|
The Perfect Element posted:I've got a few small lumps of cash in isas or funds, but would a better approach now just to be funnel absolutely as much as I can into early mortgage repayments? We're on a low fixed rate for the next two years, so it seems like just paying off as much extra as I can until we remortgage at an inevitably higher rate is the most sensible thing to do. Obviously factoring in / avoiding any overpayment costs or whatever. The mathematical thing to do is take advantage of your low fix now and save/contribute to something that gives a greater return and then when you no longer have a cheap rate pay it down in a lump sum. Whether this is a net benefit of £3.75 Or hundreds/thousands however depends on the amounts involved and may not be worth the effort over just paying down the mortgage.
|
#
?
Nov 5, 2022 15:40
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 26, 2024 17:28 |
|
|
Thanks for the advice, posters!
|
|
#
?
Nov 7, 2022 14:50
|
|
|
I'm in a similar boat and started looking at other places to store my cash as a result. Right now I'm using the same Halifax ISA I've always done and it turns out it's only got a 0.5% interest rate. So my moneys basically been doing nothing. My mortgage is fixed at 1.6% until Feb 2025 and it looks like there's a cash ISA out there (recommended by Martin Lewis) that has 3.5%. I've got £20k in that Halifax ISA, is it basically a no brainer to move it? All of this got me looking into stocks and shares ISAs too. Just how risky are those? I've been treating that Halifax ISA as the "excess dump" for my unused monthly income (after pension, bills, disposable income, etc) and planned to keep treating it like that for the rest of my life; only tapping into it in case of emergency. Does it make sense to move that £20k and all future additions into an S&S if I'm thinking long term like that?
|
|
#
?
Nov 21, 2022 01:15
|
|
|
Kin posted:I'm in a similar boat and started looking at other places to store my cash as a result. Have a look at Gatehouse Bank (it's sharia - and as such it's not 'interest' but 'profit' they talk about, and also relatively ethical though they do fund buy-to-let mortgages which you might object to, but they also fund woodlands). Fixed period cash ISAs from 3.7% to 4.2% at the moment for 1-5 years. If you want an 'easy access' isa then it's currently 1.75%. You can spread your cash isa amongst different fixed period cash ISAs within Gatehouse Bank. Many moons ago I had a stocks & shares ISA. I put £7k in which was the amount allowed at the time, it went up to about £10k then 2008 happened and it dropped down to £4.2k almost overnight and took 4 years to crawl back up to £7k. I decided I was not well off enough to risk S&S ISAs after all.
|
|
#
?
Nov 21, 2022 01:39
|
|
|
If your time horizon is 5 years plus then consider investing the money in stocks and shares (with a risk of losing money over that period). If 10 years plus then s&s is a no brainer. If less than 5 years, cash is safer (though will be outpaced by inflation either way). Plenty of literature on this subject if you’re interested. Smarter Investing by Tim Hale is a good, UK centric, place to start.
|
|
#
?
Nov 21, 2022 20:24
|
|
|
The implication there is that, saving a regular amount with a fixed end date, go for S&S until 5 years before the date and at that point switch it to regular savings? Thinking about it, it's the same thing with pensions, where towards the end the emphasis moves to less risky investments.
|
|
#
?
Nov 21, 2022 20:41
|
|
|
Apologies for the double post, but is moneysupermarket.com as good as any other place for finding something like a savings account?
|
|
#
?
Nov 21, 2022 20:43
|
|
|
Clarence posted:The implication there is that, saving a regular amount with a fixed end date, go for S&S until 5 years before the date and at that point switch it to regular savings? You should evaluate your tolerance for risk on a higher cadence than 5 years. The implication is that you adjust your investments (sell off some shares and switch to bonds) as time goes by to account for your time horizon approaching. Once you reach your time horizon, your investments should almost entirely be in a fairly robust asset class like bonds or cash. 5 years is just a number where if you are invested in a riskier asset for the entire time, you probably will have at least the amount you put in, but it's not guaranteed and if you have only a year left of your horizon, you probably don't want all of it in stocks. qhat fucked around with this message at 22:04 on Nov 21, 2022 |
|
#
?
