It's time to start digging up those Squirrelled Nuts!!!!

DT2001

Zerforax said:

Do people keep track of how much contribution was made into their DC pension? Or just look at what the current value is?

Like everyone else, mine have dropped in value quite a lot recently and now I'm wondering how much was originally put into the pots.

Yes and no, like seashell.
My SIPP is made up of 4 contributions over the last 7 years so easy to monitor. When its value is down I remind myself of what I would have net of tax and NI if it were not in a pension. I like to think that nothing is crystallised (profit or loss) until withdrawn. Soon after the largest contribution the Greek Euro crisis happened and I was into a paper loss for 15/18 months. Very few remember that so it is a time just to batten down the hatches.


My ISAs are funded from investments (SAYE and profit sharing) started nigh on 40 years ago. Funds were withdrawn to convert a property, more funds invested so I do not know what went in originally and just look at the pot as being almost all profit which fluctuates.

barnstar2077

LHW99 said:

bjorn_toby_wilde said:

barnstar2077 said:

Sea_Shell said:

Afternoon everyone, hope the sun is shining for you wherever you are.   I’m just taking a bit of refuge in the study, as it’s the coolest place in the house.  I can hear an Aldi mini “Magnum” calling to me!!

 

Things are just ticking along here.   The markets appear to have slowed their slide into oblivion (for now?) and the finances still look healthy.   As interest rates are on the rise, we’re hoping to catch a few deals along the way.

We’ve just stuck £10k in the Shawbrook 6 months fix account @ 2%.    I’m hoping Loanpad P2P up their rates soon, as 3 or 4% for the increased risk they pose is looking less and less attractive by the day.   They have said “soon” but not when and by how much.  Hoping for at least 4 and 5%.

 

I’ll do a full financial round-up at the end of June.

 

In energy news, I’ve made up a spreadsheet to compare our “gambled on” EonV12 energy fix against the current cap, and also will then add in the October (and January?) caps, so keep track of how much we’re winning (or losing) by. 

At the moment, we’re 42 days in, and are worse off by £10.   So with ~120 days to go until the October cap would have kicked in, we’ll probably be about £40 worse off by then, by which time we will hopefully start to be clawing that all back…and some.

 

In non-financial news, we’ve finally, after a loooong wait for it, been to see Top Gun: Maverick.

O M G !!!!   I LOVED IT!!!    So emotional.   I smiled, laughed and cried all the way through, and the opening sequence….classic!!!!  Talk about goosebumps.   I was hoping it was going to be everything I wanted it to be…and it didn’t disappoint.

 

Well I think that’s it for now.   Happy Jubilee.

 

 @barnstar2077 - Sorry to hear about your accident, hope you’re on the mend.

Thank you, yes, on the mend for the most part.  Finding I keep waking up with my knee feeling frozen and aching, which then takes me a while to loosen up, but it could be worse.  Could do with hibernating for a few weeks, but I guess I shouldn't wish my days away.  Plenty of people worse off than me etc.

Plus, on the bright side, my big toe has taken on the appearance of marble, with many lustrous shades of rich purples which is actually quite beautiful in a certain light.  So it's not all bad. 

Dangerous game this cycling!

I'm sitting at home for 6 weeks following the most innocuous crash.  Picked up a thorn and didn't notice the front tyre was soft. As I braked and turned it threw me off and dislocated my thumb. Had to have the ligament surgically repaired.

The numbness and aches will fade but it takes a while.  Good luck with it.

Hmmm sounds like this exercise lark isn't all its made out to be

Cycling is especially dangerous just because of the speeds involved.  After two serious accidents(both needing surgery) in the last three years I am dreading getting back on the bike.  I just read that on average two cyclists are killed, and a further 83 are seriously injured, every week on UK roads.  Exercise is great, especially in keeping ourselves feeling fit and able to enjoy retirement, but I would definitely give some serious thought as to what sort of exercise that is!

I_want_to_break_free

barnstar2077 said:

LHW99 said:

bjorn_toby_wilde said:

barnstar2077 said:

Sea_Shell said:

Afternoon everyone, hope the sun is shining for you wherever you are.   I’m just taking a bit of refuge in the study, as it’s the coolest place in the house.  I can hear an Aldi mini “Magnum” calling to me!!

 

Things are just ticking along here.   The markets appear to have slowed their slide into oblivion (for now?) and the finances still look healthy.   As interest rates are on the rise, we’re hoping to catch a few deals along the way.

We’ve just stuck £10k in the Shawbrook 6 months fix account @ 2%.    I’m hoping Loanpad P2P up their rates soon, as 3 or 4% for the increased risk they pose is looking less and less attractive by the day.   They have said “soon” but not when and by how much.  Hoping for at least 4 and 5%.

