Peering over the hill...

LadyWithAPlan

Grogged said:

Thanks @LadyWithAPlan.
We had a great night and won two awards, one of which I collected!
We used taxis in the end and I got to go in a new electric one.
The panoramic roof makes such a difference, so light and airy compared to a normal black cab.

Well done on the awards ) Had you practised your 'Oscar' acceptance speech?

I don't like the new cabs, I don't think they are as comfy for the passengers but I gather they are much better for the taxi drivers who have to drive in them all day so

savingholmes

Well done on the awards

Grogged

The MrsG August SIPP Update

 

This is the story of the good SIPP MrsG which started her voyage in 2020 with an investment of £1,440 and two transfers from previous pensions.

 

As MrsG earns no income, her maximum contribution per year is £2,880, which the kindly tax man will top up to £3,600 with tax relief.

 

The aim is to get a pot of £50,000 by retirement in 2035.

Mr Spreadsheet is comfortable that we’ll at least double that, giving an annual pension of either £2,000 from income, or £6,000 by cashing in some investments every year.

 

Current contributions are £250 per month (£200 + £50 tax relief).

 

The portfolio is fully invested, with the aim of keeping a running cash balance of £7 to cover the quarterly charges.

 

The aim is for simple 6 fund portfolio that replicates much of what a LifeStyle or retirement fund would do, but at a cheaper cost overall.

 

Weight Symbol Investment

84%                     Equities

10%       VMID    FTSE 250 UCITS ETF

19%       VHYL    FTSE All-World High Dividend Yield UCITS ETF

23%       VWRL   FTSE All-World UCITS ETF

28%       VEVE    FTSE Developed World UCITS ETF

4%         V3AM    ESG Global All Cap UCITS ETF

16%                     Bonds

16%       VAGP    Global Aggregate Bond UCITS ETF Distributing

 

July                     £15,414

August                £16,098

 

We made the decision to include some ESG (environmentally sound) investments and have started to invest in their newly launched Global ESG ETF fund.

 

August saw a gain of £684 (4.2%).

(£250 of that was from dividends, MrsG and the tax man).

 

The annual income is £182 (1.1%) - £15.18 per month – the target is 1.1%.

The annual portfolio investment return is 12.8%.

 

Annual values are calculated as (current value / portfolio age in months) * 12.

 

The bond funds pay dividends monthly and the equity funds quarterly.

 

The current weighting is 84:16 equities/bonds, the plan is to move to 80:20 by retirement.

 

Being a small pension, we want to maximise its overall value.  The strategy is investing more in what is profitable and less on what isn’t.  We’ll do this by allocating each month’s payment according to the overall contribution made by that investment.  What we won’t be doing is selling anything, so it will be a gradual process.

Looking at the funds MrsG is invested in, 90% of their return is through their growth in value and 10% from the income they produce.  That drives the decision process as we’re looking to maximise the overall return, not just the income.

 

This flexibility allows the right weightings to be maintained going forward.

The portfolio is balanced monthly from contributions, tax relief and dividend payments.

 

In August, we again concentrated on investing in VMID and V3AM as both are underweight.

 

The portfolio is held with Vanguard, which whilst not the cheapest, is close for the level of investment and peace of mind.  It also helps that there are no transaction costs, so every penny can be invested.

 

Stay safe,

G.

Grogged

The August Update

Usual money stuff first; gossip, tea and biscuits follow...

 

Mortgage

End 2020            £87,985

Aug 2021            £82,635

Change               £5,350

%Change            6.1%

Overpaid             £3,487

Aug 21 OP          £102

 

The goal for 2021 is to pay off £10,000, with a view to paying it off in full in 9 (stretch of 8) years.  We’re scheduled to pay £8K off through normal payments.  I will look to make between 2 and 4 extra payments throughout the year.  Our NW mortgage is structured so that if you OP by at least £500 you get to either instantly reduce eth term or monthly payment.

Currently at £503 of the £2,000 target for 2021 and snook into the £84s!

 

EF/Cash

End 2020            £24,550

Aug 2021            £29,700

Change               £5.150

%Change            21.0%

Target                 £27,300

In Aug 21            £693

 

The plan for 2021 is to add a month to the EF and continue this every year going forward.  This will enable early retirement if needed (although not by much!).

Each month I aim to open a new 12 month high interest (lol) account to try and maximise the EF savings.  This will ultimately provide a years buffer, the excess will be held in PB, etc.

Due to the low rates on offer, when the Marcus one matured, we moved £5,000 into PB, rather than opening a new monthly account.  With average luck, we should “win” 4 times a year, which would match or beat the current high interest savings rates on offer.  That £100 (4x £25) works out at 0.64%.

