Thank you folks. I admit I do need advice - which is why I posted on here. I drop into this thread from time to time but have missed the IFA vs on your own debate.
I have found previous IFAs very pushy and have invested in stuff I'm not happy with. The last one I saw was recommended by a friend who wanted high risk investment- the total opposite of me.
With the house completion date looming I shall stick the money in building society accounts until I have some idea what to do.
Firstly I appologise @Arsenetatters if I sounded rude or curt.
The whole point of speaking to an IFA is that they can assess your personal situation, your attitude to risk, your investment timeframe, your future wants & needs etc etc.....
coming onto a football forum & asking random people for their views is hardly going to help you with the above. what suits one poster may not suit another & people can only say what they would do.
I am sorry you feel that you haven't been given good advice before by an IFA but I would re-iterate again, I really believe that you need to speak to a professional advisor.
Thank you folks. I admit I do need advice - which is why I posted on here. I drop into this thread from time to time but have missed the IFA vs on your own debate.
I have found previous IFAs very pushy and have invested in stuff I'm not happy with. The last one I saw was recommended by a friend who wanted high risk investment- the total opposite of me.
With the house completion date looming I shall stick the money in building society accounts until I have some idea what to do.
Firstly I appologise @Arsenetatters if I sounded rude or curt.
The whole point of speaking to an IFA is that they can assess your personal situation, your attitude to risk, your investment timeframe, your future wants & needs etc etc.....
coming onto a football forum & asking random people for their views is hardly going to help you with the above. what suits one poster may not suit another & people can only say what they would do.
I am sorry you feel that you haven't been given good advice before by an IFA but I would re-iterate again, I really believe that you need to speak to a professional advisor.
Thank you.
I just came on here to get a few ideas. The premium bonds one interests me. I'll keep looking for others and not do anything hasty with the money.
Thank you folks. I admit I do need advice - which is why I posted on here. I drop into this thread from time to time but have missed the IFA vs on your own debate.
I have found previous IFAs very pushy and have invested in stuff I'm not happy with. The last one I saw was recommended by a friend who wanted high risk investment- the total opposite of me.
With the house completion date looming I shall stick the money in building society accounts until I have some idea what to do.
Firstly I appologise @Arsenetatters if I sounded rude or curt.
The whole point of speaking to an IFA is that they can assess your personal situation, your attitude to risk, your investment timeframe, your future wants & needs etc etc.....
coming onto a football forum & asking random people for their views is hardly going to help you with the above. what suits one poster may not suit another & people can only say what they would do.
I am sorry you feel that you haven't been given good advice before by an IFA but I would re-iterate again, I really believe that you need to speak to a professional advisor.
Thank you.
I just came on here to get a few ideas. The premium bonds one interests me. I'll keep looking for others and not do anything hasty with the money.
Thank you folks. I admit I do need advice - which is why I posted on here. I drop into this thread from time to time but have missed the IFA vs on your own debate.
I have found previous IFAs very pushy and have invested in stuff I'm not happy with. The last one I saw was recommended by a friend who wanted high risk investment- the total opposite of me.
With the house completion date looming I shall stick the money in building society accounts until I have some idea what to do.
Firstly I appologise @Arsenetatters if I sounded rude or curt.
The whole point of speaking to an IFA is that they can assess your personal situation, your attitude to risk, your investment timeframe, your future wants & needs etc etc.....
coming onto a football forum & asking random people for their views is hardly going to help you with the above. what suits one poster may not suit another & people can only say what they would do.
I am sorry you feel that you haven't been given good advice before by an IFA but I would re-iterate again, I really believe that you need to speak to a professional advisor.
Thank you.
I just came on here to get a few ideas. The premium bonds one interests me. I'll keep looking for others and not do anything hasty with the money.
You could buy a football club
The downside of that is it takes about 50 years to do so.
Thank you folks. I admit I do need advice - which is why I posted on here. I drop into this thread from time to time but have missed the IFA vs on your own debate.
I have found previous IFAs very pushy and have invested in stuff I'm not happy with. The last one I saw was recommended by a friend who wanted high risk investment- the total opposite of me.
With the house completion date looming I shall stick the money in building society accounts until I have some idea what to do.
Firstly I appologise @Arsenetatters if I sounded rude or curt.
The whole point of speaking to an IFA is that they can assess your personal situation, your attitude to risk, your investment timeframe, your future wants & needs etc etc.....
coming onto a football forum & asking random people for their views is hardly going to help you with the above. what suits one poster may not suit another & people can only say what they would do.
I am sorry you feel that you haven't been given good advice before by an IFA but I would re-iterate again, I really believe that you need to speak to a professional advisor.
Thank you.
I just came on here to get a few ideas. The premium bonds one interests me. I'll keep looking for others and not do anything hasty with the money.
if you think premium bonds are the answer then you really do need help.
Thank you folks. I admit I do need advice - which is why I posted on here. I drop into this thread from time to time but have missed the IFA vs on your own debate.
I have found previous IFAs very pushy and have invested in stuff I'm not happy with. The last one I saw was recommended by a friend who wanted high risk investment- the total opposite of me.
With the house completion date looming I shall stick the money in building society accounts until I have some idea what to do.