 

I’ll do a full financial round-up at the end of June.

 

In energy news, I’ve made up a spreadsheet to compare our “gambled on” EonV12 energy fix against the current cap, and also will then add in the October (and January?) caps, so keep track of how much we’re winning (or losing) by. 

At the moment, we’re 42 days in, and are worse off by £10.   So with ~120 days to go until the October cap would have kicked in, we’ll probably be about £40 worse off by then, by which time we will hopefully start to be clawing that all back…and some.

 

In non-financial news, we’ve finally, after a loooong wait for it, been to see Top Gun: Maverick.

O M G !!!!   I LOVED IT!!!    So emotional.   I smiled, laughed and cried all the way through, and the opening sequence….classic!!!!  Talk about goosebumps.   I was hoping it was going to be everything I wanted it to be…and it didn’t disappoint.

 

Well I think that’s it for now.   Happy Jubilee.

 

 @barnstar2077 - Sorry to hear about your accident, hope you’re on the mend.

Thank you, yes, on the mend for the most part.  Finding I keep waking up with my knee feeling frozen and aching, which then takes me a while to loosen up, but it could be worse.  Could do with hibernating for a few weeks, but I guess I shouldn't wish my days away.  Plenty of people worse off than me etc.

Plus, on the bright side, my big toe has taken on the appearance of marble, with many lustrous shades of rich purples which is actually quite beautiful in a certain light.  So it's not all bad. 

Dangerous game this cycling!

I'm sitting at home for 6 weeks following the most innocuous crash.  Picked up a thorn and didn't notice the front tyre was soft. As I braked and turned it threw me off and dislocated my thumb. Had to have the ligament surgically repaired.

The numbness and aches will fade but it takes a while.  Good luck with it.

Hmmm sounds like this exercise lark isn't all its made out to be

Cycling is especially dangerous just because of the speeds involved.  After two serious accidents(both needing surgery) in the last three years I am dreading getting back on the bike.  I just read that on average two cyclists are killed, and a further 83 are seriously injured, every week on UK roads.  Exercise is great, especially in keeping ourselves feeling fit and able to enjoy retirement, but I would definitely give some serious thought as to what sort of exercise that is!

Not so sure about cycling being especially dangerous.  I'm sure I read that far more pedestrian killed than cyclists although when you factor in miles travelled I think they are about the same.  Sorry to hear your two serious accidents barnstar2077.  

barnstar2077

I_want_to_break_free said:

barnstar2077 said:

LHW99 said:

bjorn_toby_wilde said:

barnstar2077 said:

Sea_Shell said:

Afternoon everyone, hope the sun is shining for you wherever you are.   I’m just taking a bit of refuge in the study, as it’s the coolest place in the house.  I can hear an Aldi mini “Magnum” calling to me!!

 

Things are just ticking along here.   The markets appear to have slowed their slide into oblivion (for now?) and the finances still look healthy.   As interest rates are on the rise, we’re hoping to catch a few deals along the way.

We’ve just stuck £10k in the Shawbrook 6 months fix account @ 2%.    I’m hoping Loanpad P2P up their rates soon, as 3 or 4% for the increased risk they pose is looking less and less attractive by the day.   They have said “soon” but not when and by how much.  Hoping for at least 4 and 5%.

 

I’ll do a full financial round-up at the end of June.

 

In energy news, I’ve made up a spreadsheet to compare our “gambled on” EonV12 energy fix against the current cap, and also will then add in the October (and January?) caps, so keep track of how much we’re winning (or losing) by. 

At the moment, we’re 42 days in, and are worse off by £10.   So with ~120 days to go until the October cap would have kicked in, we’ll probably be about £40 worse off by then, by which time we will hopefully start to be clawing that all back…and some.

 

In non-financial news, we’ve finally, after a loooong wait for it, been to see Top Gun: Maverick.

O M G !!!!   I LOVED IT!!!    So emotional.   I smiled, laughed and cried all the way through, and the opening sequence….classic!!!!  Talk about goosebumps.   I was hoping it was going to be everything I wanted it to be…and it didn’t disappoint.

 

Well I think that’s it for now.   Happy Jubilee.

 

 @barnstar2077 - Sorry to hear about your accident, hope you’re on the mend.

Thank you, yes, on the mend for the most part.  Finding I keep waking up with my knee feeling frozen and aching, which then takes me a while to loosen up, but it could be worse.  Could do with hibernating for a few weeks, but I guess I shouldn't wish my days away.  Plenty of people worse off than me etc.

