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Hope is not an Effective Financial Strategy
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No issues on your comments at all, that what we post for!
I am confident in the whole combining my pots scenario and my sister definitely wouldn't let me do it, if it wasn't the right thing to do so am happy with this one.
Mrs SJ's pension scheme is very good. Once this mortgage has gone in 5 yrs time then we will be looking 15yrs of income planning for early retirement by utilising a combination of down sizing and our current mortgage payment. I did refer to AVC's for Mrs SJ, is actually something slightly different and much better but i don't want to say what it is for fear of indicating of who she works for etc...The small "AVC" we currently pay just nudges up her percentage of salary to pension. So we will be maximising her "AVC's", at the same time as ISA's/SIPPS (we have a few thousand in S&S Isa now, and are adding £100 a month to get the pot warming up...boiling is maybe 15yrs away, and then we can simmer...).
I'm fully aware that lots will change in terms of work, financial and family situations and with this our plan will keep amending, adjusting and updating as we go along... It's all good fun learning this financial stuff, and my mates love the advice in the pub!MFW: Was: £136,000.......Now: £47,736.58......0 -
Well outside jobs started in earnest today with first up powerwashing the patio. Typically its been raining, so i've made a bit of a botched job. We had a load of dirt and leaves to brush up before starting but given everything was wet i figured there wasn't much point. So i cracked on with the big job figuring i could brush all the rubbish up at the end. So the back is now a total mess and am sat waiting for it to dry out so i can brush up. Trouble is there is a huge black cloud looming too large... So I'll take the pooch out while i wait...impatiently!MFW: Was: £136,000.......Now: £47,736.58......0
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Black cloud stayed as looming but didn't downpour so the patio dried up and i managed to brush the dirt up. So job number 1 negotiated. Job number 2 is to re-cement the flags where we have lost it over the winter. Am hoping to have a dry few hours over the weekend to sort it out. Then Mrs SJ can do her bit and populate the garden pots with plants. I do need to get some bits up from the artificial grass but am reluctant to use the new hoover, so it'll have to be with a stiff brush.
Got a pension response from work which was much quicker than expected, but doesn't allow me to move forward. Apparently work are changing pension providers in the next few weeks and we are all having an (option) individual pension review. So i'll hold off until I have info on the new arrangements.
I have made a huge decision though... I'm going to slow down our MF quest by 12-18 months and realign some of the overpayments towards S&S Isa. Our only debt is the mortgage, we have it down to an acceptable level now, and with the interest rate being so low (1.99% for 5yrs) we need to be more savvy with how we use our cash. I've been musing on having 2 compound effects running concurrently. 1 to reduce the mortgage and the other to steadily build a pot ready for retirement/reducing to part time hours etc...
So a slight tweak in that I'm going to have our standard OP set at £480, which rounds up our payment to £1000 a month, and then any little extra's (TT's etc...). We should still have a net reduction of £880ish per month.
I'll then add the £200 that was earmarked for further OP's to our S&S Isa, making that £300 per month.
If i left this amount going into the ISA for 20yrs then i would hope that at 60 for me and 57 for Mrs SJ we will have a pot in excess of £150k to play with. The intention is to increase the amount we invest once the mortgage has gone and i figure delaying mortgage free by 12 -18 months off the plan, it will give us a start with an investment savings pot of around £25-£30k. I've chosen June 2026 as a MF target, which would be exactly 10yrs earlier than our initial 30yr mortgage in 2006, so a meaningful target!
Just need to relay plans to Mrs SJ tonight now.MFW: Was: £136,000.......Now: £47,736.58......0 -
Mrs SJ informed and she looked as interested as I must when she talks to me about horror films! I'll sort out direct debits tomorrow.MFW: Was: £136,000.......Now: £47,736.58......0
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shangaijimmy wrote: »The £70k's are in sight...
So close SJ! Will you treat yourself when you hit the 70's? I tend to treat myself after every £10k is paid off, even if its something small like going out to dinner with DH.Total Mortgage OP £61,000Outstanding Mortgage £27,971Emergency Fund £62,100I AM NOW MORTGAGE NEUTRAL!!!! <<Sep-20>>0 -
oh yes...either a meal out or a takeway! more than likely takeaway given the 3 little uns situation!MFW: Was: £136,000.......Now: £47,736.58......0
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Well current account is looking phenomenally anaemic, despite Mrs SJ getting paid today. Birthdays, leaving do's and this weekend a christening keep side tracking our money plans. Plus we're owed about £200 in expenses and that really does take its toll when you your budget doesn't leave much wriggle room.
Always good to remind ourselves that we paid off £50k of mortgage debt in 4 years thanks to this site and motivating diary :j:money::j
Going to tackle those weed tonight as well. I reckon I have about 2hrs worth of manual labour to do.MFW: Was: £136,000.......Now: £47,736.58......0 -
Really interesting comments and thoughts on here. Going to re-read again a couple of times!
Our thoughts also about to turn to pension planning.June 2025 - part 1 - £19,145 part 2 - £21,973 Total - £41,118 29 months to go!0 -
Just one observation re your occupational pension. It is commonplace to have a time limit of either 6 months or 12 for moving other pension pots into your occupational pension. You may need to ask that question if you have not already.
I like the fact you are not tied rigidly to your MF timings - you could make 0.51% profit just on some of the 5% regular saver accounts now you have moved to the 1.99% fixed rate for 5 years. Busy Mee1 is all over this approach - looking at mortgage neutrality rather than paying it off as she goesSave £12k in 2025 #2 I am at £4863.32 out of £6000 after May (81.05%)
OS Grocery Challenge in 2025 I am at £1286.68/£3000 or 42.89% of my annual spend so far
I also Reverse Meal Plan on that thread and grow much of our own premium price fruit and veg, joining in on the Grow your own thread
My new diary is here0 -
As its a 'journey' I'm reluctant to get too rigid with targets. Life gets in the way and although I have some timings/markers to beat (eldest finishing high school for example) we still have to live. We will need a new kitchen and a new bathroom, and im just hoping we can resist these until MF, but if not its no major drama. I'm not sure at what remaining mortgage balance we'll make paying it off an absolute priority...£10k maybe??
I did a very rare thing today and popped my rather large head into our accounts department (i say department its really 1.5 persons) . Salary sacrifice for extra above auto enrolment is fine. And it seems that the actual mortgage product isn't changing, but the firm that acts as financial advisers is. We don't have a large number of staff, but a few get some very big wages so the advisory service is required.
So I'll show some figures and the products to my sister (she's an advisor that specialises in pensions) at the weekend, and if all is as it seems I'll press on for next payday at the end of May. Just need to decide whether to keep the take home pay the same and add the NI savings as a further pension payment, or take the increased pay and redirect to S&S Isa.
No joy on doing the weeding either, as it rained most of the evening after getting home from work, grrr...MFW: Was: £136,000.......Now: £47,736.58......0
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