Breaking Through, Travelling On

edinburgher

ZTD wrote: »

Be careful of "ethics". Another person's ethics are not likely to be your own.

I believe the head of the ethical CoOp bank made a series of payments keeping rent-boys off the streets...

Indeed - that was why I asked KC how she made her decisions - it's a very personal thing and it's fascinating to hear how people tick differently

Karmacat wrote: »

I didn't check out the fees, grrr, you're right, I should have. Will do, though can't do it tomorrow, thats Foam Disposal Day.]

Just one more thing to check.

I take ZTD's point re. bonds, it's not volatility you seem to be afraid of per se, but sequence of returns risk (i.e. you get the volatility when you need it least). That's something that you're right to be afraid of, particularly as your money is sat rather lumpily in bricks and mortar for the most part. If you were going to stick doggedly to a fixed withdrawal rate, that might be an issue.

I think that it would definitely be an idea for you to track down the link that jamesd provided to the Guyton-Klinger paper in which they look at taking higher initial deductions from a pension, but with a strict series of rules to prevent you from knackering your capital too soon. One of the conclusions that I drew from it was that a higher percentage of equities (even higher than you currently have) meant that you were more likely to meet the goal of having a comfortable retirement without running out of money completely. It was a very interesting read and would be quick easy to implement.

Here's a link.

Karmacat

Thank you Ed! Much appreciated. Thats not a one off read, and I need to take the laptop downstairs and read it in comfort.

I'm going to make a list of financial jobs, and tackle one a week, I think, maybe two a week. I'm going to have hysterics if I try to do more than that ... and there's other possibilities of income too - the cat sitting, I'll obviously get into P2P now, and opening new accounts the way Tilly and Goldie do. I can't just let the cash sit there at 1% a year - in fact, about £5k of ISA money is at 0.5% p.a. Horrendous.

Right, definitely signing off now, will read that article. Thanks again

ZTD

Karmacat wrote: »

I wasn't thinking of interest rates though I think they might actually drop a tiny bit lower, the odd negative interest rate is percolating through business accounts ...

They won't make it far through personal accounts. Otherwise people will just withdraw it, revert to a cash society and keep it under the mattress. Cash societies are not very taxable. Things which are not very taxable keep politicians awake at nights. We won't be going there.

Karmacat wrote: »

I know the US is desperate to raise interest rates,

No they aren't. They just wish you to think that, so you don't think they're going to Inflate like bandits, and so will have more faith in their money. The more faith in their money, the slower it becomes valueless.

Karmacat wrote: »

but I don't think it's going to happen any time soon. I just think I have too high a percentage, almost two thirds, in stocks and shares - you know how far down the stock market can go in a recession - for me, needing that money now-and-in-the-near future, that could be disastrous, I can't afford to wait very long before I need to cash some of it in, at any price.

Yes, volatility could be that bad for me, if my stocks etc lose 30% of their value and I have to cash in some of them that year, and again the year after that.

I think you're listening to people stuck in the pre-war finance way of thinking, where there were shares which were shares in a company, and money was made out of real tin.

Nowadays, there are shares in companies, Investment Trusts and Open Ended Investment companies to name a few. I'm not only suggesting diversifying between the broad catageories of "stocks", "bonds", "gilts" and "other" - but diversifying within those categories as well.

There are OEICs/ITs which specialise in income, some which specialise in capital preservation, and there used to be some (I imagine they're not so popular at the moment) which specialised in shorting/bear markets.

It's difficult for them all to go down at once, unless money itself suddenly gained value - and there are some OEICs/ITs which specialise in short-term money markets too.

Karmacat wrote: »

Woul I prefer a guaranteed loss, rhetorically speaking? Dependent on the level of the loss, maybe, I hadn't thought in those terms :eek:

Not thinking about things seems to be my forte, which I didn't expect to be the case....

Well as people go on, they collect more and more "received wisdom". It's more my forte to show that "wisdom" is contradictory, and can't all be true.

