Saving

[Derry Alli]

1 hour ago, Granny Danger said:

It’s good to have a goal and be able to achieve it.

Absolutely. Another of mines is to dance on your grave you condescending, bitter old p***k. 

[Bonksy+HisChristianParade]

I have some savings but it’s not something I really want to worry about too much just now. Would rather spend my money on clothes, going out and holidays whilst I’m young enough to enjoy it. Could be dead tomorrow so might as well have a good time.

[Granny Danger]

10 minutes ago, Dele said:

Absolutely. Another of mines is to dance on your grave you condescending, bitter old p***k. 

I’m getting cremated so you better get fireproof boots.

[the jambo-rocker]

I used to be great at saving. Managed to save up a deposit for flat and now I've never been more skint.

If I had any cash spare to save, I'd be chucking it into a diversified low-index fund and let the interest compound until retirement.

[Derry Alli]

3 minutes ago, Granny Danger said:

I’m getting cremated so you better get fireproof boots.

I was only jesting, Granny. 

I can't dance. 

[Daydream]

 
I saw the Moneybox reference earlier.  Huge fanfare of an ISA they have recently launched paying 1.4% AER.  Given that inflation has been running about 2% it doesn’t strike me as a very good deal.
 

Was that a cash isa? I’m sitting at 6.4% growth in mine.

[Granny Danger]

 

38 minutes ago, Dele said:

I was only jesting, Granny. 

I can't dance. 

^^^^ Leo Sayer

11 minutes ago, Daydream said:

Was that a cash isa? I’m sitting at 6.4% growth in mine.

Yes a cash ISA.  

[strichener]

1 hour ago, Daydream said:

Was that a cash isa? I’m sitting at 6.4% growth in mine.

Cash ISA, 6.4%???  Surely this isn't the annual rate but the total return over many years.  If you have a cash isa paying 6.4% p.a. then PM me the details before it's closed ta.

[Dazzle]

Feel like all we ever do is save, first year together with my wife we went on a good few holidays and nights out then pretty much started saving for our home. Once that was done and we moved in we started saving for the wedding, finally now we've managed to get a bit of money saved up and both have pretty decent pensions (well hers is brilliant, mine is decent). Still get on a couple holidays a year and go out occasionally so should really save more but keep telling myself make the most of it now before we decide to have kids.

[Granny Danger]

1 hour ago, strichener said:

Cash ISA, 6.4%???  Surely this isn't the annual rate but the total return over many years.  If you have a cash isa paying 6.4% p.a. then PM me the details before it's closed ta.

I assumed he had an investment ISA.  If not he can cc me that e-mail.

[resk]

This is decent and will apply for 99% of folk 
https://www.amazon.com/Investing-Demystified-Speculation-Sleepless-Financial-ebook-dp-B071WQ1L81/dp/B071WQ1L81/ref=mt_kindle?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=
The premise of the book is that realistically you won't beat the market over the long run unless you're very lucky or a  Warren Buffett, so pick a reputable global equity tracker fund and prime government bonds in a proportion that matches your attitude to risk (more equities = more risk) and invest regularly to smooth market fluctuations and you'll be fine in the long run. These have very low charges compared to actively managed funds.  But he takes about 300 pages to explain why.
Last time one of these threads came up someone posted How To Own The World by Andrew Craig which is good too, he  says essentially the same things but goes a bit more diverse and says you should try and buy gold or other commodities as well.

^^^^^ this.

Didn't save any significant money until I was 31 and starting working overseas. Wish I'd started sooner. And yeah, cash ISAs are no use for the long term as 1.4% or whatever is less than inflation. For money to grow long term you need to take some risk which means stocks and shares (with bonds to reduce volatility, some "water with your whisky").

Paying into your work pension is a good idea too.

[Blootoon87]

I didn't start saving until I was 24. I got paid every Thursday and by the Monday I was basically broke again. Obviously I wish I'd started saving earlier but I was too busy enjoying myself. Now I've had a mortgage for a few years I feel as skint as I've ever been.

[Dindeleux]

2 hours ago, This time Perthshirebell said:

All those fools out pumping hot burds when they could be home completing computer games and downloading electronic board games.   

You just can’t get enough.

[Daydream]

Cash ISA, 6.4%???  Surely this isn't the annual rate but the total return over many years.  If you have a cash isa paying 6.4% p.a. then PM me the details before it's closed ta.

Forgive me. It’s the stocks and shares ISA I have. Moneybox app.

[Daydream]

I didn't like how restrictive the moneybox investments were and the fees are quite high, 0.45% to moneybox on top of 0.12-0.3% for whatever fund us chosen. Plus if you're starting with only a little change the £1 a month flat fee makes it not really worth it.

I didn’t delve into the costs tbh. But saving my change and topping up a fiver a week has me at circa £500 in no time. I don’t notice the money missing. And current 6.4% growth is decent. That can and will fluctuate though.

