And so it begins: The Pig Vs The Mortgage

pinkypig · 12 April 2018 at 8:20PM

Karmacat wrote: »

Happy Last Staycation Day!

Thanks for *both* those linkies, no wonder you've been reading that blog, looks v interesting. The sloe jelly recipe has pretty good proportions too, more fruit than sugar, thats got to be good. There are humongous numbers of apple trees on council ground in walking distance from my house, and people are encouraged to pick them, so I can do very well with that jam

Thanks Karma

Free apples sound fab - I love a good forage

pinkypig · 12 April 2018 at 9:44PM

Evening :wave:

I've had a money day

. Granted, it's been mainly thinking about it but it's felt positive and productive. Having got engrossed in a rather good blog I realised that there is a whopping part of my plan missing - I don't know how much income I'm going to have in retirement:o. Pretty fundamental so I thought I'd best make it a bit more formal than having a guess

:o

I've got four pension pots (my TP, two from previous employers, one final salary, one money purchase and a paid up personal pension). In addition , I took out an Teacher's AVC last year to top up my pension provision and to keep my tax bill down. I spent a couple of hours online getting some projections at age 55 - 60 and made some conservative assumptions on the index linked ones. These currently in a note book so I need to get them into spreadsheets tomorrow.

The other main part of my pension planning are two rental properties that I have. One is tiny and one is family size and they've always rented out well but of course there's no guarantee that will always be the case. They are in a pretty good state of repair although one would benefit hugely from an improvement that will cost about £10k so I may do that in the future of I decided to sell it.

All the decisions I've made regarding my avc I've done on my own so I think I need professional advice. It needs to be someone who understands the changes to the TP as I've no idea if I'd be better off reducing my hours at 53 ish and working a bit longer or sticking it out for longer and then finishing completely. It boggles my head:eek: The TP suggested getting in touch with unbiased.com which I've done and an IFA has left me a message so I'm going to call him to setup an appointment tomorrow. I feel better for this as it's a minefield and I want all my options spelling out so I can make an informed decision.

The good news is I should be able to retire comfortably at 55 if I live simply and if I get this mortgage paid off! That gives me 6.5 years :eek: This has both scared me and galvanised me so today I have:

Almost set up my IFA appointment

Closed a regular saver I kept open with the minimum in to get my bonus so £705.58 has been sent to the os pot

Delighted in my eBay purchases but have decided I have everything I need (far more really

) so no more wants spending.

Eaten lo so the food shop could be pushed back another day

Turned the heating down and reduced the time that it's on.

Got a pile of ys bargains for £1.67 which will do ds for snacks plus a few decent lunches for the three of us

Checked the forecast so I can change the beds and get the linen line dried.

Did a spin class which helps my overloaded brain and gets the most out of my monthly classes package.

In less good news I'm way over budget on personal spends and a bit over on grocery due to a wine, hb and £land stock up so it's going to be belt tightening all round for the rest of April

. Looking on the bright side our staycation cost me £20 in bike bits to enable repairs (my bike is now spring and summer ready:)) and a day's parking :money:

I'm off to ponder a sensible to do list for tomorrow:p

Happy Thursday to you - nearly the weekend :j

PPxx

gallygirl · 12 April 2018 at 10:24PM

Will be interesting to see what the IFA says. As you're finding out, it's empowering to have proper knowledge of future income. Knowledge = Choices :T.

Cheery_Daff · 12 April 2018 at 10:50PM

Ooh, exciting to find out what you're entitled to PP! :j I confess I have no idea either, and not much idea how to find out

Mind you I'm definitely more than 6.5 years off retirement, having just taken out a 25 year mortgage :rotfl:

I've got two separate pensions at the minute, one from old job in a currently rather controversial scheme - not paying in any more and have no idea how much is in there

other one is current - they do send me a statement but I've never sat and looked for long enough to understand it...

Might follow your lead one day and investigate (not today though :rotfl: )

Keep talking about cycling, you might inspire me to another bike ride at the weekend :j

pinkypig · 13 April 2018 at 7:18AM

gallygirl wrote: »

Will be interesting to see what the IFA says. As you're finding out, it's empowering to have proper knowledge of future income. Knowledge = Choices :T.

