Financial advice to younger self

Terron

ZingPowZing said:

1) Don't waste the first half of your life worrying about money. 
No schoolkid wants to grow up to be a miser and only their beneficiaries would care how much Skakespeare, Mozart or Van Gogh left in their wills.
2) Always make your first buy on the housing ladder freehold (I didn't) then you own that land to the end of time to the centre of the earth.

Only buying freehold is bad advice. It rules out most flats which are often a good place to start. Often people will move on from their first place as they get better jobs so owning until the end of time is pointless. Anyway some leaseholds are pretty close to freehold. In the NW there are many leasehold houses with 999 year leases and fixed ground rents. My own home is one such, nearly 40 years into the lease with a fixed ground rent of £40pa.

billywhizz1966

Stay in your LGPS scheme and max out your AVC's - you may not be anywhere as near well paid as in the private sector but you will be the envy of everyone when you can retire on  your gold plated pension - just grow a thick skin for all the abuse you will get from others who think you don't deserve it     

strawb_shortcake

I'm not 50 yet but have been assessing what i need to do improve my future finances. 
Looking back I'm not really sure what I could have done differently as either circumstances weren't great which had a knock on impact to finances, .and then lifestyle choices in wanting to have a stay at parent. 
I'm not a high earner, but I have doubled my salary in the last ten years. 
For me now it's about making better decisions going forward, finding a balance between enjoying life and making memories before my children are fully grown.
On the plus side i do have a good CS pension and agree I have to take the flack that comes with it 

arnoldy

1. Join your Company sharesave/sharepurchase/sharebonus scheme.
2. Don't waste money on too lavish a wedding - also don't  be conned into the commercialisation of Valentines day, Mothers day, Fathers day etc - save it instead.
3. Ensure your wife or husband works to at least the tax free allowance
4. Without fail put anything in the 40% tax bracket into SIPP
5. Invest into 100% equities in low cost manner

[Deleted User]

Terron said:

ZingPowZing said:

1) Don't waste the first half of your life worrying about money. 
No schoolkid wants to grow up to be a miser and only their beneficiaries would care how much Skakespeare, Mozart or Van Gogh left in their wills.
2) Always make your first buy on the housing ladder freehold (I didn't) then you own that land to the end of time to the centre of the earth.

Only buying freehold is bad advice. It rules out most flats which are often a good place to start. Often people will move on from their first place as they get better jobs so owning until the end of time is pointless. Anyway some leaseholds are pretty close to freehold. In the NW there are many leasehold houses with 999 year leases and fixed ground rents. My own home is one such, nearly 40 years into the lease with a fixed ground rent of £40pa.

Good points to weigh against the potential nightmares of short lease viability, doubling ground rent and cladding concerns.
On balance, I'd go for the freehold option if possible, but leasehold is always better than renting.

mark55man

EDITED: Original post replaced as OT
Lesson to younger self - DYOR before posting

Moe_The_Bartender

Don’t pay an IFA to do something you can do better yourself.

Novice_investor101

I’m glad my boss made me join the company DB scheme as a part time student. I ended up staying 10 years as a manager. 

I wish I’d known about stocks & shares Isa’s back then. I had a lot of surplus income i just frittered. I’d be a lot better off now. 

However, i was 35 when i discovered investing & I’ve made up a lot of time in the last 4 years. I also agree with the sentiment to join any employer “free money” schemes you can. Even if you think you’ll not be there long, you’ll never know what will happen in the future! I ended up with a 10 year DB & now 5 years share incentive plan that have both really paid off.