But my take is this. Trump sees the trade deficit with China ($295B in 2024, not $1 Trillion as he keeps spouting) as not a level playing field and blames China. But surely if there is blame to be apportioned it is with the big US companies who choose to manufacture their products in China (and other Asian countries). Why do they do that? Two reasons - it makes products available to the US consumer cheaper than they would be if they had been manufactured in the US, and more importantly it increases the profits of those US companies. That's how capitalism works and the US are the masters of that. Also, goods made in Asia and Europe (cars as a prime example) are more attractive to some US consumers than US brands. The US, on the whole, make crap cars and even Americans (some but enough) recognise that. Not many markets outside the US want to buy US cars.
Scenario - Apple go to China and say "can you make our iPhones please?" China reply with "of course - how many?" - they don't reply with "no, sorry, it wouldn't be good for the US manufacturing base and US jobs". And why should they?
The enemy isn't China and other countries that have a trade surplus with the US - the enemy is big corporate America who chase profit and US consumers who want cheaper (and in many cases better) products.
Trump also wants barriers to be lifted - the EU for example (and still the UK) have very high standards and Trump wants them to lower those standards so that US food as an example can be exported to Europe. I say fuck off - raise your standards and then you have a level playing field, it shouldn't be based on the lowest common denominator.
Agreed. USA happy for China to make cheap products for its consumers but China has moved on so rapidly that hi tech advanced equipment it is now producing is a threat. A man on the moon is not now purely an American thing.
New to this thread. No so much due to recent events but more about reaching certain financial goals and point in my life where I want to start investing a little more seriously. Plus start of the new tax year!
Have just turned 30. Dabbled in investment in my early 20s and have a couple thousand in a stocks and shares isa from that time. But in focusing on buying a house, getting married and doing work on that house we've had to stay mostly in cash and what we've had saved has been eaten up. We've just reached the point where we have saved what we need to do the extension on our house plus a decent contingency.
So, from now on looking to put a bit into investments each month for the long term. We both have very good workplace pension schemes but they are DB and so linked to SPA with large penalties of you take it early. So we are looking to have a pot of money invested to see us through from 50-55, when we want to be winding down on the work front, to SPA.
I'm an economist by background (degree and masters) my job title is economist but I'm micro focused and health economics focused. I know better than to try and time the markets and know consistency is better in the long term. Although now (next month or 2) may well be a decent time to get in. I also have some thoughts around what's going on in the world. I think we are seeing the beginning of the end of the US dominance of world markets and currency markets and would want to reflect that in what I buy, more global and Asia. I think we will be entering a decade or 2 of tumultuous times in the world and so wondering whether I should put some in gold or property as a safety?
My main question is the how. Should I get a SIPP? What are the benefits of that? If each of us are putting in £500 a month plus the off top up of up to £1000 or so we will be well under the ISA limit even with putting some in cash ISAs in parallel. So better to stick with that? If we get a windfall anytime in the future we would likely be looking to add it to here so that may limit us?
I have an account with investengine as they were doing £100 free starter and £75 each if you recommend someone when I dabble small-time in the past. Is that a good platform? Any better ones out there?
New to this thread. No so much due to recent events but more about reaching certain financial goals and point in my life where I want to start investing a little more seriously. Plus start of the new tax year!
Have just turned 30. Dabbled in investment in my early 20s and have a couple thousand in a stocks and shares isa from that time. But in focusing on buying a house, getting married and doing work on that house we've had to stay mostly in cash and what we've had saved has been eaten up. We've just reached the point where we have saved what we need to do the extension on our house plus a decent contingency.
So, from now on looking to put a bit into investments each month for the long term. We both have very good workplace pension schemes but they are DB and so linked to SPA with large penalties of you take it early. So we are looking to have a pot of money invested to see us through from 50-55, when we want to be winding down on the work front, to SPA.
I'm an economist by background (degree and masters) my job title is economist but I'm micro focused and health economics focused. I know better than to try and time the markets and know consistency is better in the long term. Although now (next month or 2) may well be a decent time to get in. I also have some thoughts around what's going on in the world. I think we are seeing the beginning of the end of the US dominance of world markets and currency markets and would want to reflect that in what I buy, more global and Asia. I think we will be entering a decade or 2 of tumultuous times in the world and so wondering whether I should put some in gold or property as a safety?
My main question is the how. Should I get a SIPP? What are the benefits of that? If each of us are putting in £500 a month plus the off top up of up to £1000 or so we will be well under the ISA limit even with putting some in cash ISAs in parallel. So better to stick with that? If we get a windfall anytime in the future we would likely be looking to add it to here so that may limit us?
I have an account with investengine as they were doing £100 free starter and £75 each if you recommend someone when I dabble small-time in the past. Is that a good platform? Any better ones out there?
Basically any advice for someone new to this.
If you can't take your work place pension until currently 68 then a SIPP would be a good idea as currently that can be taken from 57 (but could change) and is very tax efficient if a higher rate taxpayer. However as your desire is to see you through to SPA from 50-55 then you will also need something else.
You'd also need to watch how much you can pay in alongside your DB pension. No idea of your salaries but potentially there may not be much headroom for a SIPP some years, you'd have to check with your employer and may depend on any promotions through the tax year. I know when my mate got a promotion in the Met he actually exceeded his annual allowance (when it was £40k), there are online calculators for this. Such as: https://www.mandg.com/pru/tools-calculators/defined-benefit-pension-input-tool/index.html
A S&S ISA for the long term would also work for that as whilst taxed income going in it will all be tax free coming out (based on current rules!) and can be used at anytime, you also have a LISA available at your age although that's not currently available to draw until 60 but may be worth considering to see you through 60-68.
Never used Invest engine so can't really comment. For a SIPP there are many providers out there with the usual suspects of Vanguard, Fidelity, Hargreaves's etc being the more main stream one's.
Property is illiquid and not without issues, especially as successive governments have continually made life worse (as an investment) for BTL's but historically capital gains has been fairly decent but can also be a real headache if letting. Gold yes, I have a fair amount and is often used as a hedge, currently at an all time high pretty much. Sovereigns are a good way to buy physical gold although there are ETF's you can hold in an ISA or SIPP.
As always diversifying is a good position to be in, cash, S&S Isa, SIPP, Gold, Property, Premium bonds (for helping with taxation if ISA allowances are used for instance) alongside your DB scheme.
He starts by making the point I did a few days ago when people started talking about buying the dip. "The S&P 500 has fallen 18 per cent from its February peak. That ain’t that bad." He goes much further of course, firstly illustrating that even by recent years' comparison it wasn't the biggest dip - I had forgotten the inflation panic of 2022, for example, down 25%. Then he tries to consider (always hedging their bets, are the Unhedged guys) "whether risk markets are priced to provide strong long-term returns. There are lots of ways to look at this, none of them completely satisfactory, but all of them have something to say." Then t all gets very sophisticated, some I understand, but more than half I don't. But his conclusion is clear enough:
"It’s quite clear. Stocks are no bargain. But Trump’s tariffs may not be done with us yet, and if they are not, now is the time to think about what the bargain level might be."