You're right there Gally - imagine working longer than was strictly necessary :rotfl:

Cheery_Daff wrote: »

Ooh, exciting to find out what you're entitled to PP! :j I confess I have no idea either, and not much idea how to find out Mind you I'm definitely more than 6.5 years off retirement, having just taken out a 25 year mortgage :rotfl:

I've got two separate pensions at the minute, one from old job in a currently rather controversial scheme - not paying in any more and have no idea how much is in there other one is current - they do send me a statement but I've never sat and looked for long enough to understand it... Might follow your lead one day and investigate (not today though :rotfl: )

Keep talking about cycling, you might inspire me to another bike ride at the weekend :j

Pensions are so complicated Cheery, they make my head hurt:eek: I need some who understands the basis on which my TP is calculated. Since the 2012 changes I can't even work out which category I'm in:o

I am loving my newly fixed bike

. Next week's weather and your beautiful, new surroundings should inspire you

:)

pinkypig · 13 April 2018 at 7:30AM

Morning :wave:

I'm currently enjoying my almost penultimate coffee in bed before returning to work on Monday:eek:

I've been thinking about what I must do before Monday and what I'd ideally like to do:p

Must

Mark writing assessments

Change two beds

Work out how to assemble fancy pants gifted vacuum as mine is dying

Pack the 8 eBay items that have bids :j. The first lot of auctions end on Sunday.

Fill in nasty form :eek:

Food shop

Deal with another large red cabbage - braised in sc I think

Repot radishishes

Would like

Plant some salad leaves in propogators

Fill green garden bin with branches (still a huge pile:eek:)

Make flatbread for the freezer

Spring clean living room

I'm going to start by reading until 8.30:rotfl:

Happy Friday :j

PP xx

Busy_Mee1 · 13 April 2018 at 7:34AM

Well done on starting to understand your Pensions, we recently did all this and I had the revelation that I could actually retire early at 56. Our pensions are fairly uncomplicated final salary pensions with 40+ years for Mr Mee and 35 for me.

I am now tracking all of our spends so that I can accurate predict what we will need to live on when we retire.

For us, it is the early part of retirement that needs the most funding as other sources of income kick in later ( like SRP)

The cycling sounds great, but it is far too hilly where we live so I will stick to the walking and running !

pinkypig · 13 April 2018 at 7:57PM

Busy_Mee1 wrote: »

Well done on starting to understand your Pensions, we recently did all this and I had the revelation that I could actually retire early at 56. Our pensions are fairly uncomplicated final salary pensions with 40+ years for Mr Mee and 35 for me.

I am now tracking all of our spends so that I can accurate predict what we will need to live on when we retire.

For us, it is the early part of retirement that needs the most funding as other sources of income kick in later ( like SRP)

The cycling sounds great, but it is far too hilly where we live so I will stick to the walking and running !

Hiya Busy :wave:

That all sounds very sensible, including not biking up big hills :rotfl: The very best of luck with your exciting plans

pinkypig · 13 April 2018 at 8:31PM

Good evening :wave:

Today has been a good day, mainly because the kids are back :j:j.
We had a nice family dinner of batch cooked chilli from the freezer, a couple of boxes of 10p ys pilau rice from yesterday's haul and clearance tortilla chips from £stretcher - we know how to push the boat out :rotfl:

Talk over dinner was a bit sombre as dd's company is making some redundancies. She's ok but one good friend isn't and many are having to reapply for jobs:( I did however allow me to drive home some key points, mainly work hard and make yourself useful to have around and always bullet proof your finances so if the worst happens it's a setback rather than a disaster. She's good with money and is a saver not a spender but I could tell all the conversations we've had over the years about car finance and the like were making even more sense now. She's a good lass and she's not got sucked into some of the expensive habits her mates have and for that I'm truly grateful :A. Her brother on the other hand, shall we politely say, is a work in progress:eek:

I've had a pretty productive day:). I've had a much needed rest day as my staycation was rather active and my poor old leg muscles were suffering a bit! Consequently, it was nice to focus on other things.

Mfw successes included ;

Grocery shop done for £27.06 including dog food and a few toiletries so that was ok (still over budget though:()

Claimed my free Primula cheese from Shopmium

Spoke to the IFA - very helpful and appointment booked for two weeks time for initial review and to get the info he needs to do various projections. This stage is free but there may be costs later on if advice is needed which is fair enough

Made overnight oats, low fat hummus and white chocolate crispy cakes so that's healthy (and not so healthy) snacks sorted out for the weekend.

Braised red cabbage with apples is in the sc ready to go on overnight and lentils are soaking ready to go in sc veggie Bolognese in the morning.

Nasty form filled in

Laundry on the airers ( doing beds tomorrow when it's meant to be fine).

Assembled fancy new gifted vacuum (surprisingly simple) and whizzed through the house. It's cordless and rather brilliant - very pleased with it and myself :rotfl:

Car filled up ready for work on Monday:eek:

I'm off to watch some tv before I head out to collect ds followed by a reasonably early night

Happy Friday to you

:)

PP xx

Karmacat · 13 April 2018 at 10:35PM

And a Happy Saturday to you, PP, you've been busy again on the Friday!

I'm glad your DD is taking things in her stride - great that she's talking with you about this stuff. Life is difficult for young adults now, and no mistake.

But trying to stay on the upside ... I'm loving cordless vacuums

And so it begins: The Pig Vs The Mortgage

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