How much to live on

Albermarle

helensbiggestfan said:

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. 

I think it is a lot more controlled than it used to be. In fact it is often said that the UK has some of the tightest regulations in the world in this area. It seems that a large part of the work for an IFA ( and cost for the client) is actually filling in so many forms and info now required by the regulations and their insurers !
No doubt still a few dodgy ones about though, and for sure there are some big wealth management companies who stay legal, but have some dodgy sales tactics.

There is a register where you can check if an advisor has any complaints upheld against them. 

daz378

I've 2 years left before I can partially retire...so being careful with expenditure on way..in,   usually have surplus at end of month and put away circa  £150..and works pension...bit worried about s&s isa...markets dipping... 2 front teeth snapped  of my denture...being fixed free..on NHS..but if they go again in few weeks...will get new plate  320 pound  still cheap when you think of private cost...also no holidays on way in apart from few days in Blackpool  a year...trying to live basically...you all take care

barnstar2077

daz378 said:

I've 2 years left before I can partially retire...so being careful with expenditure on way..in,   usually have surplus at end of month and put away circa  £150..and works pension...bit worried about s&s isa...markets dipping... 2 front teeth snapped  of my denture...being fixed free..on NHS..but if they go again in few weeks...will get new plate  320 pound  still cheap when you think of private cost...also no holidays on way in apart from few days in Blackpool  a year...trying to live basically...you all take care

Dips in the market just mean your next purchase will be a bit cheaper.  Nothing to worry about, unless someone is already retired and very aggressively invested.

Albermarle

.bit worried about s&s isa...markets dipping..

also no holidays on way in apart from few days in Blackpool  a year..

Think of investments like the Big Dipper on Blackpool Pleasure Beach. A lot of ups and downs. The difference is that with the Big Dipper, you always end up back where you started, whereas if you stay on the investment ride long enough, you will end up higher than you started.

DiamondLil

@BooJewels - I recently had root canal (having sworn never again after the previous root canal a few years ago) and this time around it was almost a pleasant experience.

I felt nothing, no pain, no discomfort, and when the dentist said "all done" I was still waiting for the procedure to begin.

Hopefully your experience will be similar.

BooJewels

Thanks for the encouragement @DiamondLil - much appreciated.  I had one done a few years ago, which I don't remember being especially problematic or painful.  The recent crown I had done was also much less unpleasant than I was expecting, as they don't take impressions these days, but laser scan your teeth - so it wasn't really much different from a big filling, but over 2 sessions.

Organgrinder

Well, after over 20 years with Three I've decided to leave. This month saw them raise my bill by CPI +3.9%...

So for 45% less per month I now get 50% more data, roaming and no annual increase.

I did pay £8 to get out of my contract early but i'll still save £45 a year or thereabouts.

Three did of course try to keep me but their offer wasn't anywhere near my effective £5 a month.

Happy days.

blue.peter

CPI + 3.9% seems to be a common formula for telecom price rises. How it can be justified is beyond my understanding. PlusNet do the same with broadband. Anyone would think that telecoms providers operate a cartel.

In practice, I've found over the last few years that I can keep my broadband down to a sensible price by signing up for a new contract every couple of years.

As for my mobile phone, I've been with Talkmobile for 13 years. My SIM-only contract with them is one of the rare telecom contracts that doesn't seem to increase each year. It was a flat £8.00/month from December 2012 to February 2016. At that point, I found myself crashing against the upper limit of my included minutes (lots of long phone calls associated with my father's death), so I switched to a new package with them - £7.50/month for a bigger allowance of calls, texts and data. It's stayed at that price ever since.

Albermarle

CPI + 3.9% seems to be a common formula for telecom price rises. How it can be justified is beyond my understanding. PlusNet do the same with broadband. Anyone would think that telecoms providers operate a cartel

I believe Ofcom are looking into it. On the other side the providers make the point that despite mid contract price increases, the average cost of broadband gets cheaper every year, whilst the speeds get quicker and more reliable, due to new fibre infrastructure being rolled out.

Slightly depressingly I found this on their website.

However, awareness and understanding of these terms is very low.  More than half (55%) of broadband customers and pay monthly mobile customers (58%) do not know what inflation rates such as CPI and RPI measure. And of those who are with providers that use inflation-linked price rises, very few broadband (16%) and mobile customers (12%) were both aware of the price rise and able to identify that it was inflation-linked with an additional percentage.[2]

Ignorance is bliss as they say. 

RoysV

RoysV said:

Short time lurker first time poster as they don't say. I've read through quite a few of the pages on here, not all obviously and found it really interesting so thought I'd put my budgets up. Here goes, be gentle

Mortgage free
TV, broadband, dual fuel, water, c/tax £425/mth  £380/month

Credit card which is virtually everything  house/car ins, car tax, servicing, food, clothes, eating out  £600 paid in full every month  £800/ month

Maybe £100 cash, if that

DC/SIPP £160k      £195k
DB @ 60 approx £6.5K
Stocks and shares ISA   £85K   £116k
Premium bonds £50k                 £9k
Cash ISA £15k                         £38k mix of ISA and cash 
Company share scheme £11k   £0

Well it's a year since I packed in so just an update. The figures above were in Jan I packed in end of April so my pay from them months aren't on there, so the figures might seem a bit skewed. The new figures are in bold.
Just below my original post I said I spend about £1300/month, this year it's been about £1370. I had one off costs of new washing machine, new hoover (them bloody Dysons aren't cheap) a repair to my boiler and a week abroad.
I'm starting to withdraw from my SIPP this month so we'll see what the figures are like next year.
I'm pleased how it's gone, I haven't gone without anything and I'm enjoying being retired the year has flown over.