How much to live on

Organgrinder

Albermarle said:

helensbiggestfan said:

Hi Kitty. 

Your figures sound pretty much ok.  You have a good size "cushion" and your income sounds ok.  Is that pre or after tax, even if it's pre tax it should be still be ok, because of that £160k savings pot.  

I agree whilst savings rates are pretty good at the moment, in the longer term it might be worth investing some of it rather than just keeping it in savings accounts.  Obviously take expert investment advice. 

I also agree that you should look at your state pension forecast and check if you have enough contributions for the full state pension. If not it is definitely worth buying up any shortfall or missing years,  

re sideline hustles.  This what I do to supplement my income.  I have always dabbled in antiques and bric a brac and I recently added vintage and preloved clothing.  It wont make me rich beyond the dreams of avarice but it's fun.  

Regarding the comment highlighted in bold.

Whilst professional financial advice can certainly be the right thing to do for some people, in many circumstances it is not really necessary or appropriate. In any case a financial advisor will not be interested in cash savings or any investments less than £50K, or even less than £100K in some areas. Even if they were, the fees would be very high in proportion to the investments.
DIY investing can seem quite scary but it is a lot easier and cheaper than it used to be. 
Robo investing and/or managed ISA/SIPP are a kind of half way house of simplified advice.

I'm so glad you posted this.Sound advice.

BooJewels

I spoke to 2 local IFAs when I was about to receive my late husband's pension pot.  Neither were in the slightest bit interested in talking with me unless I was going to put over £100k under their sole control. The receptionist asked that before I could even speak to someone about setting up a consultation.

I suspect deliberately, in order to dissuade me or highlight my ignorance, they persistently talked in acronyms and used industry specific terms I didn't understand and despite me asking them to dumb it down for me and use words of one syllable, they just repeated the same gobbledegook.   It became evident through both conversations that we were never going to be able to work together - I'm sure that they felt the same as me - they didn't want me as a client and I wasn't about to hand them control of most of my money.  

helensbiggestfan

Their loss.  😉.   

I'm sorry I didn't make myself clearer.  When I said take advice I was thinking in terms of managed funds as others have suggested rather than you just buying shares "blind" as it were.  

I get what you are saying about the IFAs using jargon.  I had an accountant try that with me once.  Tried to bamboozle me. Thought I was too stupid to see through his nonsense.   I got suspicious and spent two days going through our accounts and trawling through everything he had done.  I then requested a meeting and put him straight.....😂.  I gave him instructions on how I wanted to restructure our business.  

As a result I got a tax rebate of £2300.  Not bad for my two days work. Lol.  That was the last time I was lazy with handling my affairs and trusting "professionals" to work in my best interests. Since then I have kept a close eye on everything and everyone I deal with.  

WYSPECIAL

BooJewels said:

Good morning @KittyS - it's the only way to work it out - do your own numbers.  Once you get into the mindset and familiar with your own spending, you'll perhaps find there are places you can cut down or out - especially if you're not going to be working and will have a different routine.

A couple of things jumped out at me - and apologies if you're already on it - but you mentioned prescriptions - if you have regular items, you can save quite a lot by buying a pre-payment certificate, which is £111.60 for 12 months (will be £114.50 from 1 May, when prescriptions also rise to £9.90 each) which if you have 1 item a month would be cheaper - although paying for that might have been what you meant.

Also, your £160k in savings - I hope that's earning a good rate of interest for you - if you had that in savings at around 5% and interest paid monthly, it could earn you around £650 per month - enough to top up your pensions by a decent amount.

Also bear in mind prescriptions become free at age 60 so don’t need to be budgeted for after that.

Albermarle

helensbiggestfan said:

Their loss.  😉.   

I'm sorry I didn't make myself clearer.  When I said take advice I was thinking in terms of managed funds as others have suggested rather than you just buying shares "blind" as it were.  

I get what you are saying about the IFAs using jargon.  I had an accountant try that with me once.  Tried to bamboozle me. Thought I was too stupid to see through his nonsense.   I got suspicious and spent two days going through our accounts and trawling through everything he had done.  I then requested a meeting and put him straight.....😂.  I gave him instructions on how I wanted to restructure our business.  

As a result I got a tax rebate of £2300.  Not bad for my two days work. Lol.  That was the last time I was lazy with handling my affairs and trusting "professionals" to work in my best interests. Since then I have kept a close eye on everything and everyone I deal with.  

I'm sorry I didn't make myself clearer.  When I said take advice I was thinking in terms of managed funds as others have suggested rather than you just buying shares "blind" as it were.  

Just for the record ( because all this jargon is confusing ) .

Many new posters come on to the Investments and Pensions forums looking for advice . However in the world of personal finance, advice has a specific meaning

Personal financial advice is a highly regulated activity, and can only be offered by someone who has the right qualifications, and follows all the right processes. They are then legally liable for any advice which turns out to be inappropriate for the client. The advice will cover more than just investing, but will look at the full personal, family, employment  and financial circumstances of the client. ( They ask a lot of questions) .
Anything else that you might read on MSE, or anywhere else, is just general guidance, and there is no comeback if you follow it and it goes wrong.

Regarding 'managed funds'. That can also be open to different interpretations.
1) An actively managed fund, where the manager uses their 'skill' to basically try and beat the market in one way or another. The fees are higher and the success rate is disputed/variable.
2) A passively managed fund where the manager is much more constrained in what they can do, and they follow markets rather than trying to beat them.
3) A portfolio of funds managed by a financial advisor as part of their overall advice package
4) A portfolio of funds you manage yourself ( so possibly a mixture of funds like 1) & 2) + some cash maybe.
5) Some investment platforms ( including those offering ISA's and pensions) have options that point you in the right direction on the basis of a few simple questions, and then manage your choices at quite a simple level. ( for an extra fee) Unlike a financial advisor they will not look at the bigger picture, tax issues etc. 

Simple isn't it 

Floss

Albermarle said:

Just for the record ( because all this jargon is confusing ) .
....
Simple isn't it 

As clear as a very cloudy day!

helensbiggestfan

Floss said:

Albermarle said:

Just for the record ( because all this jargon is confusing ) .
....
Simple isn't it 

As clear as a very cloudy day!

😂😂.  Jargon to keep us peasants in our place,  lol 

Actually I was a fully licensed and accredited FA at some point in my previous life. Many many moons ago.  Then, as now, there were a fair few charlatans around so it pays to do your due diligence. 

blue.peter

helensbiggestfan said:

Actually I was a fully licensed and accredited FA at some point in my previous life. Many many moons ago.  Then, as now, there were a fair few charlatans around so it pays to do your due diligence. 

Oh, yes.

I used to work for a large insurance company, and once had to write to a former IFA. He was a most unpleasant man, so I had great pleasure in writing words to this effect to him:

"I apologise for responding to your enquiry by e-mail. The most recent postal address that I have for you is HMP Hollesley Bay, but I understand that you have now been released from there."

A year or two later, the case file was requisitioned by the Group Legal department. I'm told that the paper copy of that e-mail caused some mirth there.

helensbiggestfan

Oh wow.  Well at least he got his just desserts. 😁

blue.peter

Yes. There was much rejoicing in our office when he was convicted (of fraud). He ended up serving two years of a four-year sentence.