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Saint James's Place
Comments
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It's not the way I operate. I work out what I think the client should have based on their risk profile, goals, timescales, flexibility, restrictions and preferences, then I advise them exactly what to do and how. If they opt for one of our central portfolios, they will then get advice on changes once every few months, which will again be an "accept or don't" type of offer - they are of course welcome to ask questions and request deviations, which can lead to discussions, but generally most don't want to do this because they employ my firm to give this advice - why pay for it and then ignore it?That was certainly the case with FAs in the past (but not IFAs). I am not sure it is still the case post RDR/MIFIDII.I am a Chartered Financial Planner
Anything I say on the forum is for discussion purposes only and should not be construed as personal financial advice. It is vitally important to do your own research before acting on information gathered from any users on this forum.0 -
Is it? Let's say your shop costs an extra £20pw vs equivalents elsewhere. If you instead invested £20 weekly, increasing with food price inflation at 2.5% pa, for e.g. 6% pa return minus 0.5% pa fees for 30 years = £107k. Or £51k in today's money at 2.5% CPI. Over 40 years it's £218k or £80k today.
That's long run financial independence several years earlier, and why I don't shop at Waitrose etc. Or use SJP. But each to their own value assessment.
If you bring everything down to money and ignore everything else, then we'll be just left with Lidl/Aldi, which would be really depressing. No local shops, no slightly 'more upmarket' supermarket, just very basic low budget shopping with little choice.
No one is denying the value for money they offer. But the quality, is distinctly questionable. The fruit and vegetables are decidedly poor as is the meat and fish. If all people are interested in is food purely as fuel, then Aldi/Lidl is the way to go, every time.
And whilst people could achieve Financial Independence earlier - at what cost? It reminds me of those depressing threads on Mortgage free wannabe where people talk about 'batch cooking' and live on £3 a fortnight just so they can clear their mortgages a few years earlier. Having cleared it they then realise that they don't have a pension so they go back to living on £3 a fortnight to max that out.
If it means spending life in that sort of misery just to stop working a bit earlier/be mortgage free earlier, then I'd rather not do it. If work is that tiresome then get another job that isn't.
Without being too philosophical, I want to enjoy all of my life, not just the last years. I like food and I like cooking and I like decent ingredients. I'd like to retire earlier than 67 but I also want to enjoy the journey.
Just for clarification I don't shop exclusively at Waitrose. I do use them on occasions, but for most stuff I use Sainsburys as well as local butchers and fishmongers. I have tried Lidl and Aldi but found them really poor quality.
I don't use SJP either!0 -
I don't find food prices correlate well with quality or value, and prefer less choice as a shopper to get it over with more quickly. Otherwise your outlook is fair enough esp as a foodie, although there's some narrative creep in progressing to the misery of £3 a fortnight or tiresome work. Perhaps my assessment of finances is too clinical or future focused, but this is MSE and I evidently get more pleasure from the opportunity to spend or invest the difference elsewhere.If you bring everything down to money and ignore everything else, then we'll be just left with Lidl/Aldi, which would be really depressing. No local shops, no slightly 'more upmarket' supermarket, just very basic low budget shopping with little choice.
No one is denying the value for money they offer. But the quality, is distinctly questionable. The fruit and vegetables are decidedly poor as is the meat and fish. If all people are interested in is food purely as fuel, then Aldi/Lidl is the way to go, every time.
And whilst people could achieve Financial Independence earlier - at what cost? It reminds me of those depressing threads on Mortgage free wannabe where people talk about 'batch cooking' and live on £3 a fortnight just so they can clear their mortgages a few years earlier. Having cleared it they then realise that they don't have a pension so they go back to living on £3 a fortnight to max that out.
If it means spending life in that sort of misery just to stop working a bit earlier/be mortgage free earlier, then I'd rather not do it. If work is that tiresome then get another job that isn't.
Without being too philosophical, I want to enjoy all of my life, not just the last years. I like food and I like cooking and I like decent ingredients. I'd like to retire earlier than 67 but I also want to enjoy the journey.
Just for clarification I don't shop exclusively at Waitrose. I do use them on occasions, but for most stuff I use Sainsburys as well as local butchers and fishmongers. I have tried Lidl and Aldi but found them really poor quality.
I don't use SJP either!
