well, now. ie, if it ain't going to get significantly better, why not adapt to what you have now, if you get more in the future - great, but if you don't, well, you can at least manage One aspect of that is clearly to get best bang for our buck on food, and get into the rhythm of good, yet affordable, meals.

Now, clearly, our vegetarian life-style isn't going to interest everyone, and I do wish we had the capacity to grow much more food ourselves. However, I am currently enjoying the challenge of coming up with interesting meals, for modest outlay, whilst ensuring that we don't get scurvy, gout or our teeth don't fall out!

I'm at an advantage, I know, as I like cooking and I cook from scratch wherever possible - not everyone can do that or wants to do that - I appreciate that. But I think that it certainly helps our budget that I can do it.

I'm much further along the road of realisation than DP is on this, but then DP is happy as long as there is food on the table, so...... But in reality, my cookbook (which has expanded hugely since I started the diary ) is something of a tax dark cookbook - by default :D But don't worry if you want to bring out such a book - I'll not race you to the publishers for a deal I just think that it is interesting that we've got there by serendipity

I don't know what impact food price rises and global warming will have on the type of food that we eat. As I mentioned on my thread, turnips (Swedes) are dearer than aubergines in L*dl at the moment - how does that work? And if I was in France, I suspect I would not be able to find swede or parsnips - as I *think* they are still regarded as animal fodder I've certainly noticed that dried fruit and nuts have leapt up in price, as have pulses. Soopermercados jumping on the bandwagon as folk cut down their meat consumption??? Or legitimate reflection of growing costs associated with labour rates/crop failure or burgeoning markets in developing countries?

I shall try to keep ahead, one bean stew at a time, one spice blend at a time and one cucina povera recipe at a time....... :D In the meantime, I shall enjoy the highly stimulating discussion on your thread

Greying

elantan

greying i think what you are saying is very important and something that has been mentioned on various threads, i know it is something Mr El and i will once again try to achieve once the current work on the house is finished, a large part of the reason for doing the house was to try and circumvent some possible expenditure in later years, we still have a long way to go and i fancy solar panels etc once they have improved obviously but it is a very good idea to start living within the retirement limit when you can as the shock to the system wont be just as much, it also allows for extra to pensions etc

Kc with the whole pension ISA thing ... the way i am looking at it is take a pension up to the tax threshold ( ie £2.5k a year just now) so i would need a pension pot of just shy of £125k roughly (£31.25k tax free and £2.9k drawdown at a rate 0f 3%) then i plan on putting anymore into a tax free ISA say a further £100k giving me at 3% a rate of £3k a year so i will have £13,400 a year income but only be paying tax on £400 (£80 in total to the tax man), by the next tax year that will be swallowed up these figures are just an example obviously but its just to give you an idea