"Cognitive Dissonance" could be my middle name, except it's two names. And difficult to spell... :rotfl:

ZTD

Forgot to mention ETFs as well.

beanielou

Interest on the teeny weeny amount in my ISA is now just 0.02%!!!
Cant get much lower than that!!!

ZTD

beanielou wrote: »

Interest on the teeny weeny amount in my ISA is now just 0.02%!!!
Cant get much lower than that!!!

It should not be still there...

Karmacat

ZTD wrote: »

Nowadays, there are shares in companies, Investment Trusts and Open Ended Investment companies to name a few. I'm not only suggesting diversifying between the broad catageories of "stocks", "bonds", "gilts" and "other" - but diversifying within those categories as well.

There are OEICs/ITs which specialise in income, some which specialise in capital preservation, and there used to be some (I imagine they're not so popular at the moment) which specialised in shorting/bear markets.

It's difficult for them all to go down at once, unless money itself suddenly gained value - and there are some OEICs/ITs which specialise in short-term money markets too.

Not Going There :eek: As My Brain Would Explode

"Cognitive Dissonance" could be my middle name, except it's two names. And difficult to spell... :rotfl:

I think you may be on to something :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

beanielou wrote: »

Interest on the teeny weeny amount in my ISA is now just 0.02%!!!
Cant get much lower than that!!!

I agree with both you *and* Z! Even my ordinary easy access account at Principality has 1.1% interest, beanie!

If I can do any more financial work before I go away, I will, but I'm off on Friday, and the fatigue thingy takes its toll. But those very very low interest accounts are going to be moving, and when I've sufficiently digested the article that Ed kindly linked to, I'll move on those issues as well, when I get back.

Save

Karmacat

Foam has gone :j

Definitely glad I didn't try to give it to someone that needed it - handling it made it disintegrate, both of us were coughing like crazy, it was very yuck.

But its done :j:j:j

I've kept the insulation frame that went into the window space - its solid wood, very well made (except where I sawed it down to adapt it to this new window when I moved ) and it will go into the garden in the border, where I'll just put it on top of a weeded space and fill it up with bought topsoil - so I'll be able to grow things like lettuces and radishes :j a sort of mini raised bed, so I don't have to cope with crap soil

Plus a cheque arrived today, in payment for one of my last sessions, and I was forgetting a couple of other debts, which add up to another couple of hundred winging their way towards me.

Been thinking of how to move forward financially from here, of course. So starting from next month, I'm going to give myself 40 months working actively as a writer, and from next year as a catsitter/housesitter. After that, I'll let it go passive, and go with the income for as long as I can - that takes me to the beginning of 2020, unbelievably.

Until I was in my 40s, I was told I could get the state pension at 60, and thats long gone. Then I was told I could get it at 65, and 40 months will see me through that anniversary and give me some time to finish off - there'll be a sale of cat-related items by then, I should imagine

And finally, at the end of that year, will come the age when I *am* finally allowed to pick the blasted thing up - end of 2020. If me and the UK are both still here ... at this stage, I'm taking nothing for granted. Except The Kindness Of Strangers, as it appears here on mse, you lovely people you.

ZTD

Karmacat wrote: »

Foam has gone :j

Definitely glad I didn't try to give it to someone that needed it - handling it made it disintegrate,

If you'd used something flammable, it could have disintegrated with attitude.

An oxidiser and it would have disintegrated with altitude...

Karmacat wrote: »

I've kept the insulation frame that went into the window space - its solid wood, very well made (except where I sawed it down to adapt it to this new window when I moved ) and it will go into the garden in the border, where I'll just put it on top of a weeded space and fill it up with bought topsoil - so I'll be able to grow things like lettuces and radishes :j a sort of mini raised bed, so I don't have to cope with crap soil

You're so far down south, you should be able to grow pineapples under glass...

[Deleted User]

Karmacat wrote: »

Foam has gone :j

Definitely glad I didn't try to give it to someone that needed it - handling it made it disintegrate, both of us were coughing like crazy, it was very yuck.

But its done :j:j:j

Well done:T. It must have been quite a job:eek:.

I trust you wore a mask though.