However the calc was really just trying to make a point about the long-run effect of small savings/costs, not so much Waitrose vs Aldi. I'm not sure that most paying higher fees for 'branded' products really understand the compounded effect of their choices. If they do then good luck to them but I think 5% up front, additional 0.5%-1%+ ongoing for non-independent advice and selections, and 6% exit costs are outrageous.0 -
Yes I agree in part. I suppose my point was more about a scale of price/quality. I'm happy to pay (more) for quality if I'm getting a better product. Another analogy is washing machines. Having used Hotpoint, it lasted last around five years, maybe a little more, before an expensive/terminal issue. I switched to Miele - more expensive, but last two to three times as long and aren't two to three times the price, so I consider that paying more for quality is worth it.
However the calc was really just trying to make a point about the long-run effect of small savings/costs, not so much Waitrose vs Aldi. I'm not sure that most paying higher fees for 'branded' products really understand the compounded effect of their choices. If they do then good luck to them but I think 5% up front, additional 0.5%-1%+ ongoing for non-independent advice and selections, and 6% exit costs are outrageous.
However from the sound of it, SJP doesn't necessarily provide a better quality product but is expensive with it. Also 6% exit fee is horrific!0 -
Yes I agree in part. I suppose my point was more about a scale of price/quality. I'm happy to pay (more) for quality if I'm getting a better product. Another analogy is washing machines. Having used Hotpoint, it lasted last around five years, maybe a little more, before an expensive/terminal issue. I switched to Miele - more expensive, but last two to three times as long and aren't two to three times the price, so I consider that paying more for quality is worth it.
However from the sound of it, SJP doesn't necessarily provide a better quality product but is expensive with it. Also 6% exit fee is horrific!
Which is precisely the point bowlhead99 & others have been making:cool:0 -
If you bring everything down to money and ignore everything else, then we'll be just left with Lidl/Aldi, which would be really depressing. No local shops, no slightly 'more upmarket' supermarket, just very basic low budget shopping with little choice.
No one is denying the value for money they offer. But the quality, is distinctly questionable. The fruit and vegetables are decidedly poor as is the meat and fish. If all people are interested in is food purely as fuel, then Aldi/Lidl is the way to go, every time.
And whilst people could achieve Financial Independence earlier - at what cost? It reminds me of those depressing threads on Mortgage free wannabe where people talk about 'batch cooking' and live on £3 a fortnight just so they can clear their mortgages a few years earlier. Having cleared it they then realise that they don't have a pension so they go back to living on £3 a fortnight to max that out.
If it means spending life in that sort of misery just to stop working a bit earlier/be mortgage free earlier, then I'd rather not do it. If work is that tiresome then get another job that isn't.
Without being too philosophical, I want to enjoy all of my life, not just the last years. I like food and I like cooking and I like decent ingredients. I'd like to retire earlier than 67 but I also want to enjoy the journey.
Just for clarification I don't shop exclusively at Waitrose. I do use them on occasions, but for most stuff I use Sainsburys as well as local butchers and fishmongers. I have tried Lidl and Aldi but found them really poor quality.
I don't use SJP either!
Not a good comparison really as there are various "grades/quality" of food, but the value of a pound is the same regardless of who the provider is?0 -
Yes, in relation to SJP which I agree with. But the discussion earlier drifted onto supermarkets, which was the point I was replying to. You'd probably have to read back a bit to get the context and in all honesty it's not really worth it! Don't really want to derail the thread any earlier than I have already.Which is precisely the point bowlhead99 & others have been making:cool:0 -
HardCoreProgrammer wrote: »For someone who claims to have no time learning about investments, time does not seem to be an issue as to writing on this forum.
I wonder if their employer knows how they are up to, when supposed to be at work (and being paid)?
Only employer who would tolerate this is ... St. James Place, thus not surprising that people start asking questions who OP works for.
Simplest way to investment: stick the money in a Vanguard global tracker fund. If not happy with 100% in equity, then buy bond funds and/or gold. Takes 5 minutes. Could have done that when writing all these comments.
LOL thanks Grandma. Writing all these comments is what makes a forum interesting and useful... that's kind of the point of it.
As for your other, pointless, irrelevant, unhelpful and pernicious comment, I work freelance and happened to be on a day off. Is that okay with you boss?
Some people really can't get out of the pulpit, or if they do it's to get back on their high horse.0 -
As an update, I've contacted an IFA and he's happy to spend 2 hours going through the returns with me so I can gauge performance. He'll do this for a fixed fee and understands I may not move.
The outcome of this will very likely determine what I do next.
So this will come down to how well the book has performed in line with my original objectives, as I've said I can't fault the service.
I'll update everyone with as much detail as I can share after my meeting.0
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