Had a mortgage too long - it's going, going, gone!

Ali-OK

Cheers m'dear

Ahh, now I have learnt a little about the 2 types of IFA :

1) Transactional only - this is the type you and I are looking for and they are few and far between. They more likely charge hourly AND higher percentage of the value they're dealing with. They have to make their money from one offs.

2) Financial Planner - it would seem this is where most of the IFAs now sit. They work backwards if you like - tell them your goals and they tell you what's realistic and what they can do to help you get there. Cue ongoing fees, retainers, extra products, advice that you need to trust, etc.

I honestly don't mind paying out for a good, open, honest, realistic and helpful IFA - but aside from those on the Pensions Board here that have gone above and beyond, I've yet to find the one for me

I'm at that stage of 'How can I get value AND the tax saving'. SIPP on one of the mentioned platforms seems to be the answer.

Hope your meeting goes well and let us know how you get on too. I think it's useful to share experiences as often articles in the various press and industry don't cover the detail that we need to hear.

Brogden

Ali-OK wrote: »

Cheers m'dear

Ahh, now I have learnt a little about the 2 types of IFA :

1) Transactional only - this is the type you and I are looking for and they are few and far between. They more likely charge hourly AND higher percentage of the value they're dealing with. They have to make their money from one offs.

2) Financial Planner - it would seem this is where most of the IFAs now sit. They work backwards if you like - tell them your goals and they tell you what's realistic and what they can do to help you get there. Cue ongoing fees, retainers, extra products, advice that you need to trust, etc.

I honestly don't mind paying out for a good, open, honest, realistic and helpful IFA - but aside from those on the Pensions Board here that have gone above and beyond, I've yet to find the one for me

I'm at that stage of 'How can I get value AND the tax saving'. SIPP on one of the mentioned platforms seems to be the answer.

Hope your meeting goes well and let us know how you get on too. I think it's useful to share experiences as often articles in the various press and industry don't cover the detail that we need to hear.

Fantastic post !!

There is no particular distinction as far as the regulator is concerned between 'transactional' and 'financial planner' but you have hit the nail on the head . It is a matter of the person / firm's style and the IFA will decide what he/she is happy to offer......it's their proposition and not everybody does or should be expected to do everything.

I know I will be dealing with a 'financial planner' but I want to pay (a grand or two no doubt) for a one-off service, like I might for an emergency plumber !! A suitably qualified true professional will do that if the price is right :cool:!!

I don't want anybody who reads this to think this is 'anti-IFA,' it's not. There are very many pleasant, highly professional IFA's out there who give a full and far more 'rounded' service to their clients than any legal or accountancy practice.

I have debts but I don't use Step Change, I do it myself. I have interests in pensions and IFA's are not a charity :rotfl:!! Its black and white.......in my financial dealings, like any other of my dealings I will not pay more than I have to and I will not pay for something I can do myself :cool: !! Ha!

B x

Luckyinlife

Aww Guys do you really have to remind me i dont have a pension plan yet grrrrrr haha

I need to get on this in the new year now Need to sit down and see what is possible

If life is MF for us all will make things a lot easier now and in the future not having that bill on out heads

i worked in a place few years back where really nice lady's 3-4 all from the same area had mortgages till they was in they late 60s :[ so couldn't retire

Ali-OK

Good idea LiL to get onto the Pension stuff in the New Year. I started my PPP in my 20s too. Similarly, being MF sooner rather than later. Late 60s with a mortgage :eek: I fear we'll see more of that in years to come though.

New today is I attended the Parish Planning Meeting as extension application was on the agenda and although they don't have decision making powers, their views are reported and taken into consideration at Borough level. After answering their questions, I got an 'Approved' :j One hurdle over and glad I went as well as knew from research alot of the policies and terms and objectionable considerations Always been a bit curious as to what goes on in their Chambers, not that it was a Bucket List item and a free cuppa and biscuits into the bargain :rotfl:

Had first CBT session today and that was to map out what's needed and how to get there. It's going to use a fair bit of petrol as it's all about driving through the panic attacks to reduce them and stopping the meds I take at the moment that prevent the physical reactions. Not very MSE, but needs must.

Appointment made to go back to the Optician on Saturday coming - no real improvement on my weird vision in the left eye 18 months on so am going to ask for referral back to the local Moorfields.

