[jim mca]

Flog your house a year before you retire then private rent spend your money in the bookies  and then let the state keep you simples 

[Dennis]

Don't worry the EU are going to screw our pensions up now.

http://news.sky.com/story/1093003/euro-tax-to-decimate-pensions-report-says

[Len Gribble]

Doug

Noted but emerging markets is my thing

Mike

Most cc claim are on £100 + an hr so £250 per week is pittance for there future don’t forget it tax deductible/advantages until you have to pay the ferryman

Dennis

Think the so called powers to be have lost the plot god help us if they introduce a county a tax (like they have in the states), WAIT FOR IT its bound to come,
 

[Shaun_Ashmore]

The stats are that pensions take out most from the pot from national insurance and tax from the economy, people on benefits and other mis spending is a pittance in comparison a suggestion would be for mass murder for any 75 and above then we'd have a chance of spending any inheritance they may have got left after the nurses fees

Shaun

Ps no offence frans

[robert meldrum]

As far as pensions go my plans were wrecked by helping two members of my wife's family One to the tune of £60k, the other to the much bigger sum of around £500 k.

I thought I would still cope but my body let me down with a whole raft of problems forcing me to partly retire about 8 years ago and fully retire ( in theory ) just over a year ago. I still do small jobs just to make me feel better but my wife who is a lot younger than me is the main earner.

Warning to anyone facing operations.........I had my second hip done last December and it's fine, but, I was NOT warned about the possibility of my bladder reacting to the anaesthetic and leaving me catheterised. This can happen in people a lot younger than me so be warned.

No one in my family had cancer but it didn't stop me getting prostate cancer and that can be pretty shattering.

I'm working at ways of raising enough to leave my wife debt free and mortgage free which I believe I can do via the Internet.

It would have been a lot easier to look after the money when it was there and not be so generous to the wrong people.

[Doug Holloway]

Hi Mike

When we are younger with Mortgages, children etc it is difficult to save for later but if when the kids have become adults and our business's are going reasonably well then 800 a month is hardly a fortune to secure a decent retirement.

Even if it's only 200 a month but for 30 years the pot will be very useful.

What I am saying is planning for the future is all part of juggling life's finances and to make no provision could leave you one vulnerable.

Cheers

Doug

[The Great One]

1200 invested at 100 a month in a SIPP with just 7% interest would be just over 60,000 over 20 years

[Doctor Carpet (Ret'd)]

Right from the start of my business I put more money away for tax than was needed-the main reason being that if in the following year my turnover was down I would find it even harder to save for the tax bill. I managed to get to the stage where i was over 12 months in advance of saving for my corporation tax bill.

As turnover increases it becomes progressivly easier to save as the covering of the survival/basic income required to live becomes a smaller proportion of turnover. As such each year I would inctrease the standing orders and direct debits to various savings plans (ISAs, pensions, unit trusts, cash etc) but I would also make lump sum investments to reflect any large jobs I got as well.

My long term plan had always been to find a buyer for my business once I reached 50. I was lucky in that I sold for the full asking price 2 weeks after my 50th birthday. Even better the new owner employees me as his "number 2" working (approx) 9-5, five days a week and often on a Saturday. I also have to fully run the business for him when he is on holiday. And yes I did sell it as an on-going profitable business-not a pile of equipment and a list of jobs completed.

Give it another 5 years maximum and my body will be more than ready to ease itself into something less physical like voluntary work, golf, holidays and reading/studying.

With annunities rates as they are I am planning on going for income draw-down rather than buying an annunity. If I did go for an annunity I should also be elegible for an enhanced pension to reflect my poor health. (My dad got an enhanced pension as he really didin't look as if he'd live very long. He's in poor health but just turned 90! Mind you he got an annunity rate of just under 18% with a guaranteed rise in his pension of 5% pa. Lucky man!)

Rog

[Kinver_Clean]

I would not put any money into a pension "plan"
All you are doings funding the yacht. I know I clean for someone.
I sold a business 15 years ago and bought 4 flats. These give me a nice income with my state pension. The only reason I am still working at 70 is to pay for 2 months in the states. Then I will probably finish.

