Thanks Mum this is for you...single gal, a pony and a mission to beat the mortgage

Baldybear

BBH123 wrote: »

Wow I've loved reading your thread, very entertaining,

You sound like me, need to get financially organised, need to lose weight and have horses. I've given up on warmblood nutters though and no longer ride. I have just taken delivery of 2 rescue mini ponies and they are so friendly and cute. I also have 2 dogs again both rescues.

I'm gonna take some inspiration from your ideas and get busy busy busy, my worst thing seems to be procrastination though, there are always jobs on the yard to do but something always gets in the way lol. I have no excuse not to set up accounts for various things though.

Good morning Thanks for dropping by! Procrastination is my middle name too, so easy to be distracted by things, but am trying to take a leaf out of mums book, she was always busy, did sit down and chill sometimes, but always on top of things, need to get into that mindset, its taking time but am getting there.

So last night friend dropped round, nice to catch up for 1hr or so, did the hossie, came home and sat in front of the tv and cut up the majority all the veg had got from shop at weekend (swede, parsnips, turnips) and runner beans from the garden and packed away in the freezer. Still got carrots to do but will try and finish tonight. Aim to try and ride again tonight too

So shop refund landed and Bcard back to 0, sains cc slightly messed up my maths and now have 28p credit, will leave for now as will use the card for something else soon (as get rewards).

£10.22 landed from rewards for bills account so have sent that over to ISA.

Baldybear

Good morning

So yesterday didnt turn into a NSD, ended up spending £34 on some plastic boxes, needed them for work so reclaimable, now after faffing around getting them at last minute colleague decides he doesnt need them :cool: so I can take them back, but they are very useful size and i think will be able to utilise them at home well. Will take home tonight and see the plan and go from there.

Didnt ride my hoss last night, not motivated but I did walk to hossie and back and then came home and set up all my hose and watering system for front garden and it works great

£25 today landed from survey site so have sent that over to ISA

Baldybear

Afternoon, forgot to mention earlier but letter from bank today, because am on tracker mortgage as of 1 September my rate is dropping, saving £10 a month on payments

Baldybear

Good morning

So been doing a bit of investigation with pensions. So currently have a final salary scheme from old company, need to look into figures for that.

I have 2 other schemes, stakeholder pensions, one is closed and a very small amount, just over £1k, can either transfer into other scheme or leave it as it is, may leave it as can take it out as 100% tax free cash lump sum at 55. It seems such a small amount to worry about faffing around moving it.

The other scheme, current transfer value as of March is £14.5K. I currently pay £40 a month (including tax relief), employer pays £80.

So playing around on pensions calculator website, says I need £16K a year to live on.

If I carry on with current contributions have pension pot of £87K which would lead to:
a) Income drawdown of £7,987 a year up to age 79 then fund runs out
b) Annuity of £2,660 a year
This assumes I leave all funds in their and dont take out the 25% lump sum if I do then:
a) Income draw down of £16,080 a year up to age 71
b) Annuity of £,990 a year
Again this all assumes I retire at 67
Plus assuming state pension of £8,093 a year.

No obviously a big short fall

So playing around with calculators if I up contributions to £240 a month (whether via me or employer based) then could get:
£151K sum (assuming medium growth)
No lump sum taken
a) Drawdown £4,600 a year up to age 77
if I take lump sum
a) Drawdown up to age 74
b) £3,450 a year

Now at present all these figures are just so I have an idea in my head. I need to find out the figure for my final salary scheme and see how these all add up. But the basics show that I am not saving enough and need to up the contributions.

Now at present I dont have enough to spare to up contributions, I am going to carry on my plan of reaching my savings goal and then re-assess situation, whether upping pension payments or overpaying mortgage, or if possible a combination of the 2 in an ideal world. Watch this space

So today need to get some bread, yoghurts and also some cereal for dad. Dinner at sisters tonight so free food

cazmanian_minx

With the very small one - check what fees the provider is charging, as they've got a LOT more competitive in recent years. If it's an old scheme you may be being charged more in fees than it's increasing each year, so it would be worth moving. Cash-equivalent transfer values for final salary schemes are quite generous at the moment, because the gilt yields are so terrible that it's worth schemes paying up to get people to leave, however you cannot transfer out of the scheme without advice from a specialist IFA.

Bear in mind that if you do go for a pension that offers a drawdown option, you don't have to take the 25% tax-free cash in one go You can just take as much as you need at any one time and leave the rest uncrystallised and invested to grow further.

Baldybear

cazmanian_minx wrote: »

With the very small one - check what fees the provider is charging, as they've got a LOT more competitive in recent years. If it's an old scheme you may be being charged more in fees than it's increasing each year, so it would be worth moving. Cash-equivalent transfer values for final salary schemes are quite generous at the moment, because the gilt yields are so terrible that it's worth schemes paying up to get people to leave, however you cannot transfer out of the scheme without advice from a specialist IFA.

Bear in mind that if you do go for a pension that offers a drawdown option, you don't have to take the 25% tax-free cash in one go You can just take as much as you need at any one time and leave the rest uncrystallised and invested to grow further.

Morning, thanks for this, really appreciated, food for thought, its all a learning curve as dont know much about pensions, my go to finance guru was my mum so having to learn without her, this information is really helpful

Baldybear

Good morning

So a good weekend, free food at sisters on friday night and nephew put on a show for us all. Saturday spent about £5 on some cheese and kinder eggs for nephew (thank you for his show). Bro in law came round and helped me build my wardrobe doors So need to re-touch up the paint on the walls and re-gloss the door (I have the paint already), get bro in law to put some pictures up and ta-dah one room completed! Only taken 5 years but have done lots of other projects in the meantime and of course upheaval with ex.

So 5 years in the house and have completely gutted the garden out front and back and they both look fab now (bar new garden wall at front but it looks ok for now so only a nice to have to replace). And nearly one room finished inside.

So next room is the hallway, it has already been stripped back and re-plastered and pipes boxed in. It just needs sanding down, decorating and then new carpet and pictures. So saving up for the paint and carpet is the next for the house funds account.

Sunday sorted out some bits in the office, good tidy up of rubbish, have a clear desk now and have moved everything that needs ebaying etc upstairs into this room so rest of house is uncluttered. Picked and froze runner beans too, have loads now and still more growing, definitely something that is money saving .

Last night came home from work and felt quite active so walked to the hoss, gave her a good groom and tidy up, trimming tail and feathers and then home and cleaned out the hamster, productive evening

Should be payday tomorrow and have £16 "spare" in current account which I can roll over this month

Baldybear

Good morning

Spent £45 on cc yesterday, garden waste bin renewal, do use so worth the annual cost, will pay out of house funds this month. Also ended up buying some crisps for lunch.

Payday today, ended up with about £17 rolling over from last month so super pleased with this Rode the hoss last night, didnt long rein and just got straight on, she was very good and listened well, did about 15 minutes in the school and then round the roads, definitely more confident on her now which is a great step up

lucielle

Can you put the £17 towards mortgage overpayment?
L

Runders

Hey BaldyBear,

I've been away for the last month so just catching up on your diary.

I noticed a few posts back that you mentioned you didn't know how secure your job was in the construction industry. I know exactly how this feels s I am employed in the offshore survey sector, mainly oil and gas. Like you I am just riding it out and seeing what happens, but it is a worry.

We also have the weight thing in common. I too carry weight well as I am tall, but I need to drop about 4 stone and get fitter. Thing is, I bloody love crisps!! Haha. I hope you are doing well with the healthy eating!

Runders