stockmarkets -are we nearing the bottom or is there further to go ??

Alcorn60

Thank you all advice, comments, negative or possitive much appreciated,

Alcorn60

bowlhead99 wrote: »

One thing you could consider, if you feel the market has fallen down but will recover as things grow again over a good few years, is NOT take out all the 25% tax free portion just yet.

For example, lets say someone had £250k last year which is now only £200k because of a market slump (just to work in big round numbers, not because they're actually your numbers). So the 25% tax free would be now be £50k instead of £62.5k.

You're proposing to pull out the £50k while it is at a depressed value, and turning what is a current 'paper loss' into an actual loss on that part of the pension. The £50k you take out is too big to stick efficiently into a couple of year's worth of ISA allowances or the top savings accounts, so basically you're realising a loss, and then potentially not having much practical use for the released cash.

If you only need to spend rather less than £50k in the current year, then there is a sound argument to just take out whatever you need - say, £20k, of which £5k is tax free - and leave the remaining £180k invested, without 'crystallising' any of the tax free lump sum on that part of it. So by taking out £20k, you have 'realised' some of the loss, but not as much as if you took the whole £50k out. When markets recover to last year's level your £180k will be £225k and you haven't taken any of the tax free amount on that yet, which is £56k. And as the assets continue to grow over time, the tax free amount will grow over time.

Of course, as Masonic mentions perhaps markets will continue to go down for a while and not recover last year's level for a few years, and maybe you can't really afford to 'wait it out' in a risky set of assets, and it would do you good to convert a large lump of them into cash for peace of mind for a few years. And maybe your spending plans are such that you really do need all 25% of your current grand total value, right now, to pay off a mortgage or get a car or do that holiday you promised yourself when you gave up work. And maybe your numbers are smaller so 25% on the full amount could easily fit into investment ISAs and high interest current accounts and would not be 'wasted' sitting around doing not much for a few years.

So taking a smaller lump sum is only one potential plan among many - it might not be right for you. But if you are here to hear lots of options before you speak to an actual adviser, worth keeping an open mind.

Thank you , your advice and explanation is very much appreciated , I would never have looked at or managed on my own to work the figures this way,your quoted calculations are actually not far off what I currently have in my pension. My funds are actually in the process of being transfered into a SIP (cash account Aviva) until I decide what I want to do with them,i.e withdraw via drawdown and then reinvest the balance ? Basically a fresh start for either growth or income. Plus on top of the pension I have about 60K in a cautious investment ISA unfortunatly also currently about 4% down this last month . Alan

BananaRepublic

Glen_Clark wrote: »

Yes, name calling is Ad hominem. (link) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hominem

Your original post to me was childish and rude, and not called for. So don't come the innocent. Feel free to make a constructive contribution to the thread.

BananaRepublic

bowlhead99 wrote: »

I think if you stick around long enough you'll notice that Glen seems to be cynical of all governments. He'll criticise whichever one gives him the best opportunity to turn a conversation about savings or investment into a political rant

Thanks for the warning.

Glen_Clark wrote: »

I don't consider myself left wing nor right wing,

Trust me, given your comments you are on the extreme left.

redux

BananaRepublic wrote: »

Trust me, given your comments you are on the extreme left.

I don't think an observation of the paradox of a government supposedly believing in free markets pouring subsidies into house prices makes someone extreme left wing.

Up to £180,000 interest free loan is available to first time buyers in London. (Someone I know is doing almost that much).

Some people are being helped to buy their own home, and some are being turfed out of ones they already owned for 30 or more years and faced with large price rises to stay in the same area after redevelopment. What business does the government have using taxpayer funds on such schemes?

Thrugelmir

redux wrote: »

I don't think an observation of the paradox of a government supposedly believing in free markets pouring subsidies into house prices makes someone extreme left wing.

An observation based on a single post is a paradox in itself.

Glen_Clark

BananaRepublic wrote: »

Thanks for the warning.



Trust me, given your comments you are on the extreme left.

Interesting you think I am left wing. I try to take the best ideas from all sides, and I particularly like Jeremy Corbyn's Comment 'I don't do personal attacks' (like Ad Hominem)

I am very much in favour of free enterprise productive industry so disagree with the political policy which has made unproductive taxpayer subsidised property speculation more profitable, leaving a heavily indebted and unbalanced economy. Does that make me 'Left Wing'

What do you think of Osborne's levy on the banks who got no bailout, to rescue their competitors who did - do you think that is Left Wing or Right Wing?

What do you think of restricting housing supply whilst stimulating demand with public subsidy like the so called 'Help to Buy'? - do you think that is Left Wing or Right Wing?

BananaRepublic

Glen_Clark wrote: »

Interesting you think I am left wing. I try to take the best ideas from all sides, and I particularly like Jeremy Corbyn's Comment 'I don't do personal attacks' (like Ad Hominem)

Your first comment to me was a personal attack. :mad:

BananaRepublic

redux wrote: »

I don't think an observation of the paradox of a government supposedly believing in free markets pouring subsidies into house prices makes someone extreme left wing.

Sorry but you've completely lost me there. I based my comments on preceding posts 182 and 191 from Glen Clark, which imply a strong Left wing tendency. Whether he has made remarks elsewhere along the lines you indicate, I know not.

Thrugelmir

BananaRepublic wrote: »

Sorry but you've completely lost me there. I based my comments on preceding posts 182 and 191 from Glen Clark, which imply a strong Left wing tendency. Whether he has made remarks elsewhere along the lines you indicate, I know not.

Not unknown for individuals to hold more than one user account.