Firstly I appologise @Arsenetatters if I sounded rude or curt.
The whole point of speaking to an IFA is that they can assess your personal situation, your attitude to risk, your investment timeframe, your future wants & needs etc etc.....
coming onto a football forum & asking random people for their views is hardly going to help you with the above. what suits one poster may not suit another & people can only say what they would do.
I am sorry you feel that you haven't been given good advice before by an IFA but I would re-iterate again, I really believe that you need to speak to a professional advisor.
Thank you.
I just came on here to get a few ideas. The premium bonds one interests me. I'll keep looking for others and not do anything hasty with the money.
if you think premium bonds are the answer then you really do need help.
Thank you folks. I admit I do need advice - which is why I posted on here. I drop into this thread from time to time but have missed the IFA vs on your own debate.
I have found previous IFAs very pushy and have invested in stuff I'm not happy with. The last one I saw was recommended by a friend who wanted high risk investment- the total opposite of me.
With the house completion date looming I shall stick the money in building society accounts until I have some idea what to do.
Firstly I appologise @Arsenetatters if I sounded rude or curt.
The whole point of speaking to an IFA is that they can assess your personal situation, your attitude to risk, your investment timeframe, your future wants & needs etc etc.....
coming onto a football forum & asking random people for their views is hardly going to help you with the above. what suits one poster may not suit another & people can only say what they would do.
I am sorry you feel that you haven't been given good advice before by an IFA but I would re-iterate again, I really believe that you need to speak to a professional advisor.
Thank you.
I just came on here to get a few ideas. The premium bonds one interests me. I'll keep looking for others and not do anything hasty with the money.
if you think premium bonds are the answer then you really do need help.
The answer to what? All I want is enough money to keep me, Mr Tatters and the hens. We live a frugal life. We have no kids or family to leave money to so just want to get the most out of any money we have with very little risk.
You make too many assumptions. We don't all want the same thing. I am happy to run the money down to zero in 20 years time when I'm in my seventies before the government takes it to pay for keeping me in a nursing home.
If you think your style of communication endears people to IFAs then I suggest it is you that needs help.
Its not me making assumptions.....I haven't said anything apart from the fact that Premium Bonds aren't probably the answer if you're looking for income.
Now that you've given a little more detail I will throw a few ideas & flaws to your plan.
1) Premium Bonds do not pay out a set amount. It is lucky dip. One month you might get £25 another month £50 and then nothing for months. Hardly the best way to achieve an income to live on.
2) who says at 70 you'll be going into a home ?? My parents are both well into their 80's and both are fit & well. The money you have may have to last you 40 years.
3) I can think of at least 4 ways you could get a tax free monthly income (assuming you are not a higher rate tax payer) with returns of between 3%-5%..... with minimal risk & some with a guarantee of at least getting your original capital back at the end of the term.
4) If you don't want any risk then you can still get tax free interst by leaving it in the bank. All basic rate taxpayers can receive £1000 pa of interest tax free. An account paying 2% means that you & hubby can both save £50k tax free.
As someone who worked for one of the largest money managers and still does love investing, I cannot emphasize this enough right now.... do not go out long on any risk curve. Don't chase yield.
As for P2P... my guess is that unlike the bank, there is not much recourse for investors if the debtor does not pay. My guess is the whole construct is based upon an idea that defaults are minimal. When that turns out not to be the case, it collapses. Just as mortgage bonds did. From rock solid to worth nothing in 12 months.
All debts compete on yield and safety. In this world, 6% is moderately high risk. If it were not higher risk, it would yield less. It's really that simple.
As someone who worked for one of the largest money managers and still does love investing, I cannot emphasize this enough right now.... do not go out long on any risk curve. Don't chase yield.
As for P2P... my guess is that unlike the bank, there is not much recourse for investors if the debtor does not pay. My guess is the whole construct is based upon an idea that defaults are minimal. When that turns out not to be the case, it collapses. Just as mortgage bonds did. From rock solid to worth nothing in 12 months.
All debts compete on yield and safety. In this world, 6% is high risk. If it were not high risk, it would yield less. It's really that simple.
Just for context, none of my "suggestions" were based on bonds or yields.
with P2P lenders, stay with big ones with good track records and reputations. I think at least one P2P lender has gone bust and i suspect some others will go.
Good track records over.... what time period? Everyone looks good the last 10 years. I would be interested in audited records about how these P2P groups did in 2008-2009. And if as a whole these kinds of things don't have such records or did not exist then... then it means this is a whole new frontier and no one knows anything about the actual risks.
As someone who worked for one of the largest money managers and still does love investing, I cannot emphasize this enough right now.... do not go out long on any risk curve. Don't chase yield.
As for P2P... my guess is that unlike the bank, there is not much recourse for investors if the debtor does not pay. My guess is the whole construct is based upon an idea that defaults are minimal. When that turns out not to be the case, it collapses. Just as mortgage bonds did. From rock solid to worth nothing in 12 months.
All debts compete on yield and safety. In this world, 6% is moderately high risk. If it were not higher risk, it would yield less. It's really that simple.
Personally, I have no more than 1.5% of my portfolio of P2P in one loan.
