Do we stay, or do we go?

Munchkin08

Thank you all SO much for your responses!
More info - I am 41, Husband 48.
House is currently worth around £450k, with £200k equity.
Large 4 bed Semi with 2 en-suites, the open plan kitchen/diner we love...

We’ve looked into getting a buy to let, but it’s just not worth it anymore.

So we aren’t sure, if we stay put, what to invest in?
Pensions don’t seem to be worth much anymore?
My Husband has some great pensions, mine not so great.
He collects vintage bass guitars, and has considered that as an option....

It would be nice to be in a detached, with a larger garden.
And for something that will be worth more, to sell, when we are looking to retire.

But, we can’t seem to find something that would be worth another £200k.

Zero_Sum

Munchkin08 wrote: »

Thank you all SO much for your responses!
More info - I am 41, Husband 48.
House is currently worth around £450k, with £200k equity.
Large 4 bed Semi with 2 en-suites, the open plan kitchen/diner we love...

We’ve looked into getting a buy to let, but it’s just not worth it anymore.

So we aren’t sure, if we stay put, what to invest in?
Pensions don’t seem to be worth much anymore?
My Husband has some great pensions, mine not so great.
He collects vintage bass guitars, and has considered that as an option....

It would be nice to be in a detached, with a larger garden.
And for something that will be worth more, to sell, when we are looking to retire.

But, we can’t seem to find something that would be worth another £200k.

If either are 40% tax payers, which going by the value of houses you looking at probably suggests you are, then pensions are very much worth it due to the tax breaks.

maman

We bought our current house when our DDs were teenagers. It's a 4 bed, close to the city centre with excellent transport links. DH and I fancied a lovely country cottage at the time but knew we'd end up ferrying the girls everywhere.

Roll on 30 years and we're now retired and still managing to fill the house and the transport links are great for us whether that's public transport or routes out of the city by car, train or even air!

Of course the house is a good investment but mainly it's our home and we are happy here. We both have good pensions so don't need to downsize for the money.

Davesnave

Ergates wrote: »

If you go there will be trouble.
But if you stay....

The price might double?

Primrose

As somebody else has said you need to stop looking at buying a bigger house just for an investment.
I imagine you may be creeping up to retirement age with children at university so start looking an your property with the eyes of people who are getting older.

The property you need in retirement is one which is near facilities like local shops for essential day to day living, near a GP surgery, near public transport if for some reason you find yourself unable to drive, near leisure facilities like libraries or the other activities you might want to be engaged in when you stop work.

Do you really want to spend your next years and retirement in an isolated place, not close to shops and with a big garden you can no longer manage?. What if you can no longer manage the garden? It becomes a millstone round your neckand ends up forcing you to move again. What if one of you dies? Does the remaining partner want to rattle around in a big lonely house ?

There are many factors you need to be thinking about here. Take your time to think them through. Some of your spare cash might be better spent adapting/modernising your current home for your later years.

Write down a list of pros and cons and try to work out what sort of property you might need comfortably to be living in 20 or even 25 years down the line.

Munchkin08

Not nearing retirement just yet...
I am 41, and my Husband is 48.

And yes we are 40% tax payers, so maybe upping our pensions is the way forward.
We have arranged a meeting with an independent pensions advisor.

JohnDorian

I don't get where you got the 'pensions aren't worth it anymore'. If you are in employment and get matched contributions then I genuinely think you twist every version of reality to match your own. There is very literally not much about where you put money in, get matched on it (therefore a 100% gain to a certain contribution level), and get tax benefits on top of that.

maman

Munchkin08 wrote: »

Not nearing retirement just yet...
I am 41, and my Husband is 48.

And yes we are 40% tax payers, so maybe upping our pensions is the way forward.
We have arranged a meeting with an independent pensions advisor.

Obviously, as I've got a good pension myself I do think they're worth it.

You're young enough to move now if you want to and move again to somewhere that has all the facilities you'll need in retirement. All things to consider.

unholyangel

Davesnave wrote: »

Despite the dismal post above, the great majority of incomers here survive well into their 80s and enjoy it greatly. There's a good community spirit, now missing in many urban locations.

I think the poster in question meant the return on their investment rather than the property itself

Typically people keep money invested in property (although not necessarily the same one) until they die or enter care. If its the former then it will be enjoyed by beneficiaries. If its the latter....well you typically only go into a home when you're unable to get the care you need at home and so are likely to lack either the mental or physical capacity to enjoy the benefit of it.

If you're lucky, you get to choose to downsize and retire somewhere nice to enjoy the benefit. But often we exhibit signs of "tomorrow never comes" and life's plan for us steamrolls over any plan we may have had

Happier_Me

We're a mid 40's couple with secondary school age children. House value £400k, owned outright, not 40% tax payers but both earn over £40k a year so our financial circumstances are not too dissimilar. We upsized in our early 30s from a 3 bed detached to a 4 bed, nicer area etc and it was a good move. We could upsize again with a hefty mortgage but here's why we've discounted it:

• Like you I can't see what I would be gaining from an extra £250-£300k
• I don't want a mortgage ever again... ever... never!
• Our house is the perfect size
• We couldn't beat the location
• We want the option of retiring at 55 and that does not come cheap. So we are ramping up pension savings
• We live in the Midlands, so house prices are reasonable compared to other parts of the UK. We could 'downsize' to a perfectly acceptable location and release £150k without compromising much at all on the property
• If I did move to my dream home, I'd no doubt find it hard to sell up. But I don't want to work into my 70s just to fund a luxury roof over my head.

I think you need to give some serious thought to your retirement planning. It sounds like you have a lovely but expensive life and that could be at the expense of your future. As 40% taxpayers you could be paying enough into your pension to take you out of that tax bracket. You could be rebalancing your pension savings to make better use of your tax allowance in retirement. I think you need to think about the longer term as well as the short term when making this decision, because the long term isn't really that far in the distance from a retirement and investment perspective