[Help] Retirement

[Driver8]

Many thanks for your help. I've done my homework (so to speak), to quote young man I spoke to "Jesus Christ! You're more organised than me!" (hope he wasn't recorded).
Their deal is the best deal and the best option for me.
Maybe I need to be a bit more patient, thanks again

No problem.

 

[NooBHA]

Has anyone done any walking in Scotland (probably Lochs) in the Summer, any ideas on good routes, accom etc?

At the moment I'm thinking of going by train / bus, be up there for around 5-7 days.

I'd prefer Pub BnB rather than camping (don't do that) and won't do bunks (sharing sleeping areas etc).

Thinking around lochs not too hilly so about 15-18 miles a day.

All ideas very welcome, and thanks in advance.

P.S. Don't tell the missus, haven't fully communicated this plan yet

Thought I was making a new thread .... may go on a computer course instead!

Do the Borders and take in Selkirk Jedburgh etc - I think the towns are nicer and it is definitely less hilly

https://getoutside.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/local/jedburgh-scottish-borders

 

[Weststander]

Do the Borders and take in Selkirk Jedburgh etc - I think the towns are nicer and it is definitely less hilly

https://getoutside.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/local/jedburgh-scottish-borders

Peebles is beautiful too.

 

[LlcoolJ]

Insurance Companies are obliged now to make sure that you know all your options when taking benefits. At the very least you should shop around for the best annuity rate (assuming an annuity is actually best for you) but you have many other options now, including the ability to just draw the whole fund out as a lump sum.

PM me if you are not sure what to do or speak to a local IFA.

It's a way off but I'm a little confused about annuities.

Say you had a load of cash/property, could you sell up and use the money to buy an annuity, despite the assets not previously being in a pension fund?

 

[Driver8]

It's a way off but I'm a little confused about annuities.

Say you had a load of cash/property, could you sell up and use the money to buy an annuity, despite the assets not previously being in a pension fund?

You could, it would be something called a purchased life annuity which is taxed differently, but it is unlikely to be the best way to invest your money. Annuity rates are closely linked to interest rates so, like interest rates, they are pretty much as low as they have ever been.

As with investing any money always take proper independent advice. If something sounds too good to be true it undoubtedly is. There are sadly too many scams around these days.

 

[Weststander]

You could, it would be something called a purchased life annuity which is taxed differently, but it is unlikely to be the best way to invest your money. Annuity rates are closely linked to interest rates so, like interest rates, they are pretty much as low as they have ever been.

As with investing any money always take proper independent advice. If something sounds too good to be true it undoubtedly is. There are sadly too many scams around these days.

Friends told me last week that millionaire businessmen they know in Brighton and north Sussex, with awful (proven) business/tax histories, are running guaranteed 8% bond schemes for pensioners. Sold through a Brighton boiler room call centre. There are no assets, other than the funds in from the first victims, it’s therefore an illegal pyramid scheme.

The FCA are or have closed it down, but not before people have possibly lost their life savings.

Disgusting.

 

[LlcoolJ]

You could, it would be something called a purchased life annuity which is taxed differently, but it is unlikely to be the best way to invest your money. Annuity rates are closely linked to interest rates so, like interest rates, they are pretty much as low as they have ever been.

As with investing any money always take proper independent advice. If something sounds too good to be true it undoubtedly is. There are sadly too many scams around these days.

Amen to that. Especially since the "cash it all in and buy a Ferrari" rules were brought in. A charter for scammers to get stuck in on the vulnerable for sure.

Thanks btw. I'm basically looking at 15 to 20 years time and everything will probably have changed massively by then anyway. Who knows?!

 

[Driver8]

Friends told me last week that millionaire businessmen they know in Brighton and north Sussex, with awful (proven) business/tax histories, are running guaranteed 8% bond schemes for pensioners. Sold through a Brighton boiler room call centre. There are no assets, other than the funds in from the first victims, it’s therefore an illegal pyramid scheme.

The FCA are or have closed it down, but not before people have possibly lost their life savings.

Disgusting.

Yep. There are many examples of this, preying on the elderly and gullible.