I understand that if there is a crash, there is a good chance that a fair few loans might default, what I would say though is that all the loans are backed by assets in the case of a default, although I am not naive enough to believe that a lot of these assets will be worth less than the LTV ratio if the financial world is going into meltdown. But if the financial world is going into meltdown, a stocks and shares ISA would be looking pretty ugly too I would suggest.
As for an IFA, each to their own I would suggest, and without wanting to do down anyone's industry, I would suggest if you are relatively financially savvy and know your own risk profile (and have the time to spare) you're more than capable of doing it yourself. Having said that, most people aren't financially savvy. My dad was very successful but wasn't financially savvy, luckily he hired an IFA who was, and made sure he had income protection, which was just as well when as when he became ill, at least money wasn't really something that had to be worried about on top of everything else.
Thank you folks. I admit I do need advice - which is why I posted on here. I drop into this thread from time to time but have missed the IFA vs on your own debate.
I have found previous IFAs very pushy and have invested in stuff I'm not happy with. The last one I saw was recommended by a friend who wanted high risk investment- the total opposite of me.
With the house completion date looming I shall stick the money in building society accounts until I have some idea what to do.
Firstly I appologise @Arsenetatters if I sounded rude or curt.
The whole point of speaking to an IFA is that they can assess your personal situation, your attitude to risk, your investment timeframe, your future wants & needs etc etc.....
coming onto a football forum & asking random people for their views is hardly going to help you with the above. what suits one poster may not suit another & people can only say what they would do.
I am sorry you feel that you haven't been given good advice before by an IFA but I would re-iterate again, I really believe that you need to speak to a professional advisor.
Thank you.
I just came on here to get a few ideas. The premium bonds one interests me. I'll keep looking for others and not do anything hasty with the money.
if you think premium bonds are the answer then you really do need help.
Thank you folks. I admit I do need advice - which is why I posted on here. I drop into this thread from time to time but have missed the IFA vs on your own debate.
I have found previous IFAs very pushy and have invested in stuff I'm not happy with. The last one I saw was recommended by a friend who wanted high risk investment- the total opposite of me.
With the house completion date looming I shall stick the money in building society accounts until I have some idea what to do.
Firstly I appologise @Arsenetatters if I sounded rude or curt.
The whole point of speaking to an IFA is that they can assess your personal situation, your attitude to risk, your investment timeframe, your future wants & needs etc etc.....
coming onto a football forum & asking random people for their views is hardly going to help you with the above. what suits one poster may not suit another & people can only say what they would do.
I am sorry you feel that you haven't been given good advice before by an IFA but I would re-iterate again, I really believe that you need to speak to a professional advisor.
Thank you.
I just came on here to get a few ideas. The premium bonds one interests me. I'll keep looking for others and not do anything hasty with the money.
if you think premium bonds are the answer then you really do need help.
The answer to what? All I want is enough money to keep me, Mr Tatters and the hens. We live a frugal life. We have no kids or family to leave money to so just want to get the most out of any money we have with very little risk.
You make too many assumptions. We don't all want the same thing. I am happy to run the money down to zero in 20 years time when I'm in my seventies before the government takes it to pay for keeping me in a nursing home.
If you think your style of communication endears people to IFAs then I suggest it is you that needs help.
Premium bonds are like the lottery but with a guarantee of your original cash back, but highly likely with inflation you’ll lose money (the average return currently is 1.4% but 99% of people get far less) so I would say other than for a short period whilst you decide it isn’t a good idea for what you need.
Based on your age I’d certainly open a pension and put in £2,880 a year, immediately you’ll make 25% with the governments contribution topping it up to £3,600, you won’t achieve that return anywhere else without a fair amount of risk. You can hold it in cash or some low risk funds.
It’s dangerous thinking you can run the money down in 20 years/until your 70. My great Aunt and uncle had no children and lived to 98 and 103 and were both very fit still holidaying and cycling well into their mid 90’s and never went into care.
You could open up the various high interest current type accounts although all have a cap on how much you can hold. Filter money into the high interest regular savers also but again they have a cap on amount, usually between 3&5k per annum and only for a year.
You say you want little risk, it seems to me your biggest risk and potentially the risk you are taking is inflation, unless you keep up with that you are effectively every day taking a tenner or more and throwing it away. You need to try at least to keep up with that.
Thank you folks. I admit I do need advice - which is why I posted on here. I drop into this thread from time to time but have missed the IFA vs on your own debate.
I have found previous IFAs very pushy and have invested in stuff I'm not happy with. The last one I saw was recommended by a friend who wanted high risk investment- the total opposite of me.
With the house completion date looming I shall stick the money in building society accounts until I have some idea what to do.
It's a house sale right? Now on money stuff I'm ultra cautious because I trust no one. Not least because I'm old enough to remember a whole succession of banking crises. Starting from the '70s secondary banking crisis, through the infamous Grays Building Society# collapse in the late '70s, BCCI, and then the latest fiasco.
So, just be safe. If your windfall is more than £85k make sure that you place the funds in accounts which are with separate legal entities. (You can double that amount if they are joint accounts).
Make sure the separate entities are REALLY separate.