[Granny Danger]

53 minutes ago, MixuFixit said:

I didn't like how restrictive the moneybox investments were and the fees are quite high, 0.45% to moneybox on top of 0.12-0.3% for whatever fund us chosen. Plus if you're starting with only a little change the £1 a month flat fee makes it not really worth it.

Platform charges are important.  I started a SIPP over four years ago and am now on my third provider.  The difference in fees over the years is incredible.

It’s definitely a learning process unless you have someone to advise you which I didn’t.

 

[Ross.]

16 hours ago, Granny Danger said:

Putting all or most of your cash into a single stock is an incredibly reckless thing to do, even if your an employee of the company in question.

Especially if you are an employee. HBOS/Northern Rock style fall and not only is your job gubbed, your savings are also.

16 hours ago, alta-pete said:

^^^ this. Not me, but a couple of people I know (and, I know, f**k the bankers blah blah) had a long way into six figures in RBS employee sharesave scheme thinking they were set for retirement but, come 2008, their £250k ended up worth £12k.

Diversity is the moral of the story.
 

In an old job I regularly dealt with folk who had pretty much left everything they had paid for through sharesave schemes as it was, rainy day fund type thing. A lot of Northern Rock, HBOS, RBS, Lloyds, B&B and Barclays staff in particular who saw their retirement plans utterly fucked to different extents. Definitely an eye opener and definitely affected my thinking on how to approach these things.

16 hours ago, ICTChris said:

Absolutely.  I guess pre-2008 people just didn't imagine that a company like RBS would go tits up.  

It's amazing how many people in well-paid jobs exist hand to mouth, even relyign on credit cards to tide them over.  When I worked at RBS a colleague told me that following the crash, one of the middle managers went to the senior managers and begged for a pay rise because he had been using his bonus to pay for private school fees and he coudlnt' afford it now.  Madness, the guy was probably earning a high wage but was using a bonus to cover something that you'd have to consider a day-to-day expense.  Idiots.

Previous employer had a financial advisor who would give regular workshops, he always brought up Marconi as an example of why you should never just leave that shit in the company you work for, no matter how big and connected they seem to be.

16 hours ago, paul wright scores said:

Happened to me with HBOS - lost a bit of money but the biggest loss from my perspective was the loss of the potential profit from the Sharesave scheme alluded to above by Mitch (I think I worked beside him for a number of years). 

Fortunately,  I didn't keep too many shares for too long as I always cashed in quite quickly once the Sharesave matured but I know of people who virtually never cashed any of their shares in and lost 6 figure sums.   One of my ex-managers apparently lost over half a million pounds. 

Sharesaves are a good idea but like anything to do with shares there is risk.  Another better option we had was a Sharematch option where they matched the number of shares you agreed to purchase up to an agreed limit.  You got tax relief on this which further increased the value.

Sharesave is a good idea but the biggest benefit to it is the discount you get on the shares you are buying. Saves you a little in terms of tax and generally you will be looking at about a 1/3rd discount minimum on the underlying share price also. Use it and punt them and be happy with making that 33%.

Where I am now they tend to pay the bonuses in stock, which vests over a 7 year period. There are folk I work with who have been here 20 years plus and never sold a single share. I punt absolutely everything as soon as it has vested. You are fucked if I want to be looking for a new job and watch 5/6/7 figures worth of my retirement plan disappear with my job.

[hk blues]

7 minutes ago, Ross. said:

Where I am now they tend to pay the bonuses in stock, which vests over a 7 year period. There are folk I work with who have been here 20 years plus and never sold a single share. I punt absolutely everything as soon as it has vested. You are fucked if I want to be looking for a new job and watch 5/6/7 figures worth of my retirement plan disappear with my job.

I'm not sure why the vested shares would disappear with the job?  Surely, once vested they become yours regardless of you working for the company or not when you decide to sell?  If you leave before they are vested, well that's part of the decision making process when you decide to jump ship.

[Ross.]

Just now, hk blues said:

I'm not sure why the vested shares would disappear with the job?  Surely, once vested they become yours regardless of you working for the company or not when you decide to sell?  If you leave before they are vested, well that's part of the decision making process when you decide to jump ship.

I'm more meaning that if the company goes tits up and does an HBOS or Northern Rock. Job gone along with pretty much the entire value of the shares.

[Hedgecutter]

21 hours ago, Dindeleux said:

My shares are worth about £20k at the current price, my hope is they go back to £3 a pop which will roughly double that and I may be in a position to leave my job and set up the business I want to do.  However the arrival of my daughter has made me a bit more reluctant to do this than I would've been pre-child.

Jordan Belfort said it worked for me because I worked hard for it.  And if it doesn't work for you, it's because you're lazy, and you should get a job at McDonalds.