One important caveat is that he is talking mainly about the US markets. There's a case for saying that UK and European markets may be cheaper right now than the S&P 500, and more prosaically since most of us are either in the UK or using UK platforms (denominated in £), if the dollar falls permanently in value, as Trump apparently desires, that knocks further % off any gains one might make by buying any perceived US dip. So my personal investment conclusion is "fuck the USA" but I will hold what I have as the best US companies remain world class and at some stage will bounce back. But I am not an economist, and at least two pay grades below the likes of Robert Armstrong, and staying 70% min. in cash because of my age
New to this thread. No so much due to recent events but more about reaching certain financial goals and point in my life where I want to start investing a little more seriously. Plus start of the new tax year!
Have just turned 30. Dabbled in investment in my early 20s and have a couple thousand in a stocks and shares isa from that time. But in focusing on buying a house, getting married and doing work on that house we've had to stay mostly in cash and what we've had saved has been eaten up. We've just reached the point where we have saved what we need to do the extension on our house plus a decent contingency.
So, from now on looking to put a bit into investments each month for the long term. We both have very good workplace pension schemes but they are DB and so linked to SPA with large penalties of you take it early. So we are looking to have a pot of money invested to see us through from 50-55, when we want to be winding down on the work front, to SPA.
I'm an economist by background (degree and masters) my job title is economist but I'm micro focused and health economics focused. I know better than to try and time the markets and know consistency is better in the long term. Although now (next month or 2) may well be a decent time to get in. I also have some thoughts around what's going on in the world. I think we are seeing the beginning of the end of the US dominance of world markets and currency markets and would want to reflect that in what I buy, more global and Asia. I think we will be entering a decade or 2 of tumultuous times in the world and so wondering whether I should put some in gold or property as a safety?
My main question is the how. Should I get a SIPP? What are the benefits of that? If each of us are putting in £500 a month plus the off top up of up to £1000 or so we will be well under the ISA limit even with putting some in cash ISAs in parallel. So better to stick with that? If we get a windfall anytime in the future we would likely be looking to add it to here so that may limit us?
I have an account with investengine as they were doing £100 free starter and £75 each if you recommend someone when I dabble small-time in the past. Is that a good platform? Any better ones out there?
Basically any advice for someone new to this.
If you can't take your work place pension until currently 68 then a SIPP would be a good idea as currently that can be taken from 57 (but could change) and is very tax efficient if a higher rate taxpayer. However as your desire is to see you through to SPA from 50-55 then you will also need something else.
You'd also need to watch how much you can pay in alongside your DB pension. No idea of your salaries but potentially there may not be much headroom for a SIPP some years, you'd have to check with your employer and may depend on any promotions through the tax year. I know when my mate got a promotion in the Met he actually exceeded his annual allowance (when it was £40k), there are online calculators for this. Such as: https://www.mandg.com/pru/tools-calculators/defined-benefit-pension-input-tool/index.html
A S&S ISA for the long term would also work for that as whilst taxed income going in it will all be tax free coming out (based on current rules!) and can be used at anytime, you also have a LISA available at your age although that's not currently available to draw until 60 but may be worth considering to see you through 60-68.
Never used Invest engine so can't really comment. For a SIPP there are many providers out there with the usual suspects of Vanguard, Fidelity, Hargreaves's etc being the more main stream one's.
Property is illiquid and not without issues, especially as successive governments have continually made life worse (as an investment) for BTL's but historically capital gains has been fairly decent but can also be a real headache if letting. Gold yes, I have a fair amount and is often used as a hedge, currently at an all time high pretty much. Sovereigns are a good way to buy physical gold although there are ETF's you can hold in an ISA or SIPP.
As always diversifying is a good position to be in, cash, S&S Isa, SIPP, Gold, Property, Premium bonds (for helping with taxation if ISA allowances are used for instance) alongside your DB scheme.
To summarise @cantersaddick.........ISA's are your friend. More flexible than a SIPP if you are wanting access to the funds before age 60 and more liquid than Property. As @Rob7Lee says, you may also find you have issues with the Annual Allowance if funding a SIPP ......and getting information BEFORE the end of the relevant tax year for a DB scheme is nigh on impossible.
As for your choice of platform.....never heard of them but that's not saying they are not any good. The main thing you need to worry about is your choice of funds. Note the plural. As a nod to Tony Blair, the 3 words you need to know are......diversification, diversification, diversification.
But my take is this. Trump sees the trade deficit with China ($295B in 2024, not $1 Trillion as he keeps spouting) as not a level playing field and blames China. But surely if there is blame to be apportioned it is with the big US companies who choose to manufacture their products in China (and other Asian countries). Why do they do that? Two reasons - it makes products available to the US consumer cheaper than they would be if they had been manufactured in the US, and more importantly it increases the profits of those US companies. That's how capitalism works and the US are the masters of that. Also, goods made in Asia and Europe (cars as a prime example) are more attractive to some US consumers than US brands. The US, on the whole, make crap cars and even Americans (some but enough) recognise that. Not many markets outside the US want to buy US cars.
Scenario - Apple go to China and say "can you make our iPhones please?" China reply with "of course - how many?" - they don't reply with "no, sorry, it wouldn't be good for the US manufacturing base and US jobs". And why should they?
The enemy isn't China and other countries that have a trade surplus with the US - the enemy is big corporate America who chase profit and US consumers who want cheaper (and in many cases better) products.
Trump also wants barriers to be lifted - the EU for example (and still the UK) have very high standards and Trump wants them to lower those standards so that US food as an example can be exported to Europe. I say fuck off - raise your standards and then you have a level playing field, it shouldn't be based on the lowest common denominator.
The US trade deficit is US made.
As I said, I'm not an economist!!
I wouldn't disagree with a lot of what you put you here. Except "the enemy is big corporate America who chase profit and US consumers who want cheaper (and in many cases better) products". It is role of any company to source products as cheaply as they possibly can. Obviously for profit, otherwise their rival will, but also to provide to innovative, high quality and cheap product to their consumers. Consumers buy these products and effectively improve their standard of living. These products are mainly sourced cheaper due to the huge wage disparity between Asia and the West. What should then happen is that the resources and manpower utilised in the old inefficent industries is diverted into areas and things that a particular country is good at. This has happened to only a limited extent in the last 40 years but it is my opinion, this is where governments in the West have failed. Western Governments need to encourage companies to develop much efficient manufacturing systems and encourage more innovation. Trump's very blunt tariff system gives home based producers an advantage but not in the best medium or long term way. (at least in my simple opinion)
New to this thread. No so much due to recent events but more about reaching certain financial goals and point in my life where I want to start investing a little more seriously. Plus start of the new tax year!