For example RBS is also Natwest, Coutts, etc; Lloyds is also Halifax, Bank of Scotland and god knows who else.
Chelsea Building Society and Norwich & Peterborough Building Society are nothing of the sort: they are merely trading names of Yorkshire Building Society.
Be cautious then in the event of further issues, the FSCS will pay out.
Eggs and baskets.
# Building Society members' money went on fast cars, even faster women and gambling rather than mortgages.
As someone who worked for one of the largest money managers and still does love investing, I cannot emphasize this enough right now.... do not go out long on any risk curve. Don't chase yield.
As for P2P... my guess is that unlike the bank, there is not much recourse for investors if the debtor does not pay. My guess is the whole construct is based upon an idea that defaults are minimal. When that turns out not to be the case, it collapses. Just as mortgage bonds did. From rock solid to worth nothing in 12 months.
All debts compete on yield and safety. In this world, 6% is moderately high risk. If it were not higher risk, it would yield less. It's really that simple.
6% yield on a single debt instrument is high risk, a 6% yields on a diversified debt portfolio which should have a lower default exposure, is less risky than from equities. Yield and risk can be measured statistically so you can select the "efficient frontier" which is the asset being managed to deliver a target yield at the lowest risk. A 2% yield can be risky if it is sought from an inappropriate asset.
If you want to know what pension schemes are doing to solve the challenge of investing for an income stream that does not run out unexpectedly, it's a combination of a quality diversified growth fund targeting cash + 4% growth and, ideally, if you have sufficient funds, you cover the mortality risk of living too long, by purchasing some future income by way of a deferred annuity to begin at an age selected post age 75 when typically you are less active and have a lower income need. All the back running of scenarios and alternative constructions does not produce a better balance of risk/reward strategy. You can of course take more or less risk according to your objectives/needs/priorities/health/dependants etc. and this is where financial planning advice from the likes of @golfaddick is money well spent. The second problem is accessing the products at a reasonable cost and identifying a "quality" fund.
Not bragging, but I will, the pension scheme of which I am a trustee got a mention in the FT yesterday as the best performer in the UK pensions master trust market at 12% p.a. and it costs only 0.50% in charges. That's down to both luck in having a long term strategy that is positioned to give cash +4% long term which for the non-hedged part of the portfolio happened to make calls on asset class selection that were the right calls for the period measured. What is sought is cash + 4% even if markets are 20% down, we are not competing with volatile equity returns, simply having appropriate exposure for some upside. As it happens, cash + 4% in a crashing market would be a far more significant figure than 12% when equities are steaming, but it would hardly get a mention.
Thank you folks. I admit I do need advice - which is why I posted on here. I drop into this thread from time to time but have missed the IFA vs on your own debate.
I have found previous IFAs very pushy and have invested in stuff I'm not happy with. The last one I saw was recommended by a friend who wanted high risk investment- the total opposite of me.
With the house completion date looming I shall stick the money in building society accounts until I have some idea what to do.
Firstly I appologise @Arsenetatters if I sounded rude or curt.
The whole point of speaking to an IFA is that they can assess your personal situation, your attitude to risk, your investment timeframe, your future wants & needs etc etc.....
coming onto a football forum & asking random people for their views is hardly going to help you with the above. what suits one poster may not suit another & people can only say what they would do.
I am sorry you feel that you haven't been given good advice before by an IFA but I would re-iterate again, I really believe that you need to speak to a professional advisor.
Thank you.
I just came on here to get a few ideas. The premium bonds one interests me. I'll keep looking for others and not do anything hasty with the money.
if you think premium bonds are the answer then you really do need help.
Thank you folks. I admit I do need advice - which is why I posted on here. I drop into this thread from time to time but have missed the IFA vs on your own debate.
I have found previous IFAs very pushy and have invested in stuff I'm not happy with. The last one I saw was recommended by a friend who wanted high risk investment- the total opposite of me.
With the house completion date looming I shall stick the money in building society accounts until I have some idea what to do.
Firstly I appologise @Arsenetatters if I sounded rude or curt.
The whole point of speaking to an IFA is that they can assess your personal situation, your attitude to risk, your investment timeframe, your future wants & needs etc etc.....
coming onto a football forum & asking random people for their views is hardly going to help you with the above. what suits one poster may not suit another & people can only say what they would do.
I am sorry you feel that you haven't been given good advice before by an IFA but I would re-iterate again, I really believe that you need to speak to a professional advisor.
Thank you.
I just came on here to get a few ideas. The premium bonds one interests me. I'll keep looking for others and not do anything hasty with the money.
if you think premium bonds are the answer then you really do need help.
The answer to what? All I want is enough money to keep me, Mr Tatters and the hens. We live a frugal life. We have no kids or family to leave money to so just want to get the most out of any money we have with very little risk.
You make too many assumptions. We don't all want the same thing. I am happy to run the money down to zero in 20 years time when I'm in my seventies before the government takes it to pay for keeping me in a nursing home.
If you think your style of communication endears people to IFAs then I suggest it is you that needs help.
Premium bonds are like the lottery but with a guarantee of your original cash back, but highly likely with inflation you’ll lose money (the average return currently is 1.4% but 99% of people get far less) so I would say other than for a short period whilst you decide it isn’t a good idea for what you need.