Pensions

End 2020            £221,400

Jul 2021              £261,300

Change               £39,900

%Change            18.0%

Target                 £350,000

In Aug 2021        £7,328

 

Pension (as dividends if taken today)

Annually             £6,716

Target                 £8,761

Monthly              £560

The state pension would be added on top of that (another £9K at today’s rate).

This could be boosted by drawing down on the capital, etc.

 

The big ii pension portfolio is managed on the same philosophy as MrsG, except it has more funds in it.  These all do the same job as the Vanguard funds but pay better dividends and are all long term holds.  Still continuing to rebalance, which have been timed around dividend dates.  Where transaction costs have been incurred, they are covered by the incoming dividend payment.  As it stands today, it should pay £9,800 in annual dividends, which combined with the state pension is our minimum pension requirement.

There are 3 more investments that are now significantly overweight, rebalancing these (one per month) should see the dividends increase by a further £200 per year.  All dividends are reinvested using the monthly free regular investing feature.

 

We are mortgage neutral with our savings, so if needs be, at least the mortgage is covered.

 

Grogged Towers News

August saw a late surge in the stock markets, which nearly doubled our forecasted return for August. Our aim over the year was £40K (£10k per quarter), which was based on us contributing £20k and an investment return of £20K (or 9%).  As it stands we’ve hit our £40k annual target and still have 4 months to go…

In a very frustrating time with YG, as I inch millimetre by millimetre to the magic £50 pay out, I also joined prolific, which is a lot better, big thanks to all those who pushed me to it.  😁 The great news is that they’ve paid me! So that’s £6 OP and I have another to come.  On current form I should “earn” about £15 a month, don’t know if that’s normal or not.

We also had a lovely outing to Birmingham to visit their huge Chinese supermarket. Stocked up on load of spices, loads of frozen stuff, including prawns (as they’re far cheaper and bigger packs than from a supermarket), Pho cubes and bin bags (which are much better and cheaper than the see through ones you get elsewhere). The excitement! 🤣

As I’ve strayed a few days into September, here’s what we’re currently doing:

Painted the shed, which was a win, but now isn’t as it’s the wrong kind of brown…

Started to strip the front door as the paint had started to bubble.  We knew we had a composite door, so got plastic/GRP friendly paint stripper.  We’d have been better using a nice cup of tea for all the good it did!  We’ve now found (after scraping and traditional builders language) that the composite door is a wooden core with metal coverings.  So off to buy the strong stuff, but as it stands our door is the shame of the neighbourhood. It should end up being a nice satin black, if not we may have to move… 

As I now work from home a lot and have been confirmed as a home worker going forward, we’ve decided to sell our second car.  We don’t need it anymore and can easily work around the odd days I won’t be home.

In other work news, I had to attend an industry awards ceremony in London and we won 2 of the 3 we were up for. I got to collect one, no speech, but (hopefully) a nice photo.  It was weird being with so many people again and it feeling “normal”.

The big DIY job for this month will be replacing the pergola roof.  It was covered with brushwood, which looked nice, especially to the neighbourhood cats.  They’ve virtually destroyed it over the last year as it’s been a favourite sunbathing area for them.  We’ve decided to replace with a polycarbonate roof, which hopefully they won’t destroy…

Stay safe,

G.

Jessy103

Great update! I'm always in awe of your figures 😃

Grogged

Stripping the front door continues...
The "strong" paint stripper wasn't much better than the plastic friendly one...
Back to the store where a dodgy geezer told us about the GOOD stuff, nudge nudge, wink wink!
If it doesn't come in a metal container, with ingredients that sound like dodgy East European James Bond villains with big orange hazard signs, you wasted your money (twice 😡).
Door is now mostly stripped.
If it was down to me I'd keep it bare metal and install a left to right red light that goes zumm.. zumm..
But apparently a Cylon themed door is a stupid idea, so it will be black (stars are also a no-no apparently).
So it should be finished during the week.
Quick sand, primed and painted.

Grogged

Jessy103 said:

Great update! I'm always in awe of your figures 😃

Thanks @Jessy103, proportionally I think yours are better!

savingholmes

Great figures. Great return. When things settle down for me I need to weigh up merits of focusing on EF, pension or mortgage or combination

Grogged

Well it's that time of year again when I need to renew the M$ office subscription.
Usually do it through Amaz as slightly cheaper than direct.
They had a deal for 15 months for £50, so well chuffed.
Came with McCoffee anti virus as well, but don't need that.

Also got to go to Brum on Thursday for a sales meeting, so yay to that...

Most of today spent melting into my office chair, even with the window open...

savingholmes

I didn't know could do via Amazon. Good to. Know