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  • SuperSecretSquirrel
    SuperSecretSquirrel Posts: 1,045 Forumite
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    Maybe for you Ed, but I fear that could become something of a slippery slope for me! :eek:

    I don't try to "time" or "pick" anything. Dull as anything my investing style :)
  • abi_a_mfw_mum
    abi_a_mfw_mum Posts: 49 Forumite
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    Hi SSS,

    Thanks for your diary, I have just read it from the beginning!
    It's really made me reconsider my strategy. I started a diary about a month ago, and had aimed to split saving and overpaying. We are probably in the opposite position to you as we have unlimited OPs available but a very low 1.69% tracker rate. It's made me think we'd probably be better off aiming to save into high interest accounts and beat the mortgage interest.
    The problem for me (and reading your diary I think you've been in a similar place at times) is that my head says that's the best plan, but my heart says OP the mortgage to reduce debt. It doesn't help that when we remortgaged the bank were unwilling to lend less than 3x my income due to DH being on a fixed term contract and us having one child. Initially they only wanted to lend us 1.5x my income :eek: Eventually they lent us the money based on likelihood DH will find more work but when we come to remortgage we will have 2 children (baby 2 due in August). I think I need to convince myself that money in the bank gives the option of overpaying nearer the end of the term and reducing our debt when the bank are making their calculations, as well as better returns on investment.
    Anyway, off to ponder and update my diary I think.... Thanks for getting me thinking
  • SuperSecretSquirrel
    SuperSecretSquirrel Posts: 1,045 Forumite
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    Hi Abi :) You read the whole thing, I am honoured :o I have been reading along on your thread, I have a terrible habit of lurking without stepping out of the shadows to say hello!

    Have just posted on your diary, but I think saving rather than OPing would definitely be the right thing for you. You have an amazingly flexible mortgage allowing unlimited OP's - having savings on hand would offer you the ability to pay down a large chunk if affordability is deemed an issue at remortgage, but you'd benefit from the extra interest earned in the meantime.

    Congratulations on baby 2! :D
  • edinburgher
    edinburgher Posts: 13,463 Forumite
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    Before I get a bad rep, could I highlight that the extent of my 'picks' would be a whole of index tracker and that my 'timing' is bringing forward planned purchases of said trackers because they've dropped significantly vs. recent prices! :)
  • SuperSecretSquirrel
    SuperSecretSquirrel Posts: 1,045 Forumite
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    Having very recently said that I don't try to time the market, I am immensely tempted this morning! Seems like quite the buying opportunity. Then I consider tomorrow might be better, or maybe next week, or maybe next month... Who knows when things might bottom out? (Tip: nobody)

    At times like this I'm thankful for my monthly drip feed that magically runs itself on autopilot. Analysis paralysis would stop me from getting anything done otherwise!
  • edinburgher
    edinburgher Posts: 13,463 Forumite
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    Housebuilders and banks :rotfl:

    Small payment into VLS100 for me.
  • SuperSecretSquirrel
    SuperSecretSquirrel Posts: 1,045 Forumite
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    I've resisted temptation so far... Not entirely sure if that's a good thing or not :o

    Received my confirmatiin letter from the Hong Kong/Shanghai bank, just need to pop my signature sample in the post and then wait for final confirmation of account opening. Then I'll need to register for online banking, and initiate the switch of my primed donor account. Then I'll be registering for the attached 6% regular saver.

    What a palaver. Still, worth it for the £200 signup bribe and adding a fourth drip fed high interest regular saver to the collection :D

    OH has always thought my account juggling to be ridiculous, but the heckling is far reduced these days. Either it has been grudgingly accepted as normal, or she's actually coming round to my way of thinking!
  • edinburgher
    edinburgher Posts: 13,463 Forumite
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    Like Mrs E and matched betting. Stopped moaning as soon as the money rolled in ��
  • SuperSecretSquirrel
    SuperSecretSquirrel Posts: 1,045 Forumite
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    Surprised to see VLS80 has increased in value since the referendum, so I guess stocks are not actually on sale... This has proved to me that markets really are irrational! Keeps me on the straight and narrow at least, no way I can time purchases when the markets defy logic :)
  • edinburgher
    edinburgher Posts: 13,463 Forumite
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    SuperSecretSquirrel wrote: »
    Surprised to see VLS80 has increased in value since the referendum, so I guess stocks are not actually on sale... This has proved to me that markets really are irrational! Keeps me on the straight and narrow at least, no way I can time purchases when the markets defy logic :)

    I had wondered whether this was because the falling pound meant that the valuation of companies that use the dollar had gone up? For VLS80, that's something like 1/2 of the equity component.

    My experiment in index timing? A £50 loss, I didn't see that coming. I am unsure what (if anything) this tells me about the sense of what I try to do/my inner voices. Generally, buying during times of generalised panic has served me well in the past. That said, generalised panic isn't how I'd describe this. In terms of global capitalisation, the UK is less than 10% of the stock market, so falls in the £ will probably have a disproportionate impact.

    Have bought a few small slugs of VLS100, but based on this logic, I probably shouldn't have bothered.

    I suppose I'll wait and see what happens when the US markets open later today. Like yourself, on paper it looks like my globally diversified portfolio is worth more. In real terms, however, it ain't!
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