Is 'Vanguard LifeStrategy' enough in your portfolio?

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  • JustAnotherSaver
    JustAnotherSaver Posts: 6,709
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    Thrugelmir wrote: »
    Make hay while the sun shines. You have no idea what the future may hold. Focus on today and tomorrow. Let the distant future take care of itself. For many there's no control of what may unfold.
    It's about getting the balance, not killing yourself.


    My boss thinks like a farmer. If your eyes are open then you should be working. Heard that Rhianna song? Yeah something like that. Workworkworkworkwork. But where's the down time? Oh 20 days per year i forgot, or rather 28.


    Like i say, i'm well aware it's a fact we need to work so i do it. I'm not a bum who sits on the sofa & says i don't want to work therefore i wont work & i'll scrounge some benefits. I do 60+ hour weeks & it'll be that way whether i like it or not until such a time where i can financially afford not to.
  • Thrugelmir
    Thrugelmir Posts: 89,546
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    It's about getting the balance, not killing yourself.


    In later life you may appreciate the hay that you've already stored in the barn. At some point you may be on the way down the career ladder whether you want to be or not.
  • Thrugelmir wrote: »
    In later life you may appreciate the hay that you've already stored in the barn. At some point you may be on the way down the career ladder whether you want to be or not.
    Very true.
    Yet life is for living. What is the point in life if you cannot find enjoyment? Sure that hay may make your coffin nice & warm but you'll be dead so wont appreciate it.


    Like what i said regards investing earlier - i'm not chasing the top returns at all times. I'm quite happy being steady, providing it'll provide. My view on work is the same. Living to work is a mentality i'll never wrap my head around. It's a strange mentality that outside of company owners i would say few think that way. I know a few that work, get home, eat, shower, sleep & repeat for 6 day weeks. Each of them are miserable and are looking to get out of the rut. Yet at the same time being reckless in life and not thinking about tomorrow is just as stupid. Like i said, it's about finding the balance.
  • enthusiasticsaver
    enthusiasticsaver Posts: 15,445
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    I have great concern about how much is needed in retirement not least because of my dads situation. He saved in to a pension all his life. He became a pensions officer at his final company which he was with for 25-30 years IIRC. Would go on regular meetings regards pensions and would pay in AVCs i think he called it at the expense of having a bit less for day-to-day life.



    Got to retirement (65), had 3 years of poor health & then died.



    Obviously he didn't have a crystal ball and my mother now picks up a fraction of his pension (made less due to their age gap) but that's the thing - how big a pot do you aim for? How long do people 'plan' on living?


    I'm not a big earner so i don't live like a big earner, therefore i have no intension of living a luxurious lifestyle in retirement. So long as i can afford to put the heating on without worry about paying for it, i can feed myself, i can take up a few free or cheap hobbies and can have the odd holiday or so per year (we holiday within the UK really though that may or may not change) then i'm good. I don't need a flashy car, a months holiday every 4 months in the Bahamas, so on & so forth.


    Darn. What was i saying about off topic :rotfl:


    Your words rang true for me too. My Dad at 62 had just gone part time consultancy when he died but had been suffering with his health for some time. We all said why did he not retire earlier but he loved his job but it took a toll on his health and he had no retirement. He left my mum very well off though so she has never had to worry about money but I am sure she would rather they enjoyed retirement together.

    I determined first of all never to give my life and soul to a job so it jeopardised my health and to plan for my DH and myself to be financially independent asap so we did not have to work if we did not want to. My DH did a job involving long hours like yourself (6am starts and sometimes 11pm finishes, no regular hours) and masses of travelling. When he was in his mid twenties and started with what was to be his long term employer we determined on the booster scheme for him to give him the option to retire early. We should have given my pension arrangements the same attention but due to children (spanner in the works) and me working part time I left it longer than I should have.


    Keep focussed on your plans, which seem good given your age and income but I would also say don't forget to live today while planning for the future. No one knows what is around the corner.
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  • JustAnotherSaver
    JustAnotherSaver Posts: 6,709
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    Am interested to know what Dunstonh advises regards couples investing for retirement (or indeed anyone but since Dunstonh has a customer base this time i am specifically naming him for a reason).


    I mentioned it earlier - where at the very start when we got going with this, our IFA at the time advised my portfolio taking one approach (bit more adventurous) and then my wife's taking a different approach (bit more conservative) to add balance.


    So take a married couple as example - similar ages (there's only 1 year between my wife and I) with similar or for arguments sake, identical outlooks on investing.


    When starting my wife's SIPP we couldn't decide between the Vanguard LifeStrategy 80 and the HSBC Global Strategy Dynamic so we went on a 50/50 split with both for her portfolio.
    Now i know this is probably where Dunstonh will say that these funds are a million miles apart, like going 100% equities vs 100% bonds so they're a total non-comparison but we thought they were at least similar so that's what her portfolio is made up of.


    Now in this scenario, do you generally advise your customer base the same approach (in this case for me - the other half) or would you specifically advise different funds entirely, perhaps even with a totally different risk level?


    I can see both sides of it. I can see why the IFA i originally saw did it and i can see those who say there's no guarantee you'll remain together which i guess is also true.


    Just wondered about other peoples views.




    Keep focussed on your plans, which seem good given your age and income but I would also say don't forget to live today while planning for the future. No one knows what is around the corner.
    Very true. After discussion with my wife in recent years about the possibility (or not) of kids, we decided that if we weren't having any then we're going to get out and do more things. More travelling, so on & so forth.