Other than the 1 or 2% available on bank deposits there are no investments that will provide a higher return without risk. None.

 

[Papa Lazarou]

Several distant employers are unknowingly paying people 'working from home' to tap away / read on NSC for half their day.

I suspect that they're larger employers, as small business owners are paranoid (rightly so) that p-taking goes on.

I used to work for a large international bank, I won't tell you the name, but the were a large Bank from America.

They ran a work from home scheme for years in the States and before I left we got this 'perk' in the UK. It was abruptly ended worldwide when it was discovered that some people in the US had been taking the piss for years, doing 2nd jobs, doing University courses instead of working. Madness.

 

[Tim Over Whelmed]

Friends told me last week that millionaire businessmen they know in Brighton and north Sussex, with awful (proven) business/tax histories, are running guaranteed 8% bond schemes for pensioners. Sold through a Brighton boiler room call centre. There are no assets, other than the funds in from the first victims, it’s therefore an illegal pyramid scheme.

The FCA are or have closed it down, but not before people have possibly lost their life savings.

Disgusting.

Names, via PM of course, to protect innocent people of course, not because I'm really nosey!

 

[Papa Lazarou]

And to join the actual discussion about retirement, retirement and preparation for it scares me. I have worked for a number of companies over the years, some with good salaries but I don't have anywhere near as good a pension pot as I think I need at this stage. I'm 50 now and retirement is something looming on the horizon... not sure exactly when but it's there.

My current pension is very good (22% non contributory) but the job is a real challenge, so is staying in a difficult job worth a good chunk into a pension pot each month?

 

[Jack Straw]

My current pension is very good (22% non contributory) but the job is a real challenge, so is staying in a difficult job worth a good chunk into a pension pot each month?

It all depends on what you want to do e.g. holidays, or things you wish to buy, combined with your regular financial outgoings - all obvious stuff, but when it comes to retiring, it does get you thinking.
I retired three years' ago. It's really strange to start with having worked for forty four years with a routine but as time gets on, in my case, I've developed my own domestic routine. I don't get my State Pension for another three years, and I assume you won't get yours for another sixteen? If you can cover all your outgoings and even if you have to dig in to any savings as I have done to get by until the State Pension kicks in, surely not having to work is everyones' dream, especially if it's getting you down.
A friend of mine said "How many people on their death-bed said that they wished that they had worked longer?".
It can be weird when you pack up work and you find time on your hands with nothing planned. You need to understand that you don't have to be doing anything. If I get in to that position now which is rare, I do a crossword, look on the computer or whatever. It's not long before you have to do something else.
I volunteer for the Butterfly Conservation Society which has involved cutting down small trees and making bonfires. Great fun! My friend has just moved house and I am re-landscaping her garden. Time is flying and I've tailored my spending to just get by. In three years' I get a £ 600 a month "pay-rise"!

 

[Papa Lazarou]

It all depends on what you want to do e.g. holidays, or things you wish to buy, combined with your regular financial outgoings - all obvious stuff, but when it comes to retiring, it does get you thinking.
I retired three years' ago. It's really strange to start with having worked for forty four years with a routine but as time gets on, in my case, I've developed my own domestic routine. I don't get my State Pension for another three years, and I assume you won't get yours for another sixteen? If you can cover all your outgoings and even if you have to dig in to any savings as I have done to get by until the State Pension kicks in, surely not having to work is everyones' dream, especially if it's getting you down.
A friend of mine said "How many people on their death-bed said that they wished that they had worked longer?".
It can be weird when you pack up work and you find time on your hands with nothing planned. You need to understand that you don't have to be doing anything. If I get in to that position now which is rare, I do a crossword, look on the computer or whatever. It's not long before you have to do something else.
I volunteer for the Butterfly Conservation Society which has involved cutting down small trees and making bonfires. Great fun! My friend has just moved house and I am re-landscaping her garden. Time is flying and I've tailored my spending to just get by. In three years' I get a £ 600 a month "pay-rise"!

Good advice - I don't see myself retiring / being able to retire for some years yet, but I need to plan the path to get there.

The Butterfly Conservation job sounds brilliant, the sort of thing that will awaken the teenager in all of us. Bonfires!