Have just turned 30. Dabbled in investment in my early 20s and have a couple thousand in a stocks and shares isa from that time. But in focusing on buying a house, getting married and doing work on that house we've had to stay mostly in cash and what we've had saved has been eaten up. We've just reached the point where we have saved what we need to do the extension on our house plus a decent contingency.
So, from now on looking to put a bit into investments each month for the long term. We both have very good workplace pension schemes but they are DB and so linked to SPA with large penalties of you take it early. So we are looking to have a pot of money invested to see us through from 50-55, when we want to be winding down on the work front, to SPA.
I'm an economist by background (degree and masters) my job title is economist but I'm micro focused and health economics focused. I know better than to try and time the markets and know consistency is better in the long term. Although now (next month or 2) may well be a decent time to get in. I also have some thoughts around what's going on in the world. I think we are seeing the beginning of the end of the US dominance of world markets and currency markets and would want to reflect that in what I buy, more global and Asia. I think we will be entering a decade or 2 of tumultuous times in the world and so wondering whether I should put some in gold or property as a safety?
My main question is the how. Should I get a SIPP? What are the benefits of that? If each of us are putting in £500 a month plus the off top up of up to £1000 or so we will be well under the ISA limit even with putting some in cash ISAs in parallel. So better to stick with that? If we get a windfall anytime in the future we would likely be looking to add it to here so that may limit us?
I have an account with investengine as they were doing £100 free starter and £75 each if you recommend someone when I dabble small-time in the past. Is that a good platform? Any better ones out there?
Basically any advice for someone new to this.
If you can't take your work place pension until currently 68 then a SIPP would be a good idea as currently that can be taken from 57 (but could change) and is very tax efficient if a higher rate taxpayer. However as your desire is to see you through to SPA from 50-55 then you will also need something else.
You'd also need to watch how much you can pay in alongside your DB pension. No idea of your salaries but potentially there may not be much headroom for a SIPP some years, you'd have to check with your employer and may depend on any promotions through the tax year. I know when my mate got a promotion in the Met he actually exceeded his annual allowance (when it was £40k), there are online calculators for this. Such as: https://www.mandg.com/pru/tools-calculators/defined-benefit-pension-input-tool/index.html
A S&S ISA for the long term would also work for that as whilst taxed income going in it will all be tax free coming out (based on current rules!) and can be used at anytime, you also have a LISA available at your age although that's not currently available to draw until 60 but may be worth considering to see you through 60-68.
Never used Invest engine so can't really comment. For a SIPP there are many providers out there with the usual suspects of Vanguard, Fidelity, Hargreaves's etc being the more main stream one's.
Property is illiquid and not without issues, especially as successive governments have continually made life worse (as an investment) for BTL's but historically capital gains has been fairly decent but can also be a real headache if letting. Gold yes, I have a fair amount and is often used as a hedge, currently at an all time high pretty much. Sovereigns are a good way to buy physical gold although there are ETF's you can hold in an ISA or SIPP.
As always diversifying is a good position to be in, cash, S&S Isa, SIPP, Gold, Property, Premium bonds (for helping with taxation if ISA allowances are used for instance) alongside your DB scheme.
Thanks. The rules on what you can pay into a SIPP each year are giving me a headache. I think I'll find all of my DB pension documentation and hand them to my father in law who's a chartered accountant and let him work that all out!
For now I think the S&S isa is the way to go for simplicity. Will also look at LISA as the bonus look great. But not sure if we are eligible as we had the help to buy isa but didn't use the bonus from it.dont mind having a few different pots that we can access at different points. Is there any downside to that?
The fund options though investengine look pretty good. More options than I can count. Some funds that are gold or property (UK market/EUROPE etc.) Are these worth looking at or not?
Elon Musk just publicly called Trump's senior trade advisor a moron, 'dumber than a sack of bricks' and referred to him as Peter Retardo (his surname is Navarro).
Whilst no where near out of the woods yet, FTSE100 & 250 up 2.75% and 3.25% so far today...... looking forward to the US opening soon....
What did I tell you 🙂
Tangoman probably hasn't woke up yet. Needs to get out of bed, have a round of golf then decide what damage he can do in a tweet after finding out China aren't backing down.
I'd be amazed if we don't have more falling to do.
New to this thread. No so much due to recent events but more about reaching certain financial goals and point in my life where I want to start investing a little more seriously. Plus start of the new tax year!
Have just turned 30. Dabbled in investment in my early 20s and have a couple thousand in a stocks and shares isa from that time. But in focusing on buying a house, getting married and doing work on that house we've had to stay mostly in cash and what we've had saved has been eaten up. We've just reached the point where we have saved what we need to do the extension on our house plus a decent contingency.
So, from now on looking to put a bit into investments each month for the long term. We both have very good workplace pension schemes but they are DB and so linked to SPA with large penalties of you take it early. So we are looking to have a pot of money invested to see us through from 50-55, when we want to be winding down on the work front, to SPA.
I'm an economist by background (degree and masters) my job title is economist but I'm micro focused and health economics focused. I know better than to try and time the markets and know consistency is better in the long term. Although now (next month or 2) may well be a decent time to get in. I also have some thoughts around what's going on in the world. I think we are seeing the beginning of the end of the US dominance of world markets and currency markets and would want to reflect that in what I buy, more global and Asia. I think we will be entering a decade or 2 of tumultuous times in the world and so wondering whether I should put some in gold or property as a safety?
My main question is the how. Should I get a SIPP? What are the benefits of that? If each of us are putting in £500 a month plus the off top up of up to £1000 or so we will be well under the ISA limit even with putting some in cash ISAs in parallel. So better to stick with that? If we get a windfall anytime in the future we would likely be looking to add it to here so that may limit us?
I have an account with investengine as they were doing £100 free starter and £75 each if you recommend someone when I dabble small-time in the past. Is that a good platform? Any better ones out there?
Basically any advice for someone new to this.
If you can't take your work place pension until currently 68 then a SIPP would be a good idea as currently that can be taken from 57 (but could change) and is very tax efficient if a higher rate taxpayer. However as your desire is to see you through to SPA from 50-55 then you will also need something else.
You'd also need to watch how much you can pay in alongside your DB pension. No idea of your salaries but potentially there may not be much headroom for a SIPP some years, you'd have to check with your employer and may depend on any promotions through the tax year. I know when my mate got a promotion in the Met he actually exceeded his annual allowance (when it was £40k), there are online calculators for this. Such as: https://www.mandg.com/pru/tools-calculators/defined-benefit-pension-input-tool/index.html
A S&S ISA for the long term would also work for that as whilst taxed income going in it will all be tax free coming out (based on current rules!) and can be used at anytime, you also have a LISA available at your age although that's not currently available to draw until 60 but may be worth considering to see you through 60-68.
Never used Invest engine so can't really comment. For a SIPP there are many providers out there with the usual suspects of Vanguard, Fidelity, Hargreaves's etc being the more main stream one's.
