44 and dreading the thought of working past 50

Bostonerimus1

6022tivo said:

SouthCoastBoy said:

Yes university was expensive for me as a parent, estimated cost around 40 to 50k to put 2 through uni

How?? 
They have student loans etc. Didn't cost me a penny.. 

You are lucky! Some of the tuition loans will have to be paid back depending on income if you studied in England and that's on the student. Living expenses will also have to be paid and I can easily see that being 10k/year/student. Some students might get some grant money, or work to cover their expenses or borrow money that will have to be paid back and some will get help from their parents. 

SouthCoastBoy

As others and I have previously mentioned, the loan does not cover the full cost. My kids received the minimum, which was/is around 4.5k per year. Accommodation alone costs 7k to 7.5k a year

cobson

Pension payments are detuctable from your income when calculating student loan amounts, so you can time these payments to be larger during these years to increase the allowable amount. Thats assuming they don't mind having the debt....

SouthCoastBoy

cobson said:

Pension payments are detuctable from your income when calculating student loan amounts, so you can time these payments to be larger during these years to increase the allowable amount. Thats assuming they don't mind having the debt....

The threshold for household income is around 65k so unfortunately that didn't help me

Bobinyorkshire

As previously said, their courses involved being in Uni everyday with loads of extra reading expected too. Also, had placement years so absolutely no way they could work at the same time. Maintenance loan did not even cover the cost of accommodation. Without support they would have had to stay at home and so limiting their choices. I’d rather see them utilise their inheritance now rather than not see it later

MallyGirl

I think we are straying away from the OP's original post.

hartlepool_jono

MallyGirl said:

I think we are straying away from the OP's original post.

Yep it is a bit! 

Early_Retire_Free

hartlepool_jono said:

Gary1984 said:

Do you contract through your own limited co or an umbrella? Are you making SIPP contributions in the most tax efficient way? Either employer contributions from your ltd co or salary sacrifice through your umbrella.

This is something I really need to look more into. I used to do it through my own Ltd Co. However for the last couple years I'm getting a gross rate into my personal account, as working out of the uk. But I'm liable for uk tax. My local country tax is paid by my employer but as a company deduction not a personal contribution... difficult to explain but basically I'm liable for the full uk tax on earnings. Meaning I'm in higher tax bracket for a good chunk. However I still need to clarify what impact on the tax liability will a personal pension contribution have..... if any. And if none what benefit it will be for me to pay into... the sipp is something I feel I'm not utilising at all  

I'm not sure I understand that fully - but there is lots of tax planning you can do if you're able to direct money through your Limited company e.g. you can pay your wife a salary (for doing the admin) which will use her tax free band without incurring national insurance (with the bonus that this also counts towards her pension contribution years).

In addition, you have the option of paying yourself (and your wife if she is a shareholder), dividends rather than salary which is quite tax efficient.

Finally the company can pay contributions to your pension scheme, giving you a coproration tax deduction on the contributions.

While you need to be careful to avoid the scrutiny of HMRC, all of those measures are completely legitimate.

The only thing to be aware of is your potential to have to register for VAT.

Kim1965

SouthCoastBoy said:

As others and I have previously mentioned, the loan does not cover the full cost. My kids received the minimum, which was/is around 4.5k per year. Accommodation alone costs 7k to 7.5k a year

SouthCoastBoy said:

As others and I have previously mentioned, the loan does not cover the full cost. My kids received the minimum, which was/is around 4.5k per year. Accommodation alone costs 7k to 7.5k a year

Plus you still have to clothe them, run cars etc it was crippling. Mine are both through now thanhfully.