Plus, on the bright side, my big toe has taken on the appearance of marble, with many lustrous shades of rich purples which is actually quite beautiful in a certain light.  So it's not all bad. 

Dangerous game this cycling!

I'm sitting at home for 6 weeks following the most innocuous crash.  Picked up a thorn and didn't notice the front tyre was soft. As I braked and turned it threw me off and dislocated my thumb. Had to have the ligament surgically repaired.

The numbness and aches will fade but it takes a while.  Good luck with it.

Hmmm sounds like this exercise lark isn't all its made out to be

Cycling is especially dangerous just because of the speeds involved.  After two serious accidents(both needing surgery) in the last three years I am dreading getting back on the bike.  I just read that on average two cyclists are killed, and a further 83 are seriously injured, every week on UK roads.  Exercise is great, especially in keeping ourselves feeling fit and able to enjoy retirement, but I would definitely give some serious thought as to what sort of exercise that is!

Not so sure about cycling being especially dangerous.  I'm sure I read that far more pedestrian killed than cyclists although when you factor in miles travelled I think they are about the same.  Sorry to hear your two serious accidents barnstar2077.  

There is on average three to four times more pedestrian deaths than cyclist fatalities on UK roads every year.  With less than 10% of the population regularly commuting to work on a bicycle though, I think it is safe to assume that pedestrians far outnumber cyclist, making cycling the more dangerous pastime in my opinion.

QrizB

barnstar2077 said:

I_want_to_break_free said:

Not so sure about cycling being especially dangerous.  I'm sure I read that far more pedestrian killed than cyclists although when you factor in miles travelled I think they are about the same.  Sorry to hear your two serious accidents barnstar2077.  

There is on average three to four times more pedestrian deaths than cyclist fatalities on UK roads every year.  With less than 10% of the population regularly commuting to work on a bicycle though, I think it is safe to assume that pedestrians far outnumber cyclist, making cycling the more dangerous pastime in my opinion.

Official statistics here:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/448037/road-fatalities-2013-data.pdf

Table at bottom of page 4 has deaths per billion miles travelled for a variety of transport modes, and the statement "Pedal cyclists and pedestrians have comparable fatality rates".

jimi_man

QrizB said:

barnstar2077 said:

I_want_to_break_free said:

Not so sure about cycling being especially dangerous.  I'm sure I read that far more pedestrian killed than cyclists although when you factor in miles travelled I think they are about the same.  Sorry to hear your two serious accidents barnstar2077.  

There is on average three to four times more pedestrian deaths than cyclist fatalities on UK roads every year.  With less than 10% of the population regularly commuting to work on a bicycle though, I think it is safe to assume that pedestrians far outnumber cyclist, making cycling the more dangerous pastime in my opinion.

Official statistics here:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/448037/road-fatalities-2013-data.pdf

Table at bottom of page 4 has deaths per billion miles travelled for a variety of transport modes, and the statement "Pedal cyclists and pedestrians have comparable fatality rates".

Again, hugely misleading because 'per billion miles'is not an effective comparable rate for pedestrians and cyclists. 10 miles for a cyclist is probably about an hour in the danger zone, whereas it would be at least three times that for pedestrians. 

Sea_Shell

Back on topic...half yearly update to follow 😉

jimi_man

It's an interesting subject, so I think a small diversion to cycling is allowed. 

Sea_Shell

jimi_man said:

It's an interesting subject, so I think a small diversion to cycling is allowed. 

To you maybe...not to me!!!    So please don't. 

Sea_Shell

Half yearly update.

Well investments, as we all know, have taken a hammering these last couple of weeks (months?), and ours are no exception.  Our Rathbones has been hardest hit, down 27% from the November high.  However, the long view (back) doesn’t look too bad.  We will continue to sit on our hands and do nothing, other than move our cash element around for better rates.

 

We’re averaging about 1.9% interest on all our cash, in various places, including some locked away for 6mths, some for a year, and a good chunk still instant access.

 

It’s been almost 3 years since we had the last wage hit our accounts, and we started this journey with a pot of £536,000.   During that time we’ve spent £41,000.   So really, any current pot over £495,000 is a bonus!!

 

Well, the figures are in and the current pot stands at £572,000.   Not too shabby, even if that is down by £56k from this time last year.

 

Untouched pensions - £291.7k

S&S ISAs - £190k

DD pension - £36.8k (being drawn at £1150 per month)

Cash - £53.5k

 

I guess our pot is going to get its “stress test” over the next couple of years.  

 

So far this year, we’ve spent £6500.   Including 3 UK short breaks.   The second half of the year is backloaded though, with insurances, car service etc all due later on.   Hope to have another 3 short breaks in Sept/October.