# New year financial sort out



## tmitch45 (Jul 29, 2006)

As mentioned in another post I'm looking at a plan to be better with our money with the ultimate goal of being able to retire at a good age where I can enjoy life. I work for the NHS in a post that I once loved but now feel burnt out and stressed. That said I don't want to save and penny pinch now to the extent that I can't also enjoy life now. We have done all the usual things, we have no debts except the mortgage, We have modest savings but its not really earning any interest at all so I feel this is an area to look at, we shop at Aldi so our food bills are as reasonable as they can be, we shop around always for the best energy, mobile and insurance deals, we go on modest holidays and the main luxury we have is our Audi S4.

I've looked everything from side hustles, to starting my own business as a side or part time thing, property, investing, stocks and shares, buying a business but I really don't know where to turn? All I know is working for the NHS I have zero business knowledge but I'm a quick learner and have a strong work ethic. There are loads of adverts on the internet, facebook, instagram etc about Investing, starting off in property, starting trading, starting online businesses etc. Most of the time I see these and think its a scam, or "those that can't teach" 2% of me always thinks what if? What if I do these programs and it actually works?

So following my ramblings if there are people who have been in a similar situation to me but have followed any of these schemes, did they work? were they worth it? Should I ignore these and focus on Investing my saving correctly and maybe build a side income?

One bit of advice I did see which rings true is this:-

Live at or below your means

Pay off debts

Have multiple streams of income

Invest your money.

Any ideas or advice gratefully received.


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## baxlin (Oct 8, 2007)

While I can’t offer any advice - I’ve been retired for a while now - I just want to commend you on your thinking/attitude, and wish you well in your planning.

(Can’t resist one comment though - eggs in one basket isn’t a good plan, thinking here of property, which while historically at least is a good investment, is a very illiquid asset, if disposal is needed in a hurry)


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

Can you move out of the Public sector and jump ship to Private and get a better pay?

I've seen loads of people trying everything left, right and centre to try and improve things... but have stayed in the same job/company for far too long and are being usual paid a lot less than they can get.

They also tend to spend a LOT of their time chasing this side money and online BS... so actually get less than minimum wage when you look at it - they would have been better off just working overtime TBH.. 


:thumb:


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## garage_dweller (Apr 10, 2018)

Stick your savings in a stocks & shares ISA. I use fundsmith, average annual growth over the last 10 years is 18.4%. At the moment I leave the growth in but will start to take £1000 a month income from it when I retire soon. 


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

Also have a look at "moneybox"..

it's a system that rounds up your spend in bank accounts to the next whole pound and invests it for you.

So, if you spent £4.50 in a shop... you can use £0.50 to move for investment.

You can also do bigger monthly payments and one off ones too.

It doesn't seem a lot, but it's really easy to get moving with, and at the moment I'm on a 21.45% return with my chosen Stocks & Shares.

:thumb:


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## tmitch45 (Jul 29, 2006)

baxlin said:


> While I can't offer any advice - I've been retired for a while now - I just want to commend you on your thinking/attitude, and wish you well in your planning.
> 
> (Can't resist one comment though - eggs in one basket isn't a good plan, thinking here of property, which while historically at least is a good investment, is a very illiquid asset, if disposal is needed in a hurry)


Thanks for the advice! You are right I definitely wont put all my eggs in one basket. It maybe that the majority gets investigated somewhere but there will be other bits I would look to do other things with.


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## tmitch45 (Jul 29, 2006)

The Cueball said:


> Can you move out of the Public sector and jump ship to Private and get a better pay?
> 
> I've seen loads of people trying everything left, right and centre to try and improve things... but have stayed in the same job/company for far too long and are being usual paid a lot less than they can get.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the post. Yes in a lot of clinical NHS areas there is a call for private work but unfortunately not within my speciality.


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## minimadmotorman (Mar 18, 2012)

garage_dweller said:


> Stick your savings in a stocks & shares ISA. I use fundsmith, average annual growth over the last 10 years is 18.4%. At the moment I leave the growth in but will start to take £1000 a month income from it when I retire soon.
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


Could you share a bit more about that at all please? Just looked at their page and it seems they have multiple options.


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## garage_dweller (Apr 10, 2018)

minimadmotorman said:


> Could you share a bit more about that at all please? Just looked at their page and it seems they have multiple options.


Yeah sure. The diffreence between the T class funds is that one is for growth (Acc, as in accumulation) and the other is for Income (Inc), you would invest in that if you wanted to draw an income from the fund. And there's the option of investing in a fund that only involves 'sustainable' companies.

I invest in Fundsmith Equity Fund T Class Acc. There's also the option of ISA/non ISA if you've alreday used up your ISA allowance for the year.

Have a look at the Factsheet and in particular the sections showing 'Performance, % Total Return'.


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## notfub (May 9, 2007)

For low cost investing advice in plain English, check out Monevator.
https://monevator.com/category/investing/passive-investing-investing/

I was totally confused by the whole stocks & shares thing, then found the above site.