Property is illiquid and not without issues, especially as successive governments have continually made life worse (as an investment) for BTL's but historically capital gains has been fairly decent but can also be a real headache if letting. Gold yes, I have a fair amount and is often used as a hedge, currently at an all time high pretty much. Sovereigns are a good way to buy physical gold although there are ETF's you can hold in an ISA or SIPP.
As always diversifying is a good position to be in, cash, S&S Isa, SIPP, Gold, Property, Premium bonds (for helping with taxation if ISA allowances are used for instance) alongside your DB scheme.
Thanks. The rules on what you can pay into a SIPP each year are giving me a headache. I think I'll find all of my DB pension documentation and hand them to my father in law who's a chartered accountant and let him work that all out!
For now I think the S&S isa is the way to go for simplicity. Will also look at LISA as the bonus look great. But not sure if we are eligible as we had the help to buy isa but didn't use the bonus from it.dont mind having a few different pots that we can access at different points. Is there any downside to that?
The fund options though investengine look pretty good. More options than I can count. Some funds that are gold or property (UK market/EUROPE etc.) Are these worth looking at or not?
Re funds - you can either select one (or more) multi-asset funds which meet your risk attitude. Usually these are aligned to a specific "sector" and for MA funds they are position by the amount they can invest into equities. These being 0-30%, 20%-60%, 40%-85% and Flexible (no upper limit on equity content). These are good if you just want to invest & forget about them. I would still advise you splitting your money between 2 or more of these funds as they each will have different mandates (more in the US for example) and so always good to diversify.
Or you can choose a number of single asset funds yourself & spread your money between them. For a medium/ higher medium risk investor I generally suggest a rough splits follows -
US 25% UK 20% Europe 10% Far East & emerging markets - 7% Japan 3% Fixed interest 30% Property / infrastructure 5%.
Fund selection for the above is key. I wont go into details as that's where I earn my corn 😉.
Whilst no where near out of the woods yet, FTSE100 & 250 up 2.75% and 3.25% so far today...... looking forward to the US opening soon....
The FTSE & S&P 500 may both be up 2.5% on the day but they are also both down 8% on the month. A correction to the slump if you will.
The root cause of the turbulence and disruption hasn't disappeared! We should be clear that Trump has unilaterally imposed 10% tariffs across the world which is roughly 10 x where we were before Trump. Add 25% on cars and 35% on certain trading partners and that's a massive brake on growth when we consider who pays for that. For it will be consumers, importers (if they take some of the heat) and shareholders of companies who see smaller profits.
This behaviour is set to continue and at the same time US Gov't has withdrawn support from G20 meetings, WHO, WTO etc as they want to shake things up but what's the likely outcome?
The US is rapidly burning trust, while the rest of G20 firm up their trading arrangements, and the decline of USA might actually accelerate?! Decision makers across Canada, Europe, (UK) India and China will continue to focus on their own economies and might also be less inclined to buy US debt? They may also accelerate their investment in capability around satelites, defence, cyber as well as infrastructure and web. This to reduce dependency upon the USA and move faster towards a multi polar world.
For sure us investors need to consider returns and timescales but we might also look at where we want to back companies.
I think all of this has been an utterly scripted crisis. Wall Street saw just how rich the crypto bros got from high volatility markets controlled by a handful of insiders and had a lightbulb moment. Trump with his immunity and obviously corrupt to the core would have been an easy sell. He's probably promised everyone a presidential pardon at the end of his term as part of the deal.
New to this thread. No so much due to recent events but more about reaching certain financial goals and point in my life where I want to start investing a little more seriously. Plus start of the new tax year!
Have just turned 30. Dabbled in investment in my early 20s and have a couple thousand in a stocks and shares isa from that time. But in focusing on buying a house, getting married and doing work on that house we've had to stay mostly in cash and what we've had saved has been eaten up. We've just reached the point where we have saved what we need to do the extension on our house plus a decent contingency.
So, from now on looking to put a bit into investments each month for the long term. We both have very good workplace pension schemes but they are DB and so linked to SPA with large penalties of you take it early. So we are looking to have a pot of money invested to see us through from 50-55, when we want to be winding down on the work front, to SPA.
I'm an economist by background (degree and masters) my job title is economist but I'm micro focused and health economics focused. I know better than to try and time the markets and know consistency is better in the long term. Although now (next month or 2) may well be a decent time to get in. I also have some thoughts around what's going on in the world. I think we are seeing the beginning of the end of the US dominance of world markets and currency markets and would want to reflect that in what I buy, more global and Asia. I think we will be entering a decade or 2 of tumultuous times in the world and so wondering whether I should put some in gold or property as a safety?
My main question is the how. Should I get a SIPP? What are the benefits of that? If each of us are putting in £500 a month plus the off top up of up to £1000 or so we will be well under the ISA limit even with putting some in cash ISAs in parallel. So better to stick with that? If we get a windfall anytime in the future we would likely be looking to add it to here so that may limit us?
I have an account with investengine as they were doing £100 free starter and £75 each if you recommend someone when I dabble small-time in the past. Is that a good platform? Any better ones out there?
Basically any advice for someone new to this.
If you can't take your work place pension until currently 68 then a SIPP would be a good idea as currently that can be taken from 57 (but could change) and is very tax efficient if a higher rate taxpayer. However as your desire is to see you through to SPA from 50-55 then you will also need something else.
You'd also need to watch how much you can pay in alongside your DB pension. No idea of your salaries but potentially there may not be much headroom for a SIPP some years, you'd have to check with your employer and may depend on any promotions through the tax year. I know when my mate got a promotion in the Met he actually exceeded his annual allowance (when it was £40k), there are online calculators for this. Such as: https://www.mandg.com/pru/tools-calculators/defined-benefit-pension-input-tool/index.html
A S&S ISA for the long term would also work for that as whilst taxed income going in it will all be tax free coming out (based on current rules!) and can be used at anytime, you also have a LISA available at your age although that's not currently available to draw until 60 but may be worth considering to see you through 60-68.
Never used Invest engine so can't really comment. For a SIPP there are many providers out there with the usual suspects of Vanguard, Fidelity, Hargreaves's etc being the more main stream one's.
Property is illiquid and not without issues, especially as successive governments have continually made life worse (as an investment) for BTL's but historically capital gains has been fairly decent but can also be a real headache if letting. Gold yes, I have a fair amount and is often used as a hedge, currently at an all time high pretty much. Sovereigns are a good way to buy physical gold although there are ETF's you can hold in an ISA or SIPP.
As always diversifying is a good position to be in, cash, S&S Isa, SIPP, Gold, Property, Premium bonds (for helping with taxation if ISA allowances are used for instance) alongside your DB scheme.
Thanks. The rules on what you can pay into a SIPP each year are giving me a headache. I think I'll find all of my DB pension documentation and hand them to my father in law who's a chartered accountant and let him work that all out!