Based on your age I’d certainly open a pension and put in £2,880 a year, immediately you’ll make 25% with the governments contribution topping it up to £3,600, you won’t achieve that return anywhere else without a fair amount of risk. You can hold it in cash or some low risk funds.
It’s dangerous thinking you can run the money down in 20 years/until your 70. My great Aunt and uncle had no children and lived to 98 and 103 and were both very fit still holidaying and cycling well into their mid 90’s and never went into care.
You could open up the various high interest current type accounts although all have a cap on how much you can hold. Filter money into the high interest regular savers also but again they have a cap on amount, usually between 3&5k per annum and only for a year.
You say you want little risk, it seems to me your biggest risk and potentially the risk you are taking is inflation, unless you keep up with that you are effectively every day taking a tenner or more and throwing it away. You need to try at least to keep up with that.
Good luck!
Thank you - sound advice. I really hadn't thought about what might happen if I made it past my seventies. Food for thought.
Thank you folks. I admit I do need advice - which is why I posted on here. I drop into this thread from time to time but have missed the IFA vs on your own debate.
I have found previous IFAs very pushy and have invested in stuff I'm not happy with. The last one I saw was recommended by a friend who wanted high risk investment- the total opposite of me.
With the house completion date looming I shall stick the money in building society accounts until I have some idea what to do.
It's a house sale right? Now on money stuff I'm ultra cautious because I trust no one. Not least because I'm old enough to remember a whole succession of banking crises. Starting from the '70s secondary banking crisis, through the infamous Grays Building Society# collapse in the late '70s, BCCI, and then the latest fiasco.
So, just be safe. If your windfall is more than £85k make sure that you place the funds in accounts which are with separate legal entities. (You can double that amount if they are joint accounts).
Make sure the separate entities are REALLY separate.
For example RBS is also Natwest, Coutts, etc; Lloyds is also Halifax, Bank of Scotland and god knows who else.
Chelsea Building Society and Norwich & Peterborough Building Society are nothing of the sort: they are merely trading names of Yorkshire Building Society.
Be cautious then in the event of further issues, the FSCS will pay out.
Eggs and baskets.
# Building Society members' money went on fast cars, even faster women and gambling rather than mortgages.
Thank you. I will put it in separate accounts - hadn't thought about making sure each one is actually separate (Lloyds, Bank of Scotland etc). I too am distrustful when it comes to money. That coupled with wanting v low risk limits my choices but will give me peace of mind.
I’m not sure of the sums we are talking of here, but it may be one idea to split it into varying proportions even with your low risk appetite (on the basis it seems you don't need it all or even the majority in the short term, i.e. the next 5 years).
As an example lets say it's £200k. You could allocate 50% to absolutely no risk (aside from inflationary), i.e. cash in various banks split over high interest current accounts, regular savers, fixed rate bonds etc. The money saving expert link above is a good starting point.
You could take 15% to pay into pension (£240 a month) over the next 10 years and you could choose to put a proportion of that into slightly more risky than simply cash but either way takes advantage of the governments 25% immediate top up, don't miss out on that! Obviously you'd need a home for that £30k in the meantime as it trickles into pension (premium bonds as an example as you seem to like the thought of them, you never know you may win big!). Depending on your DOB you should be able to take that from aged 55 onwards if you wished which I think you'll be within 10 years time (no reason though if you can afford to not to do it for longer than 10 years).
That leaves 35%, as you near retirement age (state) have you paid your full stamp? You may want to look at buying that up if not, but you'd probably want to seek advice on that as it was 15+ years ago I helped my mum with that. I'd consider trickling into an ISA and a stocks and shares one for the next 3-5 years, it may seem high risk to you, but pay in a regular monthly amount then over time you'd be buying at the various price points which minimises the risk compared to large lump investments.
All just ideas based on the limited info you have provided........ but I still think an IFA is a must
As someone who worked for one of the largest money managers and still does love investing, I cannot emphasize this enough right now.... do not go out long on any risk curve. Don't chase yield.
As for P2P... my guess is that unlike the bank, there is not much recourse for investors if the debtor does not pay. My guess is the whole construct is based upon an idea that defaults are minimal. When that turns out not to be the case, it collapses. Just as mortgage bonds did. From rock solid to worth nothing in 12 months.
All debts compete on yield and safety. In this world, 6% is moderately high risk. If it were not higher risk, it would yield less. It's really that simple.
6% yield on a single debt instrument is high risk, a 6% yields on a diversified debt portfolio which should have a lower default exposure, is less risky than from equities. Yield and risk can be measured statistically so you can select the "efficient frontier" which is the asset being managed to deliver a target yield at the lowest risk. A 2% yield can be risky if it is sought from an inappropriate asset.
If you want to know what pension schemes are doing to solve the challenge of investing for an income stream that does not run out unexpectedly, it's a combination of a quality diversified growth fund targeting cash + 4% growth and, ideally, if you have sufficient funds, you cover the mortality risk of living too long, by purchasing some future income by way of a deferred annuity to begin at an age selected post age 75 when typically you are less active and have a lower income need. All the back running of scenarios and alternative constructions does not produce a better balance of risk/reward strategy. You can of course take more or less risk according to your objectives/needs/priorities/health/dependants etc. and this is where financial planning advice from the likes of @golfaddick is money well spent. The second problem is accessing the products at a reasonable cost and identifying a "quality" fund.
