Statement of intent

Welshlassie

setmefree2 wrote: »

PS I'm abit sad that the Stig has revealed himself. The mystery was all part of the fun...

What, where, i missed that - but then I have god knows how many top gears waiting to to be watched on V+

setmefree2

Stuart,

Re shares/ investing /gambling

.........................................

For what it's worth - and I'm nooooooo expert - I think when I put a toe back in the market with my pension, it will probably be in a US fund too. I suppose if everyone is thinking along these lines it will be self-fulfilling....

Regards

SMF2

setmefree2

Welshlassie wrote: »

What, where, i missed that - but then I have god knows how many top gears waiting to to be watched on V+

Here

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/01/20/2470055.htm

and

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/4286448/Who-is-the-Stig-The-answer.html

Some people are in denial though they say it isn't him....LOL

StuartGMC

setmefree2 wrote: »

PS I'm abit sad that the Stig has revealed himself. The mystery was all part of the fun...

I had been totally unaware... until now; must be spending too much time reading market and business news so I missed this big story! (It will have a an impact but maybe now they'll be asking which Stig is driving this week?)

StuartGMC

setmefree2 wrote: »

Re shares/ investing /gambling

.........................................

I assume this is a comment on the banking industry?

For what it's worth - and I'm nooooooo expert - I think when I put a toe back in the market with my pension, it will probably be in a US fund too. I suppose if everyone is thinking along these lines it will be self-fulfilling....

Well, I am now reading around the subject for the investments this year, before they really leap up in amount per month once MF. It is so "reassuring" to read in MoneyObserver how difficult a year it will be in terms of selecting the best vehicles to protect capital and also get some growth, even for the professionals.

Obviously we are saving cash for the mortgage payoff, and we'll look to rapidly rebuild cash savings after paying off, but, in the meantime we'll continue to make some investments, but where?

Current thinking is:
Freeze payments into Russia & Greater Russia; just wait and see if it ever recovers (2040?) - High Risk
Continue with Latin America - High Risk (currently better retained value than UK Smaller Co)
Continue with UK Smaller Co, although this may not be great for the next year - Medium Risk
Then it is a question of some with lower risk such as an Absolute Return, but, despite some comments on Government Bonds to protect capital this year and next, I don't think I'll plump for a specialist in this sector yet (after MFD is different). In addition, do I look at Asia and USA? :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

At the moment we're only talking about £3600 in total to invest this year for both of us so it's hardly our entire life savings but with the losses we have presently it may be prudent to get some into less risky funds etc (Note: even though OH is free to make her own choice of funds etc, she has opted to mirror mine, but is presently unhappy at the 46% loss we have )

So, I think I've found what to do with my time once mortgage-free after all!

It will certainly be interesting to gather the relevant additional information to be an informed investor even if we do go with an IFA. :rolleyes:

Finally the monthly update on figures:
Effective Interest Rate on Mortgage 0.75%
Offsetting 85.02%
Interest to be charged this month will be about £15 I think, difficult to gauge due to impact the credit card payment etc will make.
Mortgage to repay £19886, hopefully in October 2009

setmefree2

Stuart - for what it's worth (and that is probably not alot!) I have a stakeholder pension with Friends Provident. This is a company scheme. At the moment my pot is sitting in a mixture of cash and bonds - some UK gilts and some UK corporate bonds. I intend to move a small bit of my pot initially into the US market - on the assumption that the US will recover first - as you said previously. But when? Personally, I'm just looking out for "green shoots". Any sign that things are getting better - there was a little bit of recovery yesterday in the US housing market for instance

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7852011.stm
US home sales see surprise rise

I'm also looking for a good run of earnings stories...

It's not easy, is it?

regards

Smf2

RosieTiger

Stuart,
congratulations on the positive balance - your clearly well on your way. I thought it would be poor form not to mention this considering the encouragement your postings have had for many of us on this forum.

But please say you would choose an XK when the chance comes !:beer:

gallygirl

setmefree2 wrote: »

Stuart - for what it's worth (and that is probably not alot!) I have a stakeholder pension with Friends Provident. This is a company scheme. At the moment my pot is sitting in a mixture of cash and bonds - some UK gilts and some UK corporate bonds.

Smf2

Smf2 I too am with FP. Have you already selected your funds or was this the Lifeestyle option? I have selected 4 and monitor performance every 1/4 - in between I forget about it as it would be easy to obsess over (although currently couldn't even name the sectors which is maybe a tad over-laid back ). However, what I would like (or maybe not like :rolleyes: ) to see is how my choices would comapre with their Lifestyle choice for my age/risk profile.

Am due an update any day, not looking forward to it _pale_, but I agree with you over USA - they started all this but don't appear to be suffering as we are - at least $ isn't.

StuartGMC

RosieTiger wrote: »

Stuart,
congratulations on the positive balance - your clearly well on your way. I thought it would be poor form not to mention this considering the encouragement your postings have had for many of us on this forum.

But please say you would choose an XK when the chance comes !:beer:

Rosie
Thanks for the support.

I think our daughter would find the XK a bit problematic as she is getting taller by the day!
.... however, maybe the XK for me in the week and the XF for the family trips? :eek::eek::eek:

StuartGMC

SMF2 and Gallygirl

I think the key difference here is that I have a company final salary scheme pension, and I'm not investing for the pension but rather for additional income etc. I presently contribute 10% gross salary, well, I do at the moment and hope above all else it remains active despite the latest news and comments that up to 40% of final salary schemes will close to existing members, despite many having already closed to new members.

I do however need to look at the recommended profile for 45-50, the time when we need to build savings prior to DD being 18, then the 50-60yr old period. Obviously, I can look at some range of funds within the S&S ISA now and change them in future etc but just don't want to get caught holding funds which then drop in value... much to be learnt in the next few months methinks!