The ostrich wakes up and decides it's aspiring to be a wannabe wise Owl!

jwil

Happy new diary!  Thanks @joedenise for the link.

It is challenging with invites, and just do what makes you feel comfortable.  Can you just take something small?  Or not going is absolutely fine too if you prefer to not spend.  

Take_a_hike_Elon_and_Jeff

Thanks for the responses, I realised I'm really not bothered by the invite and am happy for my own company this evening. I'm definitely not suffering from FOMO they'll always be more opportunities and besides it was a last minute invite by someone I hardly know and plenty of people will be attending so I doubt I'll be missed haha on the positive a NSD today and a £1.50 PAD to the emergency fund  

jwil

Well done on the NSD and PAD

Sarahwithlove

Sounds like you made the right decision about not going. I always ask myself when it comes to events, will I regret not going? Do I have anything else coming up, if so which would I prefer to go to. Sometimes though you just have to let yourself go to both. This journey is about doing things sensibly not punishing yourself. 

Take_a_hike_Elon_and_Jeff

So I tend to be a bit on the quiet side regarding my diary and I know I haven't posted an SOA but nevertheless I have been really disciplined and after a few months I am starting to see a big improvement and my budget is coming together and most importantly I am tackling my debt using the avalanche method. I have also managed to get a slightly healthier than average emergency fund in place and separate sinking funds in place for car maintenance, pet emergencies and some other bills which are on an annual basis, these sinking funds will be properly in place by the end of April this year. 
I have two loans which have about 4 years left on them, one of them is with Tesco and the other Monzo and a loan to a friend (this is interest free, he is not in a hurry and kindly has said correctly, my priority is to tackle the loans as they are on highish interest rates)
I think realistically it would probably take at least two years to clear them and then I can tackle the loan with my friend so all in all it's about four years away.
I am faced with a dilemma as I am turning 55 in June and potentially I could access some tax free cash from one of my pension pots and a bit more than this, but I'd be taxed obviously for the difference  (I'm a low earner so my tax bill is unlikely to be very high  but this would wipe out the debt in June. After that I can be completely debt free and then I can pump a lot of extra money into AVC's which means an extra 10% being contributed by my employer. By pumping extra into my AVC's also = a lower tax bill for the 25/26 year as AVC's mean lower income tax. 
A part of me thinks just leave it as it is and just deal with it but a part of me also thinks I can't vastly improve my pension pot either until I'm debt free. As anyone been in this situation and if so what did you do?

Take_a_hike_Elon_and_Jeff

Following on I have just booked a free pension wise appointment so I would get a professional answer but nevertheless if anyone has experience of doing this it would be good to hear your experiences

dawnybabes

Check the rules about the amount you can pay in after you’ve took the tax free chunck - I’m not sure what they are but there are some. 

Mortgage_Minimiser

I am faced with a dilemma as I am turning 55 in June and potentially I could access some tax free cash from one of my pension pots and a bit more than this, but I'd be taxed obviously for the difference  (I'm a low earner so my tax bill is unlikely to be very high  but this would wipe out the debt in June. After that I can be completely debt free and then I can pump a lot of extra money into AVC's which means an extra 10% being contributed by my employer. By pumping extra into my AVC's also = a lower tax bill for the 25/26 year as AVC's mean lower income tax. 
A part of me thinks just leave it as it is and just deal with it but a part of me also thinks I can't vastly improve my pension pot either until I'm debt free. As anyone been in this situation and if so what did you do?

I'm also in this position come December so will be interested to see what you decide to do. Obviously everyone's situation is different mad it's a question i have for my advisor too when i see her. 

Best of luck!
MM 

Take_a_hike_Elon_and_Jeff

dawnybabes said:

Check the rules about the amount you can pay in after you’ve took the tax free chunck - I’m not sure what they are but there are some

With reference to the above this is a separate pot related to previous employment I've no intention to add to it, if anything I may transfer the remaining balance after what I take, to my current pension fund . I am looking forward to my pension wise appointment as it is not about advice but more guidance and with my past habits I am taking a more sensible approach this time around and not rushing into any irrational decisions.

Mortgage_Minimiser said:

I am faced with a dilemma as I am turning 55 in June and potentially I could access some tax free cash from one of my pension pots and a bit more than this, but I'd be taxed obviously for the difference  (I'm a low earner so my tax bill is unlikely to be very high  but this would wipe out the debt in June. After that I can be completely debt free and then I can pump a lot of extra money into AVC's which means an extra 10% being contributed by my employer. By pumping extra into my AVC's also = a lower tax bill for the 25/26 year as AVC's mean lower income tax. 
A part of me thinks just leave it as it is and just deal with it but a part of me also thinks I can't vastly improve my pension pot either until I'm debt free. As anyone been in this situation and if so what did you do?

I'm also in this position come December so will be interested to see what you decide to do. Obviously everyone's situation is different mad it's a question i have for my advisor too when i see her. 

Best of luck!
MM 

thanks, you too have the right to access the pensionwise service it is available to all who have a DC pension and are over 50. I'd recommend contacting them as you have a bit more time than me to tackle your debt without considering your pension.
It frustrates me that my LBM was quite late and now I can see being debt free means possibly touching a bit of an old pension pot but my current pension pot would be left untouched but the important factor is I must now hit it hard to increase it's value and whilst I am servicing expensive debt it is having an impact on my future retirement date.

 It is a small setback but I feel being tied into debt is a longer setback so somewhere a sacrifice has to be made. The important thing is we have time but we cannot delay, this really is our last chance in terms of having a period of time to earn and invest.  I am fortunate as the overall health of my retirement funds is much better than I thought and as I am now living within my means on a low income I can still retire a few years prior to state pension age and probably be better off than I am now  financially because I am learning to be more frugal each day and I am much happier than I was.

Amongst things this forum is keeping me motivated, we are all on a life changing journey, developing into a situation where we are learning to take control of money and getting to a place where it no longer controls us. Money doesn't bring happiness but managing it better = better for our mental health and good mental health is very very important to our overall health. Health is our wealth!!!

biggerpickle

I'd be interested to hear on the avc's vs debt payments info from pension wise so might give them a call - I am not far behind you age wise and have thought about slowing down debt repayment to top up pension pots as the pension then has longer to grow so potentially longer term benefit than debt repayment.

Fabulous user name by the way - you could probably add another couple of names to it too in a similar vein