Nov 21, 2022 22:00
|
|
|
Jaeluni Asjil posted:Have a look at Gatehouse Bank (it's sharia - and as such it's not 'interest' but 'profit' they talk about, and also relatively ethical though they do fund buy-to-let mortgages which you might object to, but they also fund woodlands). Fixed period cash ISAs from 3.7% to 4.2% at the moment for 1-5 years. If you want an 'easy access' isa then it's currently 1.75%. You can spread your cash isa amongst different fixed period cash ISAs within Gatehouse Bank. Dakha posted:If your time horizon is 5 years plus then consider investing the money in stocks and shares (with a risk of losing money over that period). If 10 years plus then s&s is a no brainer. Thanks for that. I'm definitely looking at it as a 20+ years thing. I'm 40 next year and forgot about LISAs too, so just opened one up. I'll probably cap that out first with £4k of the £20k I have. I'll check out Tim Hale though, I've got big child-related costs coming up in the next year or two, so having access to the money is handy in case of emergency, so I'll need to weigh up the fixed/cash/S&S ISA options.
|
|
#
?
Nov 21, 2022 22:06
|
|
|
Clarence posted:The implication there is that, saving a regular amount with a fixed end date, go for S&S until 5 years before the date and at that point switch it to regular savings? Most providers will allow you to change the risk profile of a portfolio pretty easily, so if you're approaching some date, you can make that shift and the portfolio should auto-rebalance - shifting to a normal savings account seems a bit drastic, unless you have a really drastically low risk appetite that wouldn't even want the risk from a pure government debt portfolio.
|
|
#
?
Nov 22, 2022 16:46
|
|
|
How does general “don’t try to time the market” advice apply to getting a first mortgage? I have affordable (significantly below market rates) rented accommodation and no urgency to leave my current flat, but I’d still like to finally get on the property ladder. Does an inverted yield curve suggest that I should wait before locking in a mortgage at current rates?
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2023 17:37
|
|
|
Rates are already falling from their peaks (albeit slowly) and the direction of travel for interest rates is somewhat more predictable than wider investment markets, so there is an argument for timing your decision imo.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2023 17:51
|
|
|
Would it be worth risking a variable rate if buying now, if interest rates are likely to drop a bit further? Especially if you can get a discounted rate?
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2023 18:03
|
|
|
It would likely be preferable to a fixed rate today over the next 2+ years, but I don't see any lenders doing you a favour with their standard variable rate should rates "normalise." I'd be tempted to question the urgency to buy a property in the current climate and dial the entire decision back to what is affordable, as that is the criteria any lender will be hawkish about anyway.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2023 18:22
|
|
|
I have a friend who’s a senior economist at a major lender, and when I mentioned I was due to remortgage in May he said he’d expect mortgage rates to drop by then (though still wouldn’t be great). Obviously don’t base any financial decisions on this, a comment from a guy on the internet.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2023 21:00
|
|
|
Not timing the market also applies to housing, unless the market is so ridiculously frenzied that you can only compete by putting in unconditional offers, in which case you should probably wait until it calms down so you can do your due diligence. Other than that, if you want to buy then you should pick a mortgage that fits your financial situation. If you can afford the swings of a variable rate, you should get that. If you can't, you should get a fixed rate. Yours or someone else's perception of where the market is going to go in a week, a month, a year from now should not affect whether you actually buy.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2023 22:12
|
|
|
Anyone got any recommendations for pension funds? I'm self-employed and could do with reducing my taxable income by a few thousand to get under the mid income bracket. Advised that putting a bit into a pension would be the best way to go (and seems sensible anyway). Just interested in which provider charges the lowest fees and is likely to provide a decent return (if there is such a thing) in the long run
|
|
#
?
Jan 22, 2023 23:25
|
|
|
If you're only investing in funds (which is a good idea anyway) probably Vanguard. https://www.vanguardinvestor.co.uk/what-we-offer/personal-pension/personal-pension-account I have a Hargreaves Lansdown SIPP which I didn't have any choice about, and while the overall management fees are higher (0.45%) quite often the fund charges are discounted, sometimes to 0%, so may be worth looking at. The HL app is very easy to use, compared to something like Interactive Brokers which seems deliberately overcomplicated.
|
|
#
?
Jan 23, 2023 10:58
|
|
|
+1 for Vanguard too, don’t know what their app or website is like though, but it’s a solid company with low fees across the board.
|
|
#
?
Jan 23, 2023 11:22
|
|
|
Vanguard is cheapest until you’ve £104k invested, then Interactive Investor (ii.co.uk) is cheaper. Both allow Ltd Company contributions assuming that’s relevant. Both excellent options.
|
|
#
?