    The spanner in the works for us appears to be the house (repairs). It's impacting on building the emergency fund at a quicker rate (although i'm not overly concerned about that at the moment as 12-14 months i'll have hit my base target), it's impacting on the standard everyday type savings. retirement contributions and also mortgage overpayments (at the start my ideal goal was to overpay - 6 years in & i haven't managed a single payment yet).
    Still, we'll continue to build all the mentioned pots slowly & hopefully all comes good in the end.
  • Linton
    Linton Posts: 17,061
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    edited 22 May 2019 at 10:14AM
    ......

    I have great concern about how much is needed in retirement not least because of my dads situation. He saved in to a pension all his life. He became a pensions officer at his final company which he was with for 25-30 years IIRC. Would go on regular meetings regards pensions and would pay in AVCs i think he called it at the expense of having a bit less for day-to-day life.

    Got to retirement (65), had 3 years of poor health & then died.

    Obviously he didn't have a crystal ball and my mother now picks up a fraction of his pension (made less due to their age gap) but that's the thing - how big a pot do you aim for? How long do people 'plan' on living?
    ......


    I believe this is a dangerous way of looking at the situation. The ONS life predictions show that currently about 3.5% of the population reaching 65 can be expected to die within 3 years, a figure that is decreasing over time. Sadly your father drew the short straw. Unless you have a good reason to believe otherwise it is about as likely that you will live to be 100, a figure which is increasing.


    Another reason for planning for a long life is that the worst outcome in my view is that you get it and live your final years in poverty. Furthermore, if you plan for a long retirement but happen to die early you wont be in a position to regret your decision. On the other hand if you spend too much of your money whilst comparatively young you may have many years regretting the money you wasted on barely remembered luxuries.


    But of course you cant neglect your current life to save all your money for later when even if you do live to a 100+ you wont have time to spend it.


    In my view the best compromise is to plan to maintain the same standard of living throughout a long life. Saving more whilst working will decrease your current standard of living but increase it during retirement and saving less will do the reverse. So get the balance about even .


    As to how long to plan for: I use 90 purely because of the limitations of the my planning tool (MS Money Lifetime Planner). However it doesnt matter much, though I would prefer 95. To last 30 years and still leave a healthy balance for safety the plan must be fairly close to sustainable. A few extra years of life beyond 90-95 is well within the bounds of accuracy of the plans you make, especially as a plan should be over-cautious - you probably dont want a 50% chance of failure.
  • JustAnotherSaver
    JustAnotherSaver Posts: 6,709
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    Linton wrote: »
    I believe this is a dangerous way of looking at the situation. The ONS life predictions show that currently about 3.5% of the population reaching 65 can be expected to die within 3 years, a figure that is decreasing over time. Sadly your father drew the short straw. Unless you have a good reason to believe otherwise it is about as likely that you will live to be 100, a figure which is increasing.
    I have no real reason for believing anything. I just look at what's happened in the past.
    My dad, at 68 was as far as i'm aware only beaten by 1 in his family who lived until 72 thereabouts. The rest died much much earlier. 20s, 40s, 50s. I'm not just talking about parents & siblings either. Spending time & going back to 1792 doing family trees is addicting & what you find out is quite interesting.

    My mother's side isn't as consistent. Some live long, others certainly don't.



    So where does that leave me? Well i'm not convinced of anything. The way i've been unlucky in health i'll probably not set any records but i go by the 'you-never-know' ruling, better to be safe than sorry.


    As to how long to plan for: I use 90 purely because of the limitations of the my planning tool (MS Money Lifetime Planner). However it doesnt matter much, though I would prefer 95. To last 30 years and still leave a healthy balance for safety the plan must be fairly close to sustainable. A few extra years of life beyond 90-95 is well within the bounds of accuracy of the plans you make, especially as a plan should be over-cautious - you probably dont want a 50% chance of failure.
    Exactly my thought process. That's why earlier i said i don't particularly count my auto-enrolment pot. Sure i know it gets built (slowly) but i pay it no mind. My SIPP is what i count on so that when i do come to retirement, the auto-enrolment pot will be a sort of 'bonus' if you will. My investments may not be overly cautious but my planning is.
  • Thrugelmir
    Thrugelmir Posts: 89,546
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    I have no real reason for believing anything. I just look at what's happened in the past.
    My dad, at 68 was as far as i'm aware only beaten by 1 in his family who lived until 72 thereabouts. The rest died much much earlier. 20s, 40s, 50s. I'm not just talking about parents & siblings either. Spending time & going back to 1792 doing family trees is addicting & what you find out is quite interesting.

    As my partner puts it to me. People not so long ago went to hospital and died. Now the odds are that there'll be treatment to extend your life span. Of course if you don't take care of your body then life expectancy will be shortened. We all can make choices.

    After years of inactivity sitting behind a desk. I now walk 60 miles a week. The benefits needless to say have been considerable. Not just in body but in mind too.
  • JustAnotherSaver
    JustAnotherSaver Posts: 6,709
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    Thrugelmir wrote: »
    We all can make choices.
    Precisely.
    There's a number of heart related problems on both sides of my family through quite a few people.


    So on that note i'm a strong anti-smoker, i barely drink and i do a lot of cardio work
    Sure it wont make me immune to any heart issues but you do what you can & the rest of it is in the hands of the gods.
  • barnstar2077
    barnstar2077 Posts: 1,337
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    I would be okay if my extra spending money runs out at 85+

    Anything below that and I like to think I could enjoy spending the money unwisely : )
    Think first of your goal, then make it happen!
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