Statement of intent

frazzmunch

yeah on the exta pennies!!!:j :j :j annoying that the power company took the cash in the first place though..:rolleyes: ....must admit that i would probably drop the extra into the mortgage just so that i could see the 20k!! i know that you will be at that figure anyway at some point in jan but it would be nice to go into the new year with that already acheived

SmlSave

Wow, congrats on the extra £ :T Wouldn't it be nice if it happened say... every other month?

Why don't you go half and half? Then the mortgage looks good and so does Xmas! :A

StuartGMC

Well ScottishPower have said they'll send £137 back for the gas; my calculations indicate it should be £209... have e-mailed this so await their reply :mad:

The Base Rate cut is very good news for the mortgage sector for those on BOE Base Rate trackers and presumably those on Bank Base Rate versions. Our £21.3k remaining is on NatWest offset rate which I note they were very late in reducing following the previous cut. I doubt they'll cut rapidly especially as RBS report their first loss in 300 years...

However with the offset and accounting for lost opportunity for interest to be earned our effective interest rate on mortgage is now 2.93% and if the 1.5% BoE reduction was made giving 4.45% for Natwest rate, our effective rate then would be 2.38%. The real effect for us in terms of interest charges is very small about £52 vs £42.

These are all at the "worst" monthly position in terms of the current account and the effective rate decreases once OH is paid on 14 Nov and then I'm paid on 26 Nov.

StuartGMC

I've just seen this item on the BBC:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7685757.stm

Doesn't bode well for those of us hoping to go early. I'm at the age (44 in March 09) where state retirement is now 67, so it is going to be a challenge to accommodate actuarial reduction of 4% per year for each year before 65 on my final salary scheme and the gap then to the state pension "topping up". That assumes of course that I remain at the company for another 20 or so years.....

What are your plans for your age to retire?
I've not pinned down a specific age, but would like to do so early if viable, whilst 60 would be nice, I think this may be very dependent upon the funds we can build before then.

EssexHebridean

If all goes to plan with our proposed future move, then "work" for us by that stage will be very different anyway so it's difficult for us to think ahead to retirement. The ideal-world long turn plan is to pay our base living costs from self employed work - possibly a combination of a shop / gallery and some form of B&B/guest house...we have lots of ideas but nothing set in stone yet as all manner of things can change in the next 9 years! Basically we have both proved in the past that we are prepared to be extremely adaptable when it comes to earning our keep, so we would have no hesitation in picking up work on a casual basis as and when required, and we also intend to be as self sufficient as possible. If I don't really see either of us "retiring" as such, to be honest....although pace of life should be very different once we move.

StuartGMC

EH
Many thanks; yes, I don't think many of us can predict anything with accuracy at the moment. For us the goals to 2016 when dd leaves schooling at 18yrs old, plus funding her for 3 years after is really all we can use as the "major" focus once MF. All the extras in terms of savings etc will be reviewed along the way.

StuartGMC

I've resolved with ScottishPower, they were right because on the statement dated 2 October showing £176 in credit I missed the fact that they included the payment which would arrive after this date on 3 Oct....

Anyway that means £51.06 + £137.67 i.e. £188.73 will be coming back to us, which is nice. Just need to see what OH's overtime amounts to when paid in a week's time.
Also just seen that NatWest will reduce SVR by 1.5% :j
Can't find anything on their web site for offset account (maybe they are updating, or they've pulled the product?)

However, I've dialed in the new SVR and the changed rates on the savings account (i.e for the lost opportunity to earn interest when offset) and it means, with the month "low" position where we have to pay interest on 37.97% of our mortgage (!), our effective interest rate is 2.17% :j:j:j:j:j

Just had the letter for the official notification of the earlier reduction from 6.49% to 5.95% effective 2 November. Required repayment £292 down from £312. However, target I am aiming to repay is £650 per month which is £358 OP per month, or 122.6% overpayment

As we pay £450 on DD then I pay a further £200 on the day interest is added to the account then I don't think the new rates will change this much in terms of time to 100% offset, then the major goal of MF Feb 2010. Just wondering what the repayment is at 4.45% and hence OP... I assume something around £265, giving an OP of £385 or 145.3% :rolleyes:

Credit card bill was paid and the Faster Payments has kicked in on that which is nice to see! I think I need a few months to be certain the instant transfer is effective before I set the repayment date closer to the due date.

Also had a surprise from BG, they sent four energy saving light bulbs through for free. These can't be used on dimmer switches so I'll have to see if I can actually use them, as many lights are now halogen, and the dimmers are the ones with the tungsten filament bulbs...

cozmic_power

Good luck with the plan. hope to be success

frazzmunch

ooh...retirement...well, if my latest plans go according to plan....me, i am off to buy a home in italy where i will grow lemons, olives, grapes, basil and tomatoes and probably spend all day every day munching my olives and drinking homemade wine!!:rotfl: okay, so no financial plans yet to acheive that but i'll just have to do one thing at a time!!:D

setmefree2

StuartGMC wrote: »

Anyway that means £51.06 + £137.67 i.e. £188.73
.

Whoop whoop:T:T