Not bragging, but I will, the pension scheme of which I am a trustee got a mention in the FT yesterday as the best performer in the UK pensions master trust market at 12% p.a. and it costs only 0.50% in charges. That's down to both luck in having a long term strategy that is positioned to give cash +4% long term which for the non-hedged part of the portfolio happened to make calls on asset class selection that were the right calls for the period measured. What is sought is cash + 4% even if markets are 20% down, we are not competing with volatile equity returns, simply having appropriate exposure for some upside. As it happens, cash + 4% in a crashing market would be a far more significant figure than 12% when equities are steaming, but it would hardly get a mention.
I'm sure there's some sound advice here but I don't know what half the terms are. I think this is why the IFA I had before wasn't very helpful. I needed to understand what I was putting my money into and I didn't. However, I shall get Googling to find out more
I’m not sure of the sums we are talking of here, but it may be one idea to split it into varying proportions even with your low risk appetite (on the basis it seems you don't need it all or even the majority in the short term, i.e. the next 5 years).
As an example lets say it's £200k. You could allocate 50% to absolutely no risk (aside from inflationary), i.e. cash in various banks split over high interest current accounts, regular savers, fixed rate bonds etc. The money saving expert link above is a good starting point.
You could take 15% to pay into pension (£240 a month) over the next 10 years and you could choose to put a proportion of that into slightly more risky than simply cash but either way takes advantage of the governments 25% immediate top up, don't miss out on that! Obviously you'd need a home for that £30k in the meantime as it trickles into pension (premium bonds as an example as you seem to like the thought of them, you never know you may win big!). Depending on your DOB you should be able to take that from aged 55 onwards if you wished which I think you'll be within 10 years time (no reason though if you can afford to not to do it for longer than 10 years).
That leaves 35%, as you near retirement age (state) have you paid your full stamp? You may want to look at buying that up if not, but you'd probably want to seek advice on that as it was 15+ years ago I helped my mum with that. I'd consider trickling into an ISA and a stocks and shares one for the next 3-5 years, it may seem high risk to you, but pay in a regular monthly amount then over time you'd be buying at the various price points which minimises the risk compared to large lump investments.
All just ideas based on the limited info you have provided........ but I still think an IFA is a must
There are two ways to look at saving for retirement.
The traditional way is to look at one's financial position and lifestyle goals and ask, "Am I saving enough for retirement?"
The alternative way (and my preferred way) is to look at how much money one has today and ask, "Am I living my life unhealthily enough that I can be sure I won't live long enough for the money to run out?"
I think I was one of those critical of IFA's but in your case I would definitely recommend to consult one. I think they provide best value when they are doing a one-off re-structuring of somebody's finances. My most recent guy did a good job on that, it was his "ongoing" control of my portfolio that I didn't think too much of.
You could find one who is recommended by friends, and I believe some here have been advised by Golfie and been very satisfied, but whoever it is you could use this thread to run their proposals past people on here before proceeding. Also be insistent on a 100% clear understanding of how the IFA will be remunerated. Fixed fee in this case I would suggest and no hidden commissions on stuff he may buy on your behalf.
I think I was one of those critical of IFA's but in your case I would definitely recommend to consult one. I think they provide best value when they are doing a one-off re-structuring of somebody's finances. My most recent guy did a good job on that, it was his "ongoing" control of my portfolio that I didn't think too much of.
You could find one who is recommended by friends, and I believe some here have been advised by Golfie and been very satisfied, but whoever it is you could use this thread to run their proposals past people on here before proceeding. Also be insistent on a 100% clear understanding of how the IFA will be remunerated. Fixed fee in this case I would suggest and no hidden commissions on stuff he may buy on your behalf.
Just to add to this & remembering @Arsenetatters past experience of feeling that they had been "sold" something that was more in the interest of the advisor, you could ask to pay a set fee for the advice only. Adviser then gives you broad recommendations of products/plans/strategies applicable to your circumstances & then you do the research yourself into which companies/providers best suit you.
not the ideal solution but at least you are being pointed into the right direction. May cost you something in the region of £500 - £1000 as a one-off fee.
What's going on with Crypto's? This is on the BBC website now. My £500 "toe in the water" on Ethereum and Bitcoin is now worth £215! Do people think they will ever recover are they past their sell buy date?
What's going on with Crypto's? This is on the BBC website now. My £500 "toe in the water" on Ethereum and Bitcoin is now worth £215! Do people think they will ever recover are they past their sell buy date?
I can never work out why they go up or down, one things for sure I always hear lots of people saying how much money they've made when it went north of $15k, very few lately ........ unless £215 is really important to you/needed, just hold on.
I can never work out why they go up or down, one things for sure I always hear lots of people saying how much money they've made when it went north of $15k, very few lately ........ unless £215 is really important to you/needed, just hold on.
I work as an accountant (so not exactly high finance!) and I remember being asked by anyone and everyone what I think of bitcoin, which in itself made me realise what a bubble it clearly was and advised people as such.
