Lazy when it comes to saving money!

zippy1973

I guess I am lazy when it comes to what to do with savings, probably taking the easy option! So I am looking for some thoughts!


I'm 43 soon and have an eye on retiring a good bit earlier than my state pension age of 67, I'm looking to go at 60 at the latest and I am in the LGPS pension scheme which currently forecasts a 14k pension and 12k lump sum taking it at 60.


I have 30k in savings at the moment, all with NS&I (15k ISA, 10k index linked certs, 5k premium bonds) and I currently put £500 a month into my ISA (paying 1.25%). Lucky now to be mortgage free and have a bit more disposable income (£350 a month) which pays for things like holidays so I am pretty comfortable.


Looking forward if things stay as they are and I make 60, I should have 150k in savings at current deposit amount and current interest rates and along with my LGPS pension of 14k a year, I think it looks good.


I guess I want to ask, am I too lazy just keeping it all in the one place? Should I be shopping around looking for better? Or, if I am happy just keep plodding along with what I am currently doing? Personally, I don't see much difference in interest rates for Isa's and don't think it is worth the bother changing about.


Thanks

mark1959

Don't worry..........be happy.

YorkshireBoy

That £500 a month could/should be making at least 5% AER...after April that's 4 times what it's making now.

The £30K could/should be making 3.xx% (and over 4% if there are two of you and you're prepared to open joint accounts).

But it sounds like you're lazy so I won't go any further with the 'how to do it' unless I've tempted you. In which case come back and show me that 3-4 times the interest you're currently getting sounds interesting.

zippy1973

mark1959 wrote: »

Don't worry..........be happy.

I'm not..........and I am!!

zippy1973

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

That £500 a month could/should be making at least 5% AER...after April that's 4 times what it's making now.

The £30K could/should be making 3.xx% (and over 4% if there are two of you and you're prepared to open joint accounts).

But it sounds like you're lazy so I won't go any further with the 'how to do it' unless I've tempted you. In which case come back and show me that 3-4 times the interest you're currently getting sounds interesting.

You hit the nail on the head.........when it comes to finances I am lazy! I'm not keen on having money spread all over the place with some in this account and some in that account!

YorkshireBoy

zippy1973 wrote: »

You hit the nail on the head.........when it comes to finances I am lazy! I'm not keen on having money spread all over the place with some in this account and some in that account!

Your laziness is costing you around £875 a year at the moment.

With that approach to your finances, ie with 17 years of compounding foregone, instead of 60 being 60, or becoming 59, it could well become 62 or 63. Still, it's better than 67 (or 68/69 or whatever it is by the time you get there) isn't it so that's OK.

jimjames

zippy1973 wrote: »

You hit the nail on the head.........when it comes to finances I am lazy! I'm not keen on having money spread all over the place with some in this account and some in that account!

You could hold it in a S&S ISA, all in one place and should return above cash over the next 25 years. Do you really need £150k cash? Obviously there is a need for a cash emergency fund but you don't appear to have any investments or plan for them?

zippy1973

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

Your laziness is costing you around £875 a year at the moment.

With that approach to your finances, ie with 17 years of compounding foregone, instead of 60 being 60, or becoming 59, it could well become 62 or 63. Still, it's better than 67 (or 68/69 or whatever it is by the time you get there) isn't it so that's OK.

£875 is a good deal to be missing out on and I can see your point that 60 could be 59 so it is tempting!


I guess it's time to get out of the rut and start to read up on what is available!

zippy1973

jimjames wrote: »

You could hold it in a S&S ISA, all in one place and should return above cash over the next 25 years. Do you really need £150k cash? Obviously there is a need for a cash emergency fund but you don't appear to have any investments or plan for them?

My thought's were to have enough to be comfortable to live on at my current level when I hit 60 and take early retirement. Pension plus savings to keep me going until I draw Old age pension at 67, if that is still around!


I just want to be comfortable and see what I am currently doing as safe. As I mentioned in first post, no mortgage or any debt hence turning thoughts to see what I need to be comfortable

Linton

How much income do you need to be comfortable?

Dont forget inflation. In 17 years your £150K would be worth £106K with 2% annual inflation, and historically inflation has been a lot higher than 2%.

jimjames

Linton wrote: »

How much income do you need to be comfortable?

Dont forget inflation. In 17 years your £150K would be worth £106K with 2% annual inflation, and historically inflation has been a lot higher than 2%.

Exactly. And that's at the date of retirement when earning has stopped. Wind forward another 20 years of retirement and it's starting to look a lot less appealing.