For now I think the S&S isa is the way to go for simplicity. Will also look at LISA as the bonus look great. But not sure if we are eligible as we had the help to buy isa but didn't use the bonus from it.dont mind having a few different pots that we can access at different points. Is there any downside to that?
The fund options though investengine look pretty good. More options than I can count. Some funds that are gold or property (UK market/EUROPE etc.) Are these worth looking at or not?
Unfortunately it's why many of those with DB's don't bother with a SIPP, even a decent pay rise or promotion can take you over the £60k allowance, as Golfie said you can't generally properly tell until the end of the tax year.
As an example of someone on £50k a year with 10 years service in a 1/60ths pension at the start of the tax year. If you received a pay rise and promotion putting you on £65k, by the end of the tax year then you will have used up just over £55k of that years allowance leaving under £5k you could put in a SIPP. If that happened after 15 years in the scheme then the amount is £74,000 so taking you £14k over the annual allowance! At 35 years service it's £150k! DB's can get very difficult in the latter stages and if you are a high earner getting decent rises.
Can't remember the exact numbers but when my mate was promoted from Sergeant to Inspector it took him over the annual allowance (on something like an 8.5k rise), but fortunately he had enough carry over from prior years to avoid a tax bill.
LISA's are worth considering (I believe you would be eligible) as whilst in effect you only get 20% tax relief going in (the government bonus of 25%), it is totally tax free out. Of course capped at £4k a year, leaving up to £16k for other ISA's. I was too old when they came out otherwise I'd almost certainly have took one with the max £4k per annum as like the tax free out!
On funds Golfie has responded, I know nowt about investengine and their funds I'm afraid, but having had a very quick look I can see it's ETF's which is predominantly what I invest in (in SIPP and ISA) and ample to choose from!
Elon Musk just publicly called Trump's senior trade advisor a moron, 'dumber than a sack of bricks' and referred to him as Peter Retardo (his surname is Navarro).
Elon Musk just publicly called Trump's senior trade advisor a moron, 'dumber than a sack of bricks' and referred to him as Peter Retardo (his surname is Navarro).
It's all going really well then.
Excerpts from Peter Navarro's rant (nominally an Opinion Article) in the FT yesterday:
... A trade system where we face higher tariffs, steeper non-tariff barriers and no viable path to resolution is nothing more than an “honour system” in a world with no honour among cheaters. That’s why America must — and now is — defending itself. ... This is not a negotiation. For the US, it is a national emergency triggered by trade deficits caused by a rigged system. ...
From the reader's comments and replies to the article:
From the Wikipedia page on Dr Navarro: “In 2022, a grand jury indicted him on two counts of contempt of Congress. In 2023, Navarro was convicted on both counts, and in 2024, he was sentenced to four months in jail, becoming the first former White House official imprisoned on a contempt-of-Congress conviction. He is a contributor to Project 2025.” ... The US exports to australia are double the imports from australia. Australia has zero tariffs for US products, it has an FTA which is being ignored. Australia is a security partner of the US, hosts US bases and buys billions in military hardware from US. But now faces 10% tariffs. How has Australia taken advantage of the US? It hasn't, this is an extortion racket ... ...he selects the very specific sub-segment “saloon cars” as his example for the EU (hint: the US imposes even higher tariffs ,on “Light Trucks”, the biggest selling segment in the US), ...
The funny thing is that the guy has a PhD in Economics!
New to this thread. No so much due to recent events but more about reaching certain financial goals and point in my life where I want to start investing a little more seriously. Plus start of the new tax year!
Have just turned 30. Dabbled in investment in my early 20s and have a couple thousand in a stocks and shares isa from that time. But in focusing on buying a house, getting married and doing work on that house we've had to stay mostly in cash and what we've had saved has been eaten up. We've just reached the point where we have saved what we need to do the extension on our house plus a decent contingency.
So, from now on looking to put a bit into investments each month for the long term. We both have very good workplace pension schemes but they are DB and so linked to SPA with large penalties of you take it early. So we are looking to have a pot of money invested to see us through from 50-55, when we want to be winding down on the work front, to SPA.
I'm an economist by background (degree and masters) my job title is economist but I'm micro focused and health economics focused. I know better than to try and time the markets and know consistency is better in the long term. Although now (next month or 2) may well be a decent time to get in. I also have some thoughts around what's going on in the world. I think we are seeing the beginning of the end of the US dominance of world markets and currency markets and would want to reflect that in what I buy, more global and Asia. I think we will be entering a decade or 2 of tumultuous times in the world and so wondering whether I should put some in gold or property as a safety?
My main question is the how. Should I get a SIPP? What are the benefits of that? If each of us are putting in £500 a month plus the off top up of up to £1000 or so we will be well under the ISA limit even with putting some in cash ISAs in parallel. So better to stick with that? If we get a windfall anytime in the future we would likely be looking to add it to here so that may limit us?
I have an account with investengine as they were doing £100 free starter and £75 each if you recommend someone when I dabble small-time in the past. Is that a good platform? Any better ones out there?
Basically any advice for someone new to this.
If you can't take your work place pension until currently 68 then a SIPP would be a good idea as currently that can be taken from 57 (but could change) and is very tax efficient if a higher rate taxpayer. However as your desire is to see you through to SPA from 50-55 then you will also need something else.
You'd also need to watch how much you can pay in alongside your DB pension. No idea of your salaries but potentially there may not be much headroom for a SIPP some years, you'd have to check with your employer and may depend on any promotions through the tax year. I know when my mate got a promotion in the Met he actually exceeded his annual allowance (when it was £40k), there are online calculators for this. Such as: https://www.mandg.com/pru/tools-calculators/defined-benefit-pension-input-tool/index.html
A S&S ISA for the long term would also work for that as whilst taxed income going in it will all be tax free coming out (based on current rules!) and can be used at anytime, you also have a LISA available at your age although that's not currently available to draw until 60 but may be worth considering to see you through 60-68.
Never used Invest engine so can't really comment. For a SIPP there are many providers out there with the usual suspects of Vanguard, Fidelity, Hargreaves's etc being the more main stream one's.
Property is illiquid and not without issues, especially as successive governments have continually made life worse (as an investment) for BTL's but historically capital gains has been fairly decent but can also be a real headache if letting. Gold yes, I have a fair amount and is often used as a hedge, currently at an all time high pretty much. Sovereigns are a good way to buy physical gold although there are ETF's you can hold in an ISA or SIPP.
As always diversifying is a good position to be in, cash, S&S Isa, SIPP, Gold, Property, Premium bonds (for helping with taxation if ISA allowances are used for instance) alongside your DB scheme.
Thanks. The rules on what you can pay into a SIPP each year are giving me a headache. I think I'll find all of my DB pension documentation and hand them to my father in law who's a chartered accountant and let him work that all out!