 

[Weststander]

Names, via PM of course, to protect innocent people of course, not because I'm really nosey!

I’ll find out for you, I was told told all the names and the businesses. There are 2 businesses - the ultimate people behind the ‘bonds’ and the glorified call centre (boiler room) based in Brighton & Hove. May take a while.

You’re not part of such of a business set up are you? ... I don’t fancy being knee capped.

 

[Weststander]

It all depends on what you want to do e.g. holidays, or things you wish to buy, combined with your regular financial outgoings - all obvious stuff, but when it comes to retiring, it does get you thinking.
I retired three years' ago. It's really strange to start with having worked for forty four years with a routine but as time gets on, in my case, I've developed my own domestic routine. I don't get my State Pension for another three years, and I assume you won't get yours for another sixteen? If you can cover all your outgoings and even if you have to dig in to any savings as I have done to get by until the State Pension kicks in, surely not having to work is everyones' dream, especially if it's getting you down.
A friend of mine said "How many people on their death-bed said that they wished that they had worked longer?".
It can be weird when you pack up work and you find time on your hands with nothing planned. You need to understand that you don't have to be doing anything. If I get in to that position now which is rare, I do a crossword, look on the computer or whatever. It's not long before you have to do something else.
I volunteer for the Butterfly Conservation Society which has involved cutting down small trees and making bonfires. Great fun! My friend has just moved house and I am re-landscaping her garden. Time is flying and I've tailored my spending to just get by. In three years' I get a £ 600 a month "pay-rise"!

Another kudos to you environmental thing. I’ve followed your various posts over the years on flora great for native Sussex wildlife.

Bar our lawns, all the planting and habitat stuff I do in our fairly large garden is aimed at encouraging bees and butterflies, plus rotting log piles. I follow the plant list from the charity you mention, plus those from Dave Goulson of Sussex Uni (bumblebee expert), which suit calcareous soil.

 

[dejavuatbtn]

Much about retirement is whether or not you fully own your property because repayments/rent is a huge proportion of income. If your house is paid off, it is possible to survive comfortably on a hugely reduced income.

 

[Tim Over Whelmed]

I’ll find out for you, I was told told all the names and the businesses. There are 2 businesses - the ultimate people behind the ‘bonds’ and the glorified call centre (boiler room) based in Brighton & Hove. May take a while.

You’re not part of such of a business set up are you? ... I don’t fancy being knee capped.

No, but I do a lot of business in Sussex and forewarned is forearmed, there's too many people around these days who are very happy to take hard earned money off of people and then don't deliver on what they've promised. To be honest I avoid "the best ever investments" like the plague anyway!

 

[Tim Over Whelmed]

Much about retirement is whether or not you fully own your property because repayments/rent is a huge proportion of income. If your house is paid off, it is possible to survive comfortably on a hugely reduced income.

Don't disagree with you, but talking to a young (30 year old) the other day about pensions or provision for pension, they used the same phrase "survive", and I have always held the burning ambition of not "surviving" in my retirement but flourishing and enjoying, there is no doubt that preparing and providing for retirement early does have massive bonuses later in life, this guy was planning to spend, spend, spend until he got to mid-forties. £10k saved in your twenties is worth a stack of cash, if invested wisely, at 65.

 

[Pudos]

I asked my Father in Law the same question a few years ago. He says his days are full and he's always busy. He farts around in the garden, taking the dog out on long walks, going to the gym (he's 74 !!) plus he has a very regimented daily routine (up, breakfast, dog, check shares, mid morning cuppa, garden, lunch, etc etc)

I go to gym in Lancing, during the day full of retired people (some may be through G.P.) working out, chatting and enjoying themselves. Seem far livelier than the younger people all looking at watches and getting stressed at completing workout on time. Good to see the retires looking so happy, cant wait to join em. 8 years to go, and counting

 

[Charlies Shinpad]

I've just about to start a 3 year contract which includes working 7 days then having two days off all that time

It means missing a lot of Albion games next 3 season's but means I can retire 3 years earlier.

My theory is there is no point in being the richest man in the graveyard

Sent from my EML-L09 using Tapatalk