Retired and now alone. Comments welcome please

gascar

Hi. I was supposed to be the one who'd keel over first - but life happens while you're making other plans.

I find myself at 68 (male) thus:

House worth about 650k

Isas 400k

Other savings/shares etc 750k

Pensions gross, private (from wife's) + state 30k pa.

I have accounts at HL, ii, AJB,T212 (I day-trade, sometimes) which have yielded about 40%YTD with the rest in Bld Socs

so total (ie average) gain on investments around 14% YTD, gross.

Each platform has merits - some are a PITA! Their stupidity/awkwardness can cost far more than the fees. Looking for another

I would obviously pass money into ISAS as the years pass.

I'm winding back my risk appetite a lot right now, but still hope to do somewhat better than inflation on average over the "portfolio".. 

Apart from vague plans to either improve this house for my decrepitude, or move, none really.

I'm a bit disabled so holidays are too much trouble. I've been to 60+ countries. No kids/family.

I could buy a Retirement flat or go into a residential Home of some sort (which cost a lot), at some point. 

I have enough, I think, but am looking for assurance.

I have given the numbers to AI platforms, which calculate a hundred what-ifs, if you ask. Garbage in garbage out, so I wonder if I'm missing anything?

I have in the past used this strategic bond, though it seems now to have gone flat or even vanished. MAN DynInc IH GBP. Note how it didn't dive in April

I mean, it would DO. It has been about 22% pa for the past 3 years, reducing with interest rates.

Short term it has been easliy beatable, by switching funds once a month or so.

I LOOK frequently, say every day or two. As an eg I had about 100k in Gold, selling most when it flickered. I've been in Healthcare for a few weeks, which has grown a few %. Out soon.

I have been in and out of Tech, Financials, European banks etc, eg South Korea for a few % when Trump visited. If you get in gradually

I can use sector funds like that and others as I have been doing, or copy Pension Fund portfolio  constituents for a wider spread. Most Pension Funds do really badly , though!

I realise it also depends what Rachel in accounts does, from here. I can do sums on tax rates, mostly.

Does it make sense to more or less carry on as I am? As said, the amount "on risk" is much less now, just because of the number of warning signs there are "out there". If I use 10% on risk and can grow that at the same rate, it keep sthe average up. If there is a draw-down of say 30%, which doesn't recover, once in several years, it wouldn't matter too much.

I do look around eg at https://ukpersonal.finance/financial-advice/ but would I benefit from an IFA? I don't want to hand over 20k for someone to demand a Risk Profile from me so he can select one of his standard 5 packages.

tacpot12

I don't think you need an IFA yet, but you should be looking forward to a time when you are less able to manage you money for yourself. You are doing very well at the moment. There will be a temptation to fiddle with your investments. Having a pot to 'play with' via day-trading and pot that you don't play with is a sensible strategy.

I think it makes sense in the short term to carry on, as you are, but start to consider what your needs will be when you are much older. 

badmemory

If you are already "a bit disabled" I would consider not downsizing particularly but more change sizing.  It depends how you are affected.  Are you likely to lose the right to drive in the near/long term & how much will that bother/affect you where you are now.  It is going to bother me a lot, I've been driving for 62 years & my optician believes I have several years left thankfully.

ali_bear

You have posted in the Pensions etc forum without really going into that subject. This is allowed (we are a broad minded bunch) but possibly it reveals where your thoughts are heading. 

Perhaps now is the time to work out how much regular retirement income you need to sustain your lifestyle going forward. Then either take out an index-linked annuity or a drawdown plan to cover that. Once this is done and the dust has settled you can continue with your investing - is this a hobby now? 

Marcon

gascar said:

I can use sector funds like that and others as I have been doing, or copy Pension Fund portfolio  constituents for a wider spread. Most Pension Funds do really badly , though!

Hardly. I think you misunderstand how 'pension funds' work. it's the underlaying funds in which a pension is invested that perform, not the pension per se - that's just a tax wrapper.

If you're looking for reassurance, then an IFA is the place to get it - not here, AI or anywhere else where there isn't a full and in depth understanding of your needs, attitude to risk etc.

You've had one massive knock by finding yourself on your own; don't risk another with your finances.

Triumph13

I'm with Marcon on this one.  An IFA would probably be useful to help you work out what you actually want.  It reads like you are chasing return for its own sake, with no real idea of what to do with it.

LHW99

I would say, don't rush You are in a good position just now, take some time to work out what would really suit you (change location, change house size / type in the same location, think about retirement flats.

You don't say how long ago your wife passed, but perhaps think about what you would have planned together for the next 10 to 20 years, and if that still makes any sense for yourself as things are.

My condolances for your loss. Maybe a one-off chat with a financial planner could help clarify your ideas.