Bit more financial shenanigans behind the scenes and seems the order I should be approaching things at this stage in life is Pension, S&S ISA, Cash savings and then OPs. Looks like I need to fix sums to the first 2, then split what's left between the last 2. I have some more spreadsheet fiddling to do to see what I can achieve. I've already got the finishing line to scrape into when I'm 58 yrs and 11 months, rather than 59 after December :rotfl:

Financials then:
- bank accounts checked
- freepostcodelottery checked
- Inbox £s at £11.51
- Qmee pot increased to 61p

Billable work is a bit quieter than I'd like this week, but very busy next week, however it's giving me time to get on with potential new office negotiations and paperwork. Could be in before Christmas if all goes smoothly. Famous last words

Had a couple of NSDs and should have another tomorrow

maggiem

Very interesting post Ali - long time lurker.

And I might be being dim - in fact given the topic that is very likely but when Broggers wrote in his post

ISA 1000 - 20% = £800

I thought whole point of ISAs was that they were tax free savings. Am I missing something those more financially savvy have seen instantly?

I keep thinking about S &S ISAs but have been a bit put off by friends losing money - maybe only in the short term but still quite scary. I too need to investigate further but the pensions and the savings boards are both full of people who clearly know so much more I often think they are not posting in English!

Good luck Ali whatever you end up choosing.

Ali-OK

Thanks for popping in maggiem.

Pension is the bit that gets the tax relief (ie. the tax we pay on income) so £800 is from my taxed income and the £200 is from government (given back) to get the £1000 figure.

ISA differs in terms of it is the interest it attracts is free of being taxed and that's for both Cash ISA and S&S.

Things will look different again come April next year, as money that attracts interest and not within a tax wrapped product will also be free of paying tax on interest up to £1,000 for a basic (20%) rate taxpayer.

S&S ISA value will go likely go up and down, hopefully up overall and by more than the interest that can be earned in cash savings - that's the idea anyway . It should be seen as a long term plan to ride out the lows.

It's a learning curve for sure and I'm at the bottom of it too

Ali-OK

Week is flying by here and still managing NSDs, excluding the food shop which came in @ £28 at Ald!'s. New one this side of town got PP approval this week - can't wait until that's built and open to save on fuel :j

Letters arrived for DS's Young Saver accounts at Ll0yds and H@lif@x advising interest reducing from 3% to 2.25% in January '16 - was to be expected given those rates were announced recently for new customers. Time to look around for him.

Financials:
- bank accounts checked and the SO shuffle of £500 to TSB, £250 into that Reg Saver and £250 + interest back to my main account all went smoothly
- freepostcodelottery checked
- Inbox £s - up a tad at £11.61
- Qmee pot still at 61p
- £3.15 in from Qu!dco

Found a few hundred Euros in the drawer left over from Easter holiday, considered changing them back to Sterling, but rates are high so will hang onto those for now and always the possibility we might go on holiday abroad (or just me, not cool for DS to be seen with Mum these days :rotfl:)

Hygienist appointment early next month has been moved by the surgery into January, pushing back a £50 spend.

Not sure what next month's OP will look like, 18 days of procrastination infront of me :rotfl:

Luckyinlife

Found a few hundred Euros in the drawer left over from Easter holiday

as you do haha

Whats the min OP you need to hit each month to hit your mf date ?

Ali-OK

Forgot all about them, so a nice surprise! There's HK Dollars too that belong to DS - worth about 10p though!

Good question and I don't know the answer! I've done my spreadsheets by incremental increases, but generally to finish by December 23 I'd really need to pay @ £1200 capital per month.

Part of me is thinking along the lines of concentrating on the big part, with the small part (£19,400) I'll go for mortgage neutral on and pay from savings - that's 18 months worth of payments roughly sliced off the end.

With pension and ISA coming more into focus, I can see I'm going to have to balance things carefully, though DS's Reg Saver finishes next month (£100 spare if I don't start another) and I'll have extra from the business from March when the £150 a month car payment finishes - so they could be diverted to those.

All up in the air as usual with me

Ali-OK

You got me going now Lil :rotfl:

Big part is at £94,590 - December 23 goal means 97 months left = £975.15 per month to achieve that or Dec 22 = £1112.82 p/m.

Plus the £19,400.