For now I think the S&S isa is the way to go for simplicity. Will also look at LISA as the bonus look great. But not sure if we are eligible as we had the help to buy isa but didn't use the bonus from it.dont mind having a few different pots that we can access at different points. Is there any downside to that?
The fund options though investengine look pretty good. More options than I can count. Some funds that are gold or property (UK market/EUROPE etc.) Are these worth looking at or not?
Re funds - you can either select one (or more) multi-asset funds which meet your risk attitude. Usually these are aligned to a specific "sector" and for MA funds they are position by the amount they can invest into equities. These being 0-30%, 20%-60%, 40%-85% and Flexible (no upper limit on equity content). These are good if you just want to invest & forget about them. I would still advise you splitting your money between 2 or more of these funds as they each will have different mandates (more in the US for example) and so always good to diversify.
Or you can choose a number of single asset funds yourself & spread your money between them. For a medium/ higher medium risk investor I generally suggest a rough splits follows -
US 25% UK 20% Europe 10% Far East & emerging markets - 7% Japan 3% Fixed interest 30% Property / infrastructure 5%.
Fund selection for the above is key. I wont go into details as that's where I earn my corn 😉.
New to this thread. No so much due to recent events but more about reaching certain financial goals and point in my life where I want to start investing a little more seriously. Plus start of the new tax year!
Have just turned 30. Dabbled in investment in my early 20s and have a couple thousand in a stocks and shares isa from that time. But in focusing on buying a house, getting married and doing work on that house we've had to stay mostly in cash and what we've had saved has been eaten up. We've just reached the point where we have saved what we need to do the extension on our house plus a decent contingency.
So, from now on looking to put a bit into investments each month for the long term. We both have very good workplace pension schemes but they are DB and so linked to SPA with large penalties of you take it early. So we are looking to have a pot of money invested to see us through from 50-55, when we want to be winding down on the work front, to SPA.
I'm an economist by background (degree and masters) my job title is economist but I'm micro focused and health economics focused. I know better than to try and time the markets and know consistency is better in the long term. Although now (next month or 2) may well be a decent time to get in. I also have some thoughts around what's going on in the world. I think we are seeing the beginning of the end of the US dominance of world markets and currency markets and would want to reflect that in what I buy, more global and Asia. I think we will be entering a decade or 2 of tumultuous times in the world and so wondering whether I should put some in gold or property as a safety?
My main question is the how. Should I get a SIPP? What are the benefits of that? If each of us are putting in £500 a month plus the off top up of up to £1000 or so we will be well under the ISA limit even with putting some in cash ISAs in parallel. So better to stick with that? If we get a windfall anytime in the future we would likely be looking to add it to here so that may limit us?
I have an account with investengine as they were doing £100 free starter and £75 each if you recommend someone when I dabble small-time in the past. Is that a good platform? Any better ones out there?
Basically any advice for someone new to this.
If you can't take your work place pension until currently 68 then a SIPP would be a good idea as currently that can be taken from 57 (but could change) and is very tax efficient if a higher rate taxpayer. However as your desire is to see you through to SPA from 50-55 then you will also need something else.
You'd also need to watch how much you can pay in alongside your DB pension. No idea of your salaries but potentially there may not be much headroom for a SIPP some years, you'd have to check with your employer and may depend on any promotions through the tax year. I know when my mate got a promotion in the Met he actually exceeded his annual allowance (when it was £40k), there are online calculators for this. Such as: https://www.mandg.com/pru/tools-calculators/defined-benefit-pension-input-tool/index.html
A S&S ISA for the long term would also work for that as whilst taxed income going in it will all be tax free coming out (based on current rules!) and can be used at anytime, you also have a LISA available at your age although that's not currently available to draw until 60 but may be worth considering to see you through 60-68.
Never used Invest engine so can't really comment. For a SIPP there are many providers out there with the usual suspects of Vanguard, Fidelity, Hargreaves's etc being the more main stream one's.
Property is illiquid and not without issues, especially as successive governments have continually made life worse (as an investment) for BTL's but historically capital gains has been fairly decent but can also be a real headache if letting. Gold yes, I have a fair amount and is often used as a hedge, currently at an all time high pretty much. Sovereigns are a good way to buy physical gold although there are ETF's you can hold in an ISA or SIPP.
As always diversifying is a good position to be in, cash, S&S Isa, SIPP, Gold, Property, Premium bonds (for helping with taxation if ISA allowances are used for instance) alongside your DB scheme.
Thanks. The rules on what you can pay into a SIPP each year are giving me a headache. I think I'll find all of my DB pension documentation and hand them to my father in law who's a chartered accountant and let him work that all out!
For now I think the S&S isa is the way to go for simplicity. Will also look at LISA as the bonus look great. But not sure if we are eligible as we had the help to buy isa but didn't use the bonus from it.dont mind having a few different pots that we can access at different points. Is there any downside to that?
The fund options though investengine look pretty good. More options than I can count. Some funds that are gold or property (UK market/EUROPE etc.) Are these worth looking at or not?
Unfortunately it's why many of those with DB's don't bother with a SIPP, even a decent pay rise or promotion can take you over the £60k allowance, as Golfie said you can't generally properly tell until the end of the tax year.
As an example of someone on £50k a year with 10 years service in a 1/60ths pension at the start of the tax year. If you received a pay rise and promotion putting you on £65k, by the end of the tax year then you will have used up just over £55k of that years allowance leaving under £5k you could put in a SIPP. If that happened after 15 years in the scheme then the amount is £74,000 so taking you £14k over the annual allowance! At 35 years service it's £150k! DB's can get very difficult in the latter stages and if you are a high earner getting decent rises.
Can't remember the exact numbers but when my mate was promoted from Sergeant to Inspector it took him over the annual allowance (on something like an 8.5k rise), but fortunately he had enough carry over from prior years to avoid a tax bill.
LISA's are worth considering (I believe you would be eligible) as whilst in effect you only get 20% tax relief going in (the government bonus of 25%), it is totally tax free out. Of course capped at £4k a year, leaving up to £16k for other ISA's. I was too old when they came out otherwise I'd almost certainly have took one with the max £4k per annum as like the tax free out!
On funds Golfie has responded, I know nowt about investengine and their funds I'm afraid, but having had a very quick look I can see it's ETF's which is predominantly what I invest in (in SIPP and ISA) and ample to choose from!
I co-run an auction house that sells coins. In our case, the tariff will apply not on our location (London) but the location where the coins were minted. So for example ancient Roman coins will come under Italy and therefore the EU tariff if we sell the coin to a US customer.
30% of our customers are based in the US and we've already seen a drop-off in signups for our latest auction, I hope it is all resolved soon or we'll have to start consigning more of those American-made Roman coins...
Quick and likely overly simplistic question. Have a work pension and put in enough that I benefit from all the employer contributions etc. If I want to pay more into my pension (I can as I am not near the allowance), would I be better topping up the work one (they give me the choice) or opening a private one..? I would generally opt work for ease etc but am I missing a trick? Ta.