Jan 23, 2023 16:00
|
|
|
Thanks for the pension recommendation, will hit up the Vanguard next month. Wondering what folks here use to track their funds and other assets? Google Finance seemed to be helpful, I have a couple of stocks I follow there, but I am finding it stupidly difficult to find particular index funds on there. It sends a little performance summary notification at the end of the day which is nice. But I'm sure there must be better platforms out there.
|
|
#
?
Feb 8, 2023 14:42
|
|
|
What does the CS stand for after some pension fund names and what's the significance of the number? (Eg cs2 vs cs8?). I'm sure it's obvious but my googlefu us letting me down.
|
|
#
?
Feb 8, 2023 14:55
|
|
|
If it is specifically a pension mirror fund it will probably either be a means of distinguishing members of a scheme either by contributions, target retirement date etc or more simply just the same fund with a different set of charges. Without knowing the specifics of the scheme using the funds it would be tough to give an exact answer. Depending on the structure of the scheme, you could for instance have a master trust arrangement where there is a master fund of which there are several mirror funds that mimic the investment strategy. Each of those mirrors could then have different AMCs for whatever reason. It's more complicated than having a single fund with multiple share classes but pensions legislation is dense as a motherfucker. Theophany fucked around with this message at 15:05 on Feb 8, 2023 |
|
#
?
Feb 8, 2023 15:02
|
|
|
I know there is no one-size-fits-all answer to this and the answer will depend on one’s total net worth, attitude toward risk, time horizon of big spending plans, etc. Having said that, cash as a percentage of my net worth is definitely too high. I’m trying to determine the level I should bring it down to, but most of the online advice I’m finding is quite US-centric. 1) Are there any differences between the U.K. and US that are relevant when it comes down to how much of one’s net worth is sitting in cash? 2) More than a few times I’ve seen “keep max (not at least) 6 months of expenses in cash, invest the rest”. Is there wisdom to this? I guess I’m psychologically anchored to my current high cash allocation but to essentially only have an emergency fund in cash seems alarmingly low.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2023 08:29
|
|
|
Why would you want/need more? e: Not a rhetorical question saying of course you don't need more, rather asking what makes you uneasy about having "only" that amount of cash.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2023 08:35
|
|
|
Halisnacks posted:I know there is no one-size-fits-all answer to this and the answer will depend on one’s total net worth, attitude toward risk, time horizon of big spending plans, etc. The belt and braces answer is to have enough to cover your expenses if you were to fall too ill to work for an extended period of time. The exact period of time will depend on what level of insurance you have, e.g. critical illness cover or income protection. Six months is a common suggestion because it's roughly (28 weeks) when statutory sick pay ends and coincides with the deferment period of most reasonably priced income protection policies. A more simplistic way to think about it is to work out what your biggest potential expense is right now and keep that as cash. Boiler packs up? Car completely shits the bed? Roof on your house collapses? Work out what it'll cost to fix the problem and that's your minimum cash float.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2023 09:28
|
|
|
sebzilla posted:Why would you want/need more? Less rationally, my attitude toward risk and volatility (at least when it comes to equities). I was more psychologically affected by negative fluctuations in my pensions/other investments last year than I thought I would be. At least I learned something about myself.  More rationally (maybe), my uncertainty about when I’ll buy a flat. One of the reasons I’m sitting on a lot of cash in the first place is because I thought I would buy a place (to live in) and that fell through. My life is a bit up in the air at the moment though so I don’t know if buying a place is a 2023, 2024, 2025, or later thing. So my investment time horizon is quite uncertain. Charles Leclerc posted:The belt and braces answer is to have enough to cover your expenses if you were to fall too ill to work for an extended period of time. The exact period of time will depend on what level of insurance you have, e.g. critical illness cover or income protection. Six months is a common suggestion because it's roughly (28 weeks) when statutory sick pay ends and coincides with the deferment period of most reasonably priced income protection policies. I don’t own a home, car, or have any major expenses/investments planned (other than aforementioned vague possibility of buying a flat in the next few years), and were I to lose my job I have very generous (contractual) severance. So I guess I just need to bite the bullet and significantly reallocate away from cash.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2023 10:49
|
|
|
If you're considering buying a flat (and don't already own property) you might as well spend x number of months ploughing money from cash into one of those Lifetime ISAs or whatever they're called now that replaced the Help To Buy ISA. Free money from the government.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2023 11:06
|
|
|
I have maxed those out (LISA has a £4K per tax year contribution limit), but I don’t even think I’ll be eligible for the government bonus as the maximum property price the scheme allows is £450K. It’ll be hard to make that work as I will be buying in London (for my sins). So I might just use the LISA down the road for retirement to keep that free government money.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2023 11:18
|
|
|
I'm looking at London too. Been a while since I checked but for one or two bed flats you can get some pretty great stuff for 450k I think? And in decent locations.
|
|
#
?