My neighbour upstairs pointed to a Porsche the other day and said "that's worth about as much as I lost on bitcoin."
With all due respect to people on here who did so, most people who "invested" in cryptos are greedy fools.
I can never work out why they go up or down, one things for sure I always hear lots of people saying how much money they've made when it went north of $15k, very few lately ........ unless £215 is really important to you/needed, just hold on.
I work as an accountant (so not exactly high finance!) and I remember being asked by anyone and everyone what I think of bitcoin, which in itself made me realise what a bubble it clearly was and advised people as such.
My neighbour upstairs pointed to a Porsche the other day and said "that's worth about as much as I lost on bitcoin."
With all due respect to people on here who did so, most people who "invested" in cryptos are greedy fools.
I bought some a while back and sold for a nice profit but even then were a third of their value at their height. I only put in a relatively small amount (a weeks wage roughly) as to be honest I didn’t really understand what causes the increase/decrease - I still don’t, it always seemed to me to be like a pyramid scheme. That said there must be people who’ve made a lot and as you indicate lost a lot as well.
I can never work out why they go up or down, one things for sure I always hear lots of people saying how much money they've made when it went north of $15k, very few lately ........ unless £215 is really important to you/needed, just hold on.
I work as an accountant (so not exactly high finance!) and I remember being asked by anyone and everyone what I think of bitcoin, which in itself made me realise what a bubble it clearly was and advised people as such.
My neighbour upstairs pointed to a Porsche the other day and said "that's worth about as much as I lost on bitcoin."
With all due respect to people on here who did so, most people who "invested" in cryptos are greedy fools.
I bought some a while back and sold for a nice profit but even then were a third of their value at their height. I only put in a relatively small amount (a weeks wage roughly) as to be honest I didn’t really understand what causes the increase/decrease - I still don’t, it always seemed to me to be like a pyramid scheme. That said there must be people who’ve made a lot and as you indicate lost a lot as well.
Absolutely my view as well. There is no real value in it like an equity, and i don't believe it is a real store of value like currencies, and even then who buys a thousand pounds worth of Euros to see the value appreciate...
It relies entirely on other people, after you have bought yours, buying into the hype and therefore increasing the price.
I still think there is a place for crypto and it will be widely used in the future, but much like the dot.com boom the vast vast bulk of the early to market coins will fall by the wayside.
Comments
The whole point of speaking to an IFA is that they can assess your personal situation, your attitude to risk, your investment timeframe, your future wants & needs etc etc.....
coming onto a football forum & asking random people for their views is hardly going to help you with the above. what suits one poster may not suit another & people can only say what they would do.
I am sorry you feel that you haven't been given good advice before by an IFA but I would re-iterate again, I really believe that you need to speak to a professional advisor.
I just came on here to get a few ideas. The premium bonds one interests me. I'll keep looking for others and not do anything hasty with the money.
You make too many assumptions. We don't all want the same thing. I am happy to run the money down to zero in 20 years time when I'm in my seventies before the government takes it to pay for keeping me in a nursing home.
If you think your style of communication endears people to IFAs then I suggest it is you that needs help.
Now that you've given a little more detail I will throw a few ideas & flaws to your plan.
1) Premium Bonds do not pay out a set amount. It is lucky dip. One month you might get £25 another month £50 and then nothing for months. Hardly the best way to achieve an income to live on.
2) who says at 70 you'll be going into a home ?? My parents are both well into their 80's and both are fit & well. The money you have may have to last you 40 years.
3) I can think of at least 4 ways you could get a tax free monthly income (assuming you are not a higher rate tax payer) with returns of between 3%-5%..... with minimal risk & some with a guarantee of at least getting your original capital back at the end of the term.
4) If you don't want any risk then you can still get tax free interst by leaving it in the bank. All basic rate taxpayers can receive £1000 pa of interest tax free. An account paying 2% means that you & hubby can both save £50k tax free.
As for P2P... my guess is that unlike the bank, there is not much recourse for investors if the debtor does not pay. My guess is the whole construct is based upon an idea that defaults are minimal. When that turns out not to be the case, it collapses. Just as mortgage bonds did. From rock solid to worth nothing in 12 months.
All debts compete on yield and safety. In this world, 6% is moderately high risk. If it were not higher risk, it would yield less. It's really that simple.
I understand that if there is a crash, there is a good chance that a fair few loans might default, what I would say though is that all the loans are backed by assets in the case of a default, although I am not naive enough to believe that a lot of these assets will be worth less than the LTV ratio if the financial world is going into meltdown. But if the financial world is going into meltdown, a stocks and shares ISA would be looking pretty ugly too I would suggest.
As for an IFA, each to their own I would suggest, and without wanting to do down anyone's industry, I would suggest if you are relatively financially savvy and know your own risk profile (and have the time to spare) you're more than capable of doing it yourself. Having said that, most people aren't financially savvy. My dad was very successful but wasn't financially savvy, luckily he hired an IFA who was, and made sure he had income protection, which was just as well when as when he became ill, at least money wasn't really something that had to be worried about on top of everything else.
