Prosperous soul embraces creativity & mortgage neutrality

Tahlullah.H

Congratulations Savings!!  All good and enjoy Kew!

jwil

Have a lovely weekend

beanielou

Enjoy your weekend.

misslolu

Congrats on your regrade! Try not to spend it all at once 😛

savingholmes

Thanks @Tahlullah.H Beanie and Jwil

Well I've done some more life admin. I've changed my home insurance to my preferred provider for £135 including legal cover - which is better than my renewal quote for the equivalent - and the quote going direct with the eventual provider I've gone with. I may get £28 from £co but may not as I have pension cover with them and had done a direct quote previously. Shows its worth trying a few different avenues.

I've also sorted out my cat insurance. I've reduced the cover which takes me back to around £10 a month. It was otherwise going to be more like £25 a month up from £18. I like my cat - but close to £300 cost per year seemed extreme. I will have a higher excess too but it's there to cover the big stuff like a major condition or an accident. Just hope I've done the right thing. I may get about £11 from £co.

I'm glad they are done as it's been hanging over me. I'm glad I ended up with more affordable solutions. Other things  to tackle would be breakdown cover and closing my company down. That's for a different day though.

doingitanyway

Well done on eating all the insurance frogs. Great deal on cat insurance. 
Have a lovely weekend

jwil

Well done on tackling the insurance

edinburgher

I've finally managed to catch up on your diary (I'm the sort of TV watcher who waits until there's 8 series of something before watching)  

You are going great guns and I love the injection of colour you bring to your diary with nature and art photography. 

I struggle to believe, however, that you manage to find the time you do to live a full life that is not without its challenges, as well as leaving so many thoughtful comments on so many diaries. You must type fast! 

From reading your musings re. Pensions over the last couple of months, it sounds like you have it sussed. My understanding is that you'd like to RE, but not super early and that your S&S investments are largely a top-up to existing DB pensions, as opposed to being used to bridge a gap of several years. Does that sound about right?

If so, your 100% equities approach is probably spot on. I had local government colleagues with good DB pensions who went to see an IFA who specialised in these sorts of cases. Using funds with a high % of equities for their AVCs and SIPPs did seem to be the general idea. I suppose it's like a riding equity glide path in retirement, whereby retirees derisk on the way to retirement, but ramp up the risk over time once they've made it and their income outpaces their expenditure 👍

MovingForwards

If you're concerned about the cat insurance, perhaps save £15pm and next year review it. If you're dipping into that budget for personal spends then you've done the right thing. Mine has pocket money in case she has to get checked.

You've some great savings with your insurances and when the right yearly membership pops up, you'll snap it up.

savingholmes

Thanks DIA, Jwil, MF and @edinburgher

Good suggestion MF on the savings for the cat. My excess went up from £60 to £159 with this new deal though TBF we've never had to claim on our insurance other than when the previous cat died.

edinburgher said:

I've finally managed to catch up on your diary (I'm the sort of TV watcher who waits until there's 8 series of something before watching)  

You are going great guns and I love the injection of colour you bring to your diary with nature and art photography. 

I struggle to believe, however, that you manage to find the time you do to live a full life that is not without its challenges, as well as leaving so many thoughtful comments on so many diaries. You must type fast! 

From reading your musings re. Pensions over the last couple of months, it sounds like you have it sussed. My understanding is that you'd like to RE, but not super early and that your S&S investments are largely a top-up to existing DB pensions, as opposed to being used to bridge a gap of several years. Does that sound about right?

If so, your 100% equities approach is probably spot on. I had local government colleagues with good DB pensions who went to see an IFA who specialised in these sorts of cases. Using funds with a high % of equities for their AVCs and SIPPs did seem to be the general idea. I suppose it's like a riding equity glide path in retirement, whereby retirees derisk on the way to retirement, but ramp up the risk over time once they've made it and their income outpaces their expenditure 👍

Thanks @edinbugher - I can't believe how much you're juggling with your brand new little one. You sound like you are doing well.

I do type really fast and read fast. I did a touch typing course at 15 - it was one of my best investments ever!

On pensions - both my main pensions are DB - they have already accrued enough to pay me around £14-15K p.a. from age 67 so with the full state pension as well IF my mortgage was cleared - I have already accrued enough long term £ to live on. At current prices I reckon I need between £21-23K per year allowing some money for tax if no mortgage. If I took either early though there would be massive reductions. I have a tiny DC pension of between £3.5-3.8K depending on the wind it seems. I plan to switch to paying any top up pension payments into AVCs as the whole of that amount would then be a tax free lump sum when I take my current DB pension. If I can I'd like to transfer my earlier pension to be DC to release cash to help clear the mortgage &/or retire early / reduce my hours - it would be worth around £3.8K p.a as DB or at last count £186K if I can transfer it post age 55. Because my existing pension is DB - if I took the tax free lump sum only of the earlier DB/DC transfer - I wouldn't trigger the MAPP. Alternatively if I get enough £ in to build up a high enough AVC fund which feels a little unlikely - I may not need to transfer the second DB - which would de-risk my retirement pension but would mean that it was harder to clear the mortgage and reduce inheritance options. 

I am not expecting to inherit any large sums as I come from a big family - but that would be the only other game changer - other than downsizing that I can see that would massively impact my financial options. Getting PIP would help enormously though if I qualify. If between my regrade and PIP - I could buy holidays and majorly increase my AVCs then that would accelerate my plans especially as PIP is tax free. Still lots of ifs buts and maybes. But controlling the daily budget does open up later options. Thanks for reading and posting.