Feb 10, 2023 14:23
|
|
|
Halisnacks posted:Less rationally, my attitude toward risk and volatility (at least when it comes to equities). I was more psychologically affected by negative fluctuations in my pensions/other investments last year than I thought I would be. At least I learned something about myself. If you haven't already used up your full ISA allowance for the year in cash, and were thinking of getting some of that money invested, you should see if you can put a chunk of cash into a stocks and shares ISA before tax year end in about a month's time to preserve the allowance. Even if you just add it as cash while you consider (not for too long...) how you're going to allocate it. e: but if you want to buy a house over the next couple of years, you really don't want to be putting your money at risk - investments should really be thought of as a 5ish year thing and if you can't handle losses in that time you should probably steer clear tbh. Interest rates are higher than they've been in ages, at least make sure you're maxing returns on that - use your full ISA allowance, shop around for the best rates on that and the rest of your savings. Premium Bonds are a fun very-near-cash investment without risk of loss, and the equivalent rates on the prize fund have been climbing in the past year too - if you put the max 50k in those you'd be pretty likely to get regular low-value prize returns and might also win a million quid? 
New Found Power fucked around with this message at 10:22 on Feb 24, 2023 |
|
#
?
Feb 24, 2023 10:16
|
|
|
OK so the end of the tax year is coming up i think? I have some money in a regular old savings account and over the next 4-5 years I'm hoping to save up a house deposit, I've used my lifetime ISA allowance and I've put a small amount of money into an S&S ISA. if interest rates stay the same or go up I'll eventually have to pay tax on the interest of the deposit I'm saving up, should I move some of the money from my savings account to a cash ISA now, since I'm building savings in a regular account after 3 years the amount in the account will be larger than the total ISA allowance so if I feel the need to move it I might be stuck? Also since the union got a us a good pay rise this year and I do a fair amount of overtime next year I might gross over 50k (although only just) which would lower my tax free savings allowance. If I increase my pension contributions that will bring me back under the 50k for tax reasons right? I'm still thinking maybe I should make use of this years ISA allowance and put a bit of money in a fixed term cash ISA?
|
|
#
?
Feb 28, 2023 09:29
|
|
|
If you get a Stocks and Shares LISA, put £4k in and invest it, then get the £1k bonus from the government: can you also invest the bonus cash? I assume so but I want to make sure before I get one.
|
|
#
?
Feb 28, 2023 21:39
|
|
|
Budgie posted:If you get a Stocks and Shares LISA, put £4k in and invest it, then get the £1k bonus from the government: can you also invest the bonus cash? I assume so but I want to make sure before I get one. Yes, you can.
|
|
#
?
Mar 2, 2023 08:17
|
|
|
No advice sought, but just a moan : God, April is going to be horrible. Every single bill going up by RPI + a few %, as well as govt energy support ending as well (tho still desperately hoping for a compromise or u-turn on this). We're £800 in debt to our energy company (just cos we've been paying the tarrif they set before the country went fully tits up), and now they finally want us to pay the arrears. We're going to pay the absolute minimum possible for as long as we can, in the extremely optimistic hope that eventually energy debts might get written off or something. WHERE'S MY BREXIT DIVIDEND, BORIS???
|
|
#
?
Mar 2, 2023 10:32
|
|
|
Good job we have the party of sound money in power. The sound that money is making is "AHHHHH FUUUUUCK!"
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2023 19:51
|
|
|
Hey, money brains. I've got £x000 that I'm going to want to put towards a house deposit later in the year (or maybe early in 2024 but almost certainly in <12 months.) Where's the best place to dump it in the meantime to get a bit of interest? e: not a first time buyer so that rules out a couple of nice options sebzilla fucked around with this message at 09:58 on Apr 4, 2023 |
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2023 09:53
|
|
|
What's a good cashback credit card? I currently use a debit card and that's stupid.
|
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2023 10:52
|
|
|
I use the Chase debit card that has cashback. The mobile app is quite good too.
|
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2023 10:56
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 26, 2024 17:28 |
|
|
Aren't cash back cards fairly underwhelming now due to the limits on processing fees?
|
|
#
?
Apr 4, 2023 11:01
|
|