Feels like market got another move down in it. Personally be looking to pick up the magnificent 7 if that happens (think easiest way I've found to do this is via S&P Top 20 etf) and more Bitcoin
Quick and likely overly simplistic question. Have a work pension and put in enough that I benefit from all the employer contributions etc. If I want to pay more into my pension (I can as I am not near the allowance), would I be better topping up the work one (they give me the choice) or opening a private one..? I would generally opt work for ease etc but am I missing a trick? Ta.
I would say it boils down to fund availability. In my experience the majority of employer based pension schemes have limited funds and the ones they do have are generally average performing. Some people will say look at the charges (and you could find your employer's scheme is pretty good on this regard) but if the performance is poor then saving 0.5% on a fund charge is immaterial.
I also understand its easier just to increase your contribution to your work scheme & dont have to worry about fund selection etc (see my earlier posts to @cantersaddick). Also depends how much extra you are looking to contribute. Under £100 pm then look at your employer scheme.....if £200+ then look at arranging your own scheme.
Also, 1 final point. If you have your own scheme then you have more flexibility when it comes to retirement. You may want to cut your hours at work or go part time, in which case you could start drawing on your Personal Pension and continue with your employer's scheme. Not as easy if all your retirement funds are tied in to your current employment.
Quick and likely overly simplistic question. Have a work pension and put in enough that I benefit from all the employer contributions etc. If I want to pay more into my pension (I can as I am not near the allowance), would I be better topping up the work one (they give me the choice) or opening a private one..? I would generally opt work for ease etc but am I missing a trick? Ta.
I would put more in the work one. Growth on a bigger pot would outweigh growth on a small new pot. Say both pots had a yearly growth of 10%. Say hypothetically Your work one was 100k and your new one 10k. 10% growth on the 100k pot wins every time. Not forgetting overpayments (AVCs) which I also make on my work pension come out of my pre-taxed salary so theres a tax saving there. But that's just me.
Would appreciate some very banal HMRC advice. Never had to deal with them directly as always had an accountant, no longer needed. However I want to start taking lump sums from my SIPP, and I am UK tax non-resident. I have my SIPP with H-L and they gave me the sound advice to only withdraw a symbolic amount first and see what tax code HMRC apply. Sure enough it was an emergency code, and not the NT code that H-L need so as to avoid applying withholding tax. It falls to me to get HMRC to officially inform H-L of my non-res status.
So my question is what's the best way to engage with HMRC nowadays? From all I've heard, getting anyone to pick up a phone there is pretty much a fool's game. Is it not possible to make this simple request on-line?
Would appreciate some very banal HMRC advice. Never had to deal with them directly as always had an accountant, no longer needed. However I want to start taking lump sums from my SIPP, and I am UK tax non-resident. I have my SIPP with H-L and they gave me the sound advice to only withdraw a symbolic amount first and see what tax code HMRC apply. Sure enough it was an emergency code, and not the NT code that H-L need so as to avoid applying withholding tax. It falls to me to get HMRC to officially inform H-L of my non-res status.
So my question is what's the best way to engage with HMRC nowadays? From all I've heard, getting anyone to pick up a phone there is pretty much a fool's game. Is it not possible to make this simple request on-line?
Do you have an HMRC online account? I find messaging on there the quickest, otherwise it is call and wait.
Comments
Have just turned 30. Dabbled in investment in my early 20s and have a couple thousand in a stocks and shares isa from that time. But in focusing on buying a house, getting married and doing work on that house we've had to stay mostly in cash and what we've had saved has been eaten up. We've just reached the point where we have saved what we need to do the extension on our house plus a decent contingency.
So, from now on looking to put a bit into investments each month for the long term. We both have very good workplace pension schemes but they are DB and so linked to SPA with large penalties of you take it early. So we are looking to have a pot of money invested to see us through from 50-55, when we want to be winding down on the work front, to SPA.
I'm an economist by background (degree and masters) my job title is economist but I'm micro focused and health economics focused. I know better than to try and time the markets and know consistency is better in the long term. Although now (next month or 2) may well be a decent time to get in. I also have some thoughts around what's going on in the world. I think we are seeing the beginning of the end of the US dominance of world markets and currency markets and would want to reflect that in what I buy, more global and Asia. I think we will be entering a decade or 2 of tumultuous times in the world and so wondering whether I should put some in gold or property as a safety?
My main question is the how. Should I get a SIPP? What are the benefits of that? If each of us are putting in £500 a month plus the off top up of up to £1000 or so we will be well under the ISA limit even with putting some in cash ISAs in parallel. So better to stick with that? If we get a windfall anytime in the future we would likely be looking to add it to here so that may limit us?
I have an account with investengine as they were doing £100 free starter and £75 each if you recommend someone when I dabble small-time in the past. Is that a good platform? Any better ones out there?
Basically any advice for someone new to this.
If you can't take your work place pension until currently 68 then a SIPP would be a good idea as currently that can be taken from 57 (but could change) and is very tax efficient if a higher rate taxpayer. However as your desire is to see you through to SPA from 50-55 then you will also need something else.
You'd also need to watch how much you can pay in alongside your DB pension. No idea of your salaries but potentially there may not be much headroom for a SIPP some years, you'd have to check with your employer and may depend on any promotions through the tax year. I know when my mate got a promotion in the Met he actually exceeded his annual allowance (when it was £40k), there are online calculators for this. Such as: https://www.mandg.com/pru/tools-calculators/defined-benefit-pension-input-tool/index.html
A S&S ISA for the long term would also work for that as whilst taxed income going in it will all be tax free coming out (based on current rules!) and can be used at anytime, you also have a LISA available at your age although that's not currently available to draw until 60 but may be worth considering to see you through 60-68.
Never used Invest engine so can't really comment. For a SIPP there are many providers out there with the usual suspects of Vanguard, Fidelity, Hargreaves's etc being the more main stream one's.
Property is illiquid and not without issues, especially as successive governments have continually made life worse (as an investment) for BTL's but historically capital gains has been fairly decent but can also be a real headache if letting.
Gold yes, I have a fair amount and is often used as a hedge, currently at an all time high pretty much. Sovereigns are a good way to buy physical gold although there are ETF's you can hold in an ISA or SIPP.
As always diversifying is a good position to be in, cash, S&S Isa, SIPP, Gold, Property, Premium bonds (for helping with taxation if ISA allowances are used for instance) alongside your DB scheme.
Cracking way to sign off an excellent post @bobmunro.
And non-economists have every right to comment. Trump is no economist, and everything he does is crudely politics-driven.
As for the markets..the excellent Robert Armstrong of FT Unhedged : "When to buy the dip; Risky assets are cheaper — but not cheap enough" Paywalled but I'll try to summarise.