If I were younger I would save to get a deposit on a flat. Then buy to let mortgage. Then another and so on.
These will, when they have been paid for and you retired will give you a nice income.
And you will beagle to leave them to your children. The costs per month are similar to a pension, but that dies with you and that is that.
My son has a flatland a house already and he is 42.
IMO the financial services sector is a ripoff.
This chap I know has a yacht in the Caribbean with 2 permanent crew. You don't do that on tuppence..

[clive ware]

Do you buy these on interest only or repayment. I`ve got a couple of flats and was thinking about adding to them. The yield isnt so good these days around Chichester so would probably go a little further afield.

[Doug Holloway]

Hi Guys

As Roger has said pensions are much more flexible these days, so you can take an income without converting it into an annuity.

ISA are much more flexible, the main difference being you pay tax on the money before you put it in, whereas with a pension there is no tax liability on deposits but income is subject to tax but you can take a25% as a lump sum tax free.

Houses/flats are another way of building a retirement income, the main thing is to do something.

If you worked for a large company pension contributions would be compulsory.

All in all good reasons to charge proper prices!!!

Cheers

Doug

[John Kelly]

All in all good reasons to charge proper prices!!!

Cheers

Doug

Very well said.

[Craigp]

I been running an ISA for years, good idea.

The interest is crap these days but still worth doing.

Doug, 11k per year? the limit is around £3.500 per year. unless you mean saving into other pots.

I have been reliably informed 'unit trusts' are the best investments today.

IMO if you are not saving you are getting no where, just treading water.

[Craigp]

Oh I have shares too, they are worth half what I paid a few years ago, lol, they are on the way back up though.

Someone said recently, was it a politician? "investing in shares is really gambling" I tend to agree. Don't bother.

[AshWhite]

Investing in shares is a gamble - except that with gambling any profits are tax-free!

I'm just in the middle of getting my first buy-to-let. I'll put 25% down, interest only mortgage the rest - keep them for 15-20 years and sell to pay off the balance as well as a 200% return (in theory...)

[Kinver_Clean]

I bought mine out of the proceeds of selling a very large property and associated business.
I would have them on a repayment mortgage if I were younger- the idea is the have them paid for when the time comes to pack it in.
The income from them is inflation proofed unlike most annuities ( which I think are a ripoff) as prices go up the rent follows.
I clear around 8% on the value, you won't get that rate anywhere else legally.
I does me around £1000 per month before tax.
Pays for the ale.

[Doug Holloway]

Craig

The ISA allowance for shares is £11520.

You can invest in blue chip which if you keep them for any length of time, with dividends reinvested will far outstrip bank interest.

Cheers

Doug

[jasonl]

I am currently training to be a financial adviser, learning all about the systems available is a real eye opener.

My mentor has taken me to some of his clients meetings , what is clear is that high street products are expensive and unsuitable for most people .

Isas show very poor returns , whilst they give a headline of being tax free , the rates barely beat inflation.

I was with a client last week who has 230k invested in a proper structured portfolio , he is returning 8% after tax , which is not uncommon.

It is very important to seek advice and have a holistic approach , this means balancing protection , retirement  planning and investment.

Commission is no longer paid to financial advisers , along with very tight regulation and the high barriers to entering the market mean that the advice given is far more meaningful and professional than ever before

[Paul Clapham]

@ Jason , serious question , how do you or freelance FA make money if you don't earn commission, somebody pays you at some point , and the person paying must be the person investing ?

[jasonl]

All charging for IFA business is now fee based , for investments generally 1% IS CHARGED ON A SLIDING SCALE DOWN TO .5%  if the sum invested is over a million.

For advice on pensions and protection(insurance) , where commissions are now outlawed, a flat fee is charged for time spent fact finding, research and providing a suitability report for various products. Clients  are VERY happy with this new scenario, banks have generally pulled out of the financial advice market because commissions have evaporated, leaving lots of "orphan " clients for the independent adviser to pick up.

The fees can be added monthly to premiums so the adviser is paid monthly. It is much fairer to the client ,as the adviser has to have a clear paper trail showing that the fees being charged are enhancing the clients wealth to a greater extent than if no advice had been given.