I opened a S&S ISA with Vanguard and regularly invest amounts into a cheap global index tracker.


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## grunty-motor (Aug 11, 2016)

garage_dweller said:


> I invest in Fundsmith Equity Fund T Class Acc.


I have one of these too - one of the better performing funds i have

Others that are showing a similar level of return are
IFSL Marlborough UK Micro-Cap Growth
Legal&General US Index

Not that i know enough about these things to offer "real" advise!

one thing you dont mention is Pension. Do you fully understand how much you will get (and when) and whether drawdown/annuity works for you?

Factor in state pension and then see what the gap is to what you need/want to live on.

Do you have a large(ish) house that you can downsize?

All needs adding into the pot, along with the retirement age you are chasing


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## garage_dweller (Apr 10, 2018)

If he's in the NHS then I don't think drawdown will be an option.

Regarding Vanguard, are their costs not quite high? I could be thinking of another 'wealth managemnet' company.


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## notfub (May 9, 2007)

garage_dweller said:


> If he's in the NHS then I don't think drawdown will be an option.
> 
> Regarding Vanguard, are their costs not quite high? I could be thinking of another 'wealth management' company.


Vanguards passive index funds and platform costs are some of the cheapest out there. Plenty of options though as there are several decent platforms such as Interactive Investor and Fidelity etc.

My ISA is with Vanguard and I'm in the process of transferring my SIPP from BestInvest to Interactive Investor (primarily to cut my platform fees by circa 50%).


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## garage_dweller (Apr 10, 2018)

notfub said:


> Vanguards passive index funds and platform costs are some of the cheapest out there. Plenty of options though as there are several decent platforms such as Interactive Investor and Fidelity etc.
> 
> My ISA is with Vanguard and I'm in the process of transferring my SIPP from BestInvest to Interactive Investor (primarily to cut my platform fees by circa 50%).


Thanks, I must be thinking of another company

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## notfub (May 9, 2007)

Found this site today that indicates the best value platform for your personal situation.

https://brokerlibrary.co.uk/

This was in the resources section of https://occaminvesting.co.uk/ which was recommended in one of the comments on a www.monevator.com comments thread.


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## vsideboy (Sep 1, 2006)

Good Tips guys.

Other than your mortgage, if you have any other debts (credit cards, loans etc.) always aim to get those all paid off before using money for investing.


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## SarahAnn (Apr 6, 2011)

Some very useful information on here on something I don't have a clue about but have been trying to read up on recently. I've got a lump sum maturing this month that I locked away 5 years ago to only get 2% return which was the best I could find at the time. The rate on fixed rate savings is even worse now. 
I need to knuckle down and learn about these things. I don't like risk though


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## garage_dweller (Apr 10, 2018)

vsideboy said:


> Good Tips guys.
> 
> Other than your mortgage, if you have any other debts (credit cards, loans etc.) always aim to get those all paid off before using money for investing.


I would transfer any credit cards to interest free rather than paying off. For loans it depends on the interest rate, if my money can earn 18% annually then there is no point in paying off a 5% loan, it makes more sense to get a loan and then invest the lump sum for something like a 5 year loan and you're happy with the risk.

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## Andy from Sandy (May 6, 2011)

Start by finding a good financial adviser.

First you need to find where you are comfortable with the risks and rewards of investments. Could you afford to lose a chunk of money a bit like disposable income? If it pays off you are quids in but what if it goes the other way?

Stocks and shares ISAs are not all the same the same with other stocks and shares or pension funds. There is levels of risk. There is diversity. Also you might have certain morals about where you would want your money invested.


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## baxlin (Oct 8, 2007)

Andy from Sandy said:


> Start by finding a good financial adviser.
> 
> First you need to find where you are comfortable with the risks and rewards of investments. Could you afford to lose a chunk of money a bit like disposable income? If it pays off you are quids in but what if it goes the other way?
> 
> Stocks and shares ISAs are not all the same the same with other stocks and shares or pension funds. There is levels of risk. There is diversity. Also you might have certain morals about where you would want your money invested.


Totally agree. I would add, that when seeking professional advice, think value, not cost. Value in helping you understand not only the jargon, of which there is much, but also to understand what it is you want/need to achieve, and at what level of risk you (a) can afford, and (b) are happy with.


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## 121DOM (Sep 16, 2013)

Agree with the above. Value not cost is a great précis . One thing I would add is don’t assume that higher risk levels necessarily get higher rewards. The high return spikes are often offset by higher loss spikes. If you look at medium level of risk these often have a higher average return. Ask your advisor to show you the performance history of the risk levels, you may be surprised. This is something that they should highlight to you before you ask for to. As an FYI I’ve been getting between 13% and 18% for the last few years on medium risk .


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## Andy from Sandy (May 6, 2011)

I have a decision to make very soon and found this article. https://restless.co.uk/money/retire...tate-pension-how-much-you-get-is-it-worth-it/

Near the bottom it has a couple of links on finding a financial adviser you might find useful.


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