Mortgage Talk Financial Coaching

jasper27 · 10 September 2007 at 6:23PM

Hi

My mortgage is up for renewal 30th September, current situation:

Value of house £90,000
Mortgage £50,000 over 25yrs (taken out in 2005) with Woolwich
currently fixed rate at 4.29% monthly payments £300 ( roughly )

Mortgage Talk phoned me today, with these offers:

Fee Free 5yr @ 6.35% = £345 per month

Interest only 2yrs fixed rate @ 6.44% £257 (making an overpayment) ..bit lost here... think he said I could pay £345 ..making an overpayment therefore not only paying interest..but mortgage too.?!?

Also mentioned 'Financial Coaching' whereb I could take out the 'Interest Only' option @ £257, but pay a bit extra making it £265 and take on a Financial Coach over 2 years...

This did sound a good idea to me as I know my finances are all wrong and I'm not getting the best deals, ..and yes I know this is what this site is all about, but I feel I've been going round in circles and I really really need someone to sort things out for me .. I hopeless... and sumtimes feel quite despair.

Obviously I don't really want to be taking any extra payments on, but in the long term I could decrease my mortgage term and get better banking, utilities etc.....

They have a website www.financialcoaches.co.uk

Has anyone else used them?

Please give me as much advice as possible ...i need it

Thanks

homer_j_3 · 10 September 2007 at 6:41PM

Financial Coach - what do you get with one of these people then? £8 a month gets you what exactly.

They charge typically £99 but upto 1.5% - what are they charging you?

Seriously, some things are pure gimmicks and if I was to financially coach you then I would want more than £8 per month. It wouldnt cover the phonecalls lol!

The link won't let me view their offerings but you would probably be best putting that £8 to your mortgage or in some life cover etc...

jasper27 · 10 September 2007 at 9:00PM

Hi homer-j

I forgot to say the log in is mtfc and the password is present, but it's just an advertising thing really.

I asked if it would just be £8 a month, over 2 years, or would it be spread over my 23 yrs remaining mortgage? He did say it would be added onto my mortgage, but after the first two years I could change my mortgage again anyway.

As I understand it, a Financial Coach, will look into all my finances and basically work out the best options for me, best banking, best utilities providers, ways to save me money basically. Apparently I won't have to do anything, they advise me and if I'm happy they will make the changes.

I explained that I was struggling alot with my finances at the moment and the last thing I needed right now was extra payments on anything, so he knows I can't afford any gimmicky deals.

Sounds too good to be true, but also sounds exactly what I need, as I said before, I'm useless at stuff like this

WildHaggis · 10 September 2007 at 9:16PM

jasper27 wrote: »

<snip>
Sounds too good to be true, <snip>

You said it.
Be careful.

homer_j_3 · 10 September 2007 at 9:16PM

Can I make a suggestion to you.

Put your statement of affairs on the debt free wannabe board and the great people on there will help you work out how to cut your outgoings.

If I was to say - give me your electricity bill/Gas/Water and Phone - I will find you the best supplier with the cheapest deals. All I want is £50 for it. Would you do that?

Or I could say - dig your bills out - block 3 hours out on a sat or sun morning or a time when the house is quiet. Look on https://www.uswitch.com or a similar site and do it yourself. If you register with a cashback site, I may even get you a cheque to recompense you for your time.

You then can leave those to look after themselves for 3-6 months and review again. Do the same with your mobile and telephone, car and buildings insurances. You will cut your outgoings.

I bet I could earn you £100 to pay off your mortgage and save you money on your outgoings through what I have learnt on these boards. Yet you want to pay someone £100 per year for the pleasure of doing it?

You need to educate yourself and think of it like running a car. If you service it and do regular checks on it, it is less painful than waiting for the MOT to tell you that you have a massive list of things to put right and a bill to go along with it.

mountainchrisriver · 10 September 2007 at 9:27PM

Fantastic last post there homer_j... Excellent advice... writing posts like that is what this site is all about in my humble opinion... :beer:

homer_j_3 · 10 September 2007 at 10:37PM

yes, I thought so too.

I think that you need to find a fee free broker - put that down as your first bit of money saving. Paying a fee for a lifetime financial coach just says to me "we can't justify charging a fee for our advice so we will dress it up in some other way"

Create a bank account for your bills and direct debits and go through each one of them to see if you can cut the cost through comparison sites. Post on the relevant boards on these forums and challenge other MSE'ers to beat your savings. If they do - wohoo, you have someone to liase with and then set your new direct debit into your new bank account. Repeat until all transferred across.

You will come across cashback sites, these will often pay you money for taking the services you want through their site and then you can put that against your mortgage or towards a holiday or something.

Once you have done that, just keep reviewing annually or twice a year when you feel its appropriate (car insurance going to be annual - utilities 6 monthly)

If you are unsure - ask the question or ask if you can PM someone if you want or dont want to post in the public domain. You are a member of a great little online community here and most people will try and point you in the right direction.

Don't be defeatist in letting other people tell you that they will make your life easier - you will still have to give them the information to do the job, all they do is porcess it so why not do it yourself.

nearlyrich · 10 September 2007 at 10:43PM

A Coach doesn't give advice they help their client to find the solution themselves to their issues. Sounds like a new way of adding charges to financial transactions to me, like the special bank accounts with dubious benefits.