He starts by making the point I did a few days ago when people started talking about buying the dip. "The S&P 500 has fallen 18 per cent from its February peak. That ain’t that bad." He goes much further of course, firstly illustrating that even by recent years' comparison it wasn't the biggest dip - I had forgotten the inflation panic of 2022, for example, down 25%. Then he tries to consider (always hedging their bets, are the Unhedged guys) "whether risk markets are priced to provide strong long-term returns. There are lots of ways to look at this, none of them completely satisfactory, but all of them have something to say." Then t all gets very sophisticated, some I understand, but more than half I don't. But his conclusion is clear enough:
"It’s quite clear. Stocks are no bargain. But Trump’s tariffs may not be done with us yet, and if they are not, now is the time to think about what the bargain level might be."
One important caveat is that he is talking mainly about the US markets. There's a case for saying that UK and European markets may be cheaper right now than the S&P 500, and more prosaically since most of us are either in the UK or using UK platforms (denominated in £), if the dollar falls permanently in value, as Trump apparently desires, that knocks further % off any gains one might make by buying any perceived US dip. So my personal investment conclusion is "fuck the USA" but I will hold what I have as the best US companies remain world class and at some stage will bounce back. But I am not an economist, and at least two pay grades below the likes of Robert Armstrong, and staying 70% min. in cash because of my age
As for your choice of platform.....never heard of them but that's not saying they are not any good. The main thing you need to worry about is your choice of funds. Note the plural. As a nod to Tony Blair, the 3 words you need to know are......diversification, diversification, diversification.
For now I think the S&S isa is the way to go for simplicity. Will also look at LISA as the bonus look great. But not sure if we are eligible as we had the help to buy isa but didn't use the bonus from it.dont mind having a few different pots that we can access at different points. Is there any downside to that?
The fund options though investengine look pretty good. More options than I can count. Some funds that are gold or property (UK market/EUROPE etc.) Are these worth looking at or not?
It's all going really well then.
I'd be amazed if we don't have more falling to do.
Or you can choose a number of single asset funds yourself & spread your money between them. For a medium/ higher medium risk investor I generally suggest a rough splits follows -
US 25%
UK 20%
Europe 10%
Far East & emerging markets - 7%
Japan 3%
Fixed interest 30%
Property / infrastructure 5%.
Fund selection for the above is key. I wont go into details as that's where I earn my corn 😉.
The root cause of the turbulence and disruption hasn't disappeared! We should be clear that Trump has unilaterally imposed 10% tariffs across the world which is roughly 10 x where we were before Trump. Add 25% on cars and 35% on certain trading partners and that's a massive brake on growth when we consider who pays for that. For it will be consumers, importers (if they take some of the heat) and shareholders of companies who see smaller profits.
This behaviour is set to continue and at the same time US Gov't has withdrawn support from G20 meetings, WHO, WTO etc as they want to shake things up but what's the likely outcome?
The US is rapidly burning trust, while the rest of G20 firm up their trading arrangements, and the decline of USA might actually accelerate?! Decision makers across Canada, Europe, (UK) India and China will continue to focus on their own economies and might also be less inclined to buy US debt? They may also accelerate their investment in capability around satelites, defence, cyber as well as infrastructure and web. This to reduce dependency upon the USA and move faster towards a multi polar world.
For sure us investors need to consider returns and timescales but we might also look at where we want to back companies.
As an example of someone on £50k a year with 10 years service in a 1/60ths pension at the start of the tax year. If you received a pay rise and promotion putting you on £65k, by the end of the tax year then you will have used up just over £55k of that years allowance leaving under £5k you could put in a SIPP. If that happened after 15 years in the scheme then the amount is £74,000 so taking you £14k over the annual allowance! At 35 years service it's £150k! DB's can get very difficult in the latter stages and if you are a high earner getting decent rises.
Can't remember the exact numbers but when my mate was promoted from Sergeant to Inspector it took him over the annual allowance (on something like an 8.5k rise), but fortunately he had enough carry over from prior years to avoid a tax bill.
LISA's are worth considering (I believe you would be eligible) as whilst in effect you only get 20% tax relief going in (the government bonus of 25%), it is totally tax free out. Of course capped at £4k a year, leaving up to £16k for other ISA's. I was too old when they came out otherwise I'd almost certainly have took one with the max £4k per annum as like the tax free out!
On funds Golfie has responded, I know nowt about investengine and their funds I'm afraid, but having had a very quick look I can see it's ETF's which is predominantly what I invest in (in SIPP and ISA) and ample to choose from!
so sad when love dies
...
A trade system where we face higher tariffs, steeper non-tariff barriers and no viable path to resolution is nothing more than an “honour system” in a world with no honour among cheaters. That’s why America must — and now is — defending itself.
...
This is not a negotiation. For the US, it is a national emergency triggered by trade deficits caused by a rigged system.
...
From the reader's comments and replies to the article:
From the Wikipedia page on Dr Navarro: “In 2022, a grand jury indicted him on two counts of contempt of Congress. In 2023, Navarro was convicted on both counts, and in 2024, he was sentenced to four months in jail, becoming the first former White House official imprisoned on a contempt-of-Congress conviction. He is a contributor to Project 2025.”
...
The US exports to australia are double the imports from australia. Australia has zero tariffs for US products, it has an FTA which is being ignored. Australia is a security partner of the US, hosts US bases and buys billions in military hardware from US. But now faces 10% tariffs. How has Australia taken advantage of the US? It hasn't, this is an extortion racket
...
...he selects the very specific sub-segment “saloon cars” as his example for the EU (hint: the US imposes even higher tariffs ,on “Light Trucks”, the biggest selling segment in the US), ...
The funny thing is that the guy has a PhD in Economics!
30% of our customers are based in the US and we've already seen a drop-off in signups for our latest auction, I hope it is all resolved soon or we'll have to start consigning more of those American-made Roman coins...
If I want to pay more into my pension (I can as I am not near the allowance), would I be better topping up the work one (they give me the choice) or opening a private one..?
I would generally opt work for ease etc but am I missing a trick?
Ta.
I also understand its easier just to increase your contribution to your work scheme & dont have to worry about fund selection etc (see my earlier posts to @cantersaddick). Also depends how much extra you are looking to contribute. Under £100 pm then look at your employer scheme.....if £200+ then look at arranging your own scheme.
Also, 1 final point. If you have your own scheme then you have more flexibility when it comes to retirement. You may want to cut your hours at work or go part time, in which case you could start drawing on your Personal Pension and continue with your employer's scheme. Not as easy if all your retirement funds are tied in to your current employment.
Say both pots had a yearly growth of 10%.
Say hypothetically Your work one was 100k and your new one 10k.
10% growth on the 100k pot wins every time.
Not forgetting overpayments (AVCs) which I also make on my work pension come out of my pre-taxed salary so theres a tax saving there.
But that's just me.
So my question is what's the best way to engage with HMRC nowadays? From all I've heard, getting anyone to pick up a phone there is pretty much a fool's game. Is it not possible to make this simple request on-line?