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. 

hartlepool_jono

Fast forward 3 years and thought id update this,,, just turned 47 now, and a firm/ doable target of 50 to retire. ive taken onboard advice from here, done a lot of reading and learning, saving and investing and i feel im on target.. my numbers at age 50 will look something like,

mortgage free.

cash to bridge age 50 to 58 is a 450k pot, released from downsize, which will be invested in a easy access account, quite possibly split into a cash savings account and gia, and annually transfered to isas as drawdown continues and new tax years allow, during this period i also plan to contribute further to my sipp, this will just be the basic contribution of 2770 x2 annually to get the government top up, i will do this for both myself and wife,, come age 58 when i can access my sipp, im on track (Assuming a modest 4% annual return ) to have a combined SIPP pot circa 500k to 550k, in addition id guess circa 360k to 400k ISAs which will be spread circa 120k cash and 180k s&s, cash GIAs and premium bonds id assume to be circa 100k to 150k by then, state pension im assuming combined 20k pa, (i dont have full allowance due to me contracting out of the uk for periods)

im basing my spending to be fixed at 4k per month through till 85, and rather than reduce im assuming the same but not applying inflation (i feel ive half accounted for this with the modest 4% return on investments.) anyway thats my thoughts… any critique welcome.