if you are able to save

missile

I don't want to get into a debate about the pensioners being worse off, suffice to say the "experts" thought it so and the numbers were reported shortly after the budget. Not that it necessarily makes it true :rotfl:

Nor would I wish to split hairs about marraige allowance. However only one partner needs to be born before 6th April 1935 and it is pefectly possible for one partner to be a sprightly 65 :j

If you do not mind me saying, perhaps now is not the best time to be investing in equities.

margaretclare

missile wrote: »

I don't want to get into a debate about the pensioners being worse off, suffice to say the "experts" thought it so and the numbers were reported shortly after the budget. Not that it necessarily makes it true .

No, exactly! I often take what the 'experts' say with a very large pinch of salt. I find that there is a huge amount of stereotyping involved in what the 'experts' think about pensioners.

If you do not mind me saying, perhaps now is not the best time to be investing in equities.

Others will say it's exactly the best time. You buy more units at a cheaper price. Better than buying them at the top of the market!

Margaret

Biggles

missile wrote: »

If you do not mind me saying, perhaps now is not the best time to be investing in equities.

Not if you're investing for the short or medium term. But then it never is the best time to invest for the short/medium term.

It's always the best time to invest for the long term. Never try and 'time' the market, you will be wrong. Always. ;-)

missile

Obviously it depends on one's attitude to risk and what your objectives are. Many silver savers will be fortunate to see any benefit from long term investment.

As I get older my "plan" is to liquidate investments in equity.

It's always the best time to invest for the long term. Never try and 'time' the market, you will be wrong. Always. ;-)

This is banal, tell your recycled homilies to those who make a good living doing precisely that.

margaretclare

missile wrote: »

Obviously it depends on one's attitude to risk and what your objectives are. Many silver savers will be fortunate to see any benefit from long term investment.

Put it this way. We - that's DH and I - could easily live another 20 years. Maybe even longer. That's long-term. I believe that short-term investment is defined as anything up to 5 years, mid-term is 5-10 years.

In that time frame we don't know what our needs and requirements will be. Almost anything is made a little easier and pleasanter if you have a little money available. That, in a nutshell, is my saving and investing strategy. Couldn't be simpler.

Also, historically equities have out-performed savings over a period of time.

I really do dislike all the nay-saying and negative comments that we tend to get in our age-group. 'Many pensioners were worse off after the Budget' - which pensioners? We weren't. 'Many silver savers will be fortunate to see any benefit from long-term investment' - well, we've been pretty fortunate up to now, and I believe in the positive rather than the negative. I could also say 'Many people who post on here (or their sons and daughters do) have more than their needs, because they're worrying about not paying IHT and paying for care homes if in fact they ever need such care'. So obviously, it's both ends of the spectrum. We're in the middle, and I think that's the happiest place to be.

Margaret

Biggles

missile wrote: »

This is banal, tell your recycled homilies to those who make a good living doing precisely that.

When it comes to 'investing', you will find they agree with it. 'Trading' is a different matter, which is probably what you're referring to.

missile

:doh: We are getting a little off the point here. You are entitled to invest in whatever you like but the subject was "if you are able to save"

I am sorry this may upset you again. Many pensioners live on their old age pension and those are the ones who were reported to be worse off following the last budget.

Put it this way. We - that's DH and I - could easily live another 20 years. Maybe even longer.

That would make you what ........... 94? Put it another way the odds against you.

Past performance is no guarantee ......

EdInvestor

IIRC poorer pensioners will not be worse off as a result of the budget because although the abolition of the 10% starting rate band will not be balanced by the cut in the basic rate to 20%, the age allowance is being hiked by much more than inflation. This hike will put low income pensioners in a better position than other less well off types.

missile

Thanks for the info. The BBC News analysis of the effect tax changes could have on pensioners:

Pensioners
Pensioners on low incomes will be sheltered from the full impact of the abolition of the 10% band, as the higher personal allowances for pensioners are also being increased.
But here again the position is not straightforward.
These higher allowances only available in full to pensioners on incomes up to a threshold - for 2007-8, for example, single pensioners aged between 65 and 74 will not receive any of the higher rate of personal allowances if their income is above £25,830.
The threshold for 2008-9 has not yet been determined. So pensioners on middle to higher incomes may suffer from the cut in the 10% band but not have any compensating increase in their personal allowances.

One would also have to take into account several other factors like the rise in cost of living vs a via increase in pension. I have no doubt that the majority view of the "experts" is that pensioners are worse off.

Cost of Living to outstrip pensions as reported in the Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,5111535-103676,00.html

In my mind, there is no doubt that recent increases in the state pension do not reflect the rise in price of several essential items such as gas, electricity. water and council tax. Council tax, in particular, is increasingly unaffordable for people on low and fixed incomes, such as pensioners.
http://www.iantaylormp.com/type10show.asp?ref=32&ID=89

Cost of living rising faster for pensioners -
http://www.myfinances.co.uk/news/economy/inflation/cost-living-rising-faster-pensioners-$476510.htm

EdInvestor

From the Budget:

When we came to power, elderly citizens started to pay income tax when their income exceeded £5,200. Today no tax is paid before an income of £7,280. For those under 75, the tax free allowance will rise in three stages from £7,280 now to £8,990 in 2008, to £9,500 in 2010 and £9,770 in 2011, almost twice as much as in 1997. For those over 75, the tax free allowance will rise annually from £7,420 to by 2011 £10,000. Couples under 75 will have a tax free married allowance up to £19,540; for a couple over 75 up to £20,000.

It's true that "age allowance clawback" does exist but we don't know yet at what level that will kick in next year: and it should be said that a pensioner couple could have income of 40k a year now between them without being affected by it.