Based on your age I’d certainly open a pension and put in £2,880 a year, immediately you’ll make 25% with the governments contribution topping it up to £3,600, you won’t achieve that return anywhere else without a fair amount of risk. You can hold it in cash or some low risk funds.
It’s dangerous thinking you can run the money down in 20 years/until your 70. My great Aunt and uncle had no children and lived to 98 and 103 and were both very fit still holidaying and cycling well into their mid 90’s and never went into care.
You could open up the various high interest current type accounts although all have a cap on how much you can hold. Filter money into the high interest regular savers also but again they have a cap on amount, usually between 3&5k per annum and only for a year.
You say you want little risk, it seems to me your biggest risk and potentially the risk you are taking is inflation, unless you keep up with that you are effectively every day taking a tenner or more and throwing it away. You need to try at least to keep up with that.
Good luck!
So, just be safe. If your windfall is more than £85k make sure that you place the funds in accounts which are with separate legal entities. (You can double that amount if they are joint accounts).
Make sure the separate entities are REALLY separate.
For example RBS is also Natwest, Coutts, etc; Lloyds is also Halifax, Bank of Scotland and god knows who else.
Chelsea Building Society and Norwich & Peterborough Building Society are nothing of the sort: they are merely trading names of Yorkshire Building Society.
Be cautious then in the event of further issues, the FSCS will pay out.
Eggs and baskets.
# Building Society members' money went on fast cars, even faster women and gambling rather than mortgages.
If you want to know what pension schemes are doing to solve the challenge of investing for an income stream that does not run out unexpectedly, it's a combination of a quality diversified growth fund targeting cash + 4% growth and, ideally, if you have sufficient funds, you cover the mortality risk of living too long, by purchasing some future income by way of a deferred annuity to begin at an age selected post age 75 when typically you are less active and have a lower income need. All the back running of scenarios and alternative constructions does not produce a better balance of risk/reward strategy. You can of course take more or less risk according to your objectives/needs/priorities/health/dependants etc. and this is where financial planning advice from the likes of @golfaddick is money well spent. The second problem is accessing the products at a reasonable cost and identifying a "quality" fund.
Not bragging, but I will, the pension scheme of which I am a trustee got a mention in the FT yesterday as the best performer in the UK pensions master trust market at 12% p.a. and it costs only 0.50% in charges. That's down to both luck in having a long term strategy that is positioned to give cash +4% long term which for the non-hedged part of the portfolio happened to make calls on asset class selection that were the right calls for the period measured. What is sought is cash + 4% even if markets are 20% down, we are not competing with volatile equity returns, simply having appropriate exposure for some upside. As it happens, cash + 4% in a crashing market would be a far more significant figure than 12% when equities are steaming, but it would hardly get a mention.
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/
As an example lets say it's £200k. You could allocate 50% to absolutely no risk (aside from inflationary), i.e. cash in various banks split over high interest current accounts, regular savers, fixed rate bonds etc. The money saving expert link above is a good starting point.
You could take 15% to pay into pension (£240 a month) over the next 10 years and you could choose to put a proportion of that into slightly more risky than simply cash but either way takes advantage of the governments 25% immediate top up, don't miss out on that! Obviously you'd need a home for that £30k in the meantime as it trickles into pension (premium bonds as an example as you seem to like the thought of them, you never know you may win big!). Depending on your DOB you should be able to take that from aged 55 onwards if you wished which I think you'll be within 10 years time (no reason though if you can afford to not to do it for longer than 10 years).
That leaves 35%, as you near retirement age (state) have you paid your full stamp? You may want to look at buying that up if not, but you'd probably want to seek advice on that as it was 15+ years ago I helped my mum with that. I'd consider trickling into an ISA and a stocks and shares one for the next 3-5 years, it may seem high risk to you, but pay in a regular monthly amount then over time you'd be buying at the various price points which minimises the risk compared to large lump investments.
All just ideas based on the limited info you have provided........ but I still think an IFA is a must
Thank you
The traditional way is to look at one's financial position and lifestyle goals and ask, "Am I saving enough for retirement?"
The alternative way (and my preferred way) is to look at how much money one has today and ask, "Am I living my life unhealthily enough that I can be sure I won't live long enough for the money to run out?"
I think I was one of those critical of IFA's but in your case I would definitely recommend to consult one. I think they provide best value when they are doing a one-off re-structuring of somebody's finances. My most recent guy did a good job on that, it was his "ongoing" control of my portfolio that I didn't think too much of.
You could find one who is recommended by friends, and I believe some here have been advised by Golfie and been very satisfied, but whoever it is you could use this thread to run their proposals past people on here before proceeding. Also be insistent on a 100% clear understanding of how the IFA will be remunerated. Fixed fee in this case I would suggest and no hidden commissions on stuff he may buy on your behalf.
not the ideal solution but at least you are being pointed into the right direction. May cost you something in the region of £500 - £1000 as a one-off fee.
My neighbour upstairs pointed to a Porsche the other day and said "that's worth about as much as I lost on bitcoin."
With all due respect to people on here who did so, most people who "invested" in cryptos are greedy fools.
It relies entirely on other people, after you have bought yours, buying into the hype and therefore increasing the price.
Pump and Dump scam on a huge level in my opinion.