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Doccykins posted:I'll also mention Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) Refunds here in case anyone is still eligible for that - You don't need to pay anyone else a penny to reclaim any PPI - Just use the form on Moneysavingexpert and send it off to the provider you had a credit line with. The deadline for opening a PPI refund application is 29th August 2019 Final reminder that Today is the PPI deadline for opening a claim - you can do so fee free by using the MSE link above and as long as the request is filed before 23:59 UK Time tonight banks are obligated to consider the request. I am very much looking forward to the end of the ambulance chaser PPI TV/radio ads and very much not looking forward to the start of the ambulance chaser whatever's-next TV/radio ads (probably EC261/2004 for delayed flights)
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Aug 29, 2019 16:22
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Is it ever worth it to pay off student debt in the UK? I have a heroic amount of debt from my younger and less temperate years, but I don't see any advantage at all to paying any more than the legal minimum unless Boris goes full Republican and privatises the student loan books.
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Aug 29, 2019 16:23
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Purple Prince posted:Is it ever worth it to pay off student debt in the UK? I have a heroic amount of debt from my younger and less temperate years, but I don't see any advantage at all to paying any more than the legal minimum unless Boris goes full Republican and privatises the student loan books. Plan 1? no don't bother. Plan 2? See the OP Doccykins posted:
Doccykins fucked around with this message at 17:07 on Oct 2, 2019 |
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Aug 29, 2019 16:25
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Student Loans in the UK
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Doccykins posted:Plan 1? no don't bother. Plan 2? See the OP I'm on Plan 2. Weirdly enough I fall on the boundary between the first and second situation: my self employed income pushes me up to around £30k annually. But paying student loans isn't mandatory on self employed income, so it's probably not worth it for me.
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Aug 29, 2019 17:05
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Doccykins posted:I am very much looking forward to the end of the ambulance chaser PPI TV/radio ads and very much not looking forward to the start of the ambulance chaser whatever's-next TV/radio ads (probably EC261/2004 for delayed flights) My money, pun half-intended, is on mis-sold investments and pensions. So, expect a blitz of ads around Christmastime because greedy Meldrews didn't read the fine print on their guaranteed 500% return Spanish timeshare trusts or something.
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Aug 30, 2019 17:13
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so I could say that I finally figured out what this god damned cube is doing. Get well Lowtax.
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spincube posted:My money, pun half-intended, is on mis-sold investments and pensions. So, expect a blitz of ads around Christmastime because greedy Meldrews didn't read the fine print on their guaranteed 500% return Spanish timeshare trusts or something. A lot of radio adverts have already moved onto this one. I'm very happy the PPI adverts will be done with; 2-3 per ad break on commercial radio was starting to take the piss a bit.
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Sep 10, 2019 08:34
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The new one i keep hearing on commercial radio is "Did you get sick on holiday? Maybe you should sue your holiday company...". I assume some recent case has set precedent for this sort of thing?
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Sep 10, 2019 10:14
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Twitter's blitzing me with mis-sold pension ads this past week or so. Might be a function of age, though - it's not in my bio but that's Big Data for you...
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Sep 11, 2019 19:50
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I was listening to the FT Money podcast (which everyone should sub to) and it seems that the next new big claim will be payday loans, but there’s skepticism about how well the claims industry will be able to sustain itself without huge ppi level scandals, specially through the payday loan providers (which are all quite small) I miss Arnold’s head on tank threads though
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Sep 13, 2019 09:25
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Anyone have any experience with a CIPD course? Will elaborate on my situation a little but just wondering if there's a UK-goon consensus before I try reddit.
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Sep 17, 2019 14:06
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Updated OP and Student Loans Plan 2 quote to reflect the reduction of RPI inflation from 3.3% to 2.4%
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Oct 2, 2019 16:55
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Morning all! Reminder that this is your last chance to open a Help to Buy ISA before the scheme closes to new applicants on 30th November 2019. Even if you can only afford to chuck £1 a month into it right now it's worth doing as the interest rates are as good as you'll get for an instant access savings account and you can always bump up the payments later on to take advantage of the 25% government bonus if you do utilise it to purchase a first home. Details from the OP:Doccykins posted:Help to Buy ISA
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Oct 28, 2019 10:47
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Useful thread thank you for making it
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Dec 15, 2019 18:07
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Small bump, Vanguard have finally committed to making their SIPP account available from next year; 0.15% annual account fee (plus the underlying funds' charge) (capped at £375 annually, but lol if i'm ever going to be in a position to cry about that) If nothing else, it's a perfectly good 'option B' besides your current work's provider - I've got a handful of old company pots with pitiful figures kicking around, that I really should have consolidated before now.
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Dec 24, 2019 16:25
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That's exceptionally good value.
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Dec 27, 2019 11:06
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Hi thread, I’ve decided that 2020 is the year to try and get control of my finances. I’m not in a terrible place, but my outgoings are pretty much matching my incomings. Have you ever seen the first episode of 2 and a half men, with the paper cup analogy? That’s my finances, and I think it’d be wise to fix that. I stepped through the flowchart, and most of my goals are short term (I.e 1-5 years), and the recommendation was to keep it in a high interest savings account. I need to find £100 a month, and siphon it off into a savings account, and then just not touch it. But the problem is that if I can see it, I’d spend it.
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Dec 30, 2019 14:22
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Most banks offer regular contribution saving accounts of some sort. I know for example my bank (Lloyds) has a monthly saver where you can contribute up to 400/mo and at end of the year it pays out at 2.5% interest. Would simply having the money not accessible via card be enough or would you need to have it completely out of sight e.g. at a different bank from your regular account? Most savings accounts are terribly low interest at the moment (a bit over 1% or less).
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Dec 30, 2019 14:44
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Given the miserable rates of interest available, I think you can make significantly more cash by swapping your current account at regular intervals and taking advantage of the signing bonuses.
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Dec 30, 2019 14:47
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TSB has a current acct with 3pc interest and no Direct Debit minimums. You do have to pay in 500 a month but I take mine right out again. This is up to 1500 so is a good starter savs acct. If you have someone you trust you can have a joint one as well.
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Dec 30, 2019 15:39
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Shut up Meg posted:Given the miserable rates of interest available, I think you can make significantly more cash by swapping your current account at regular intervals and taking advantage of the signing bonuses. Also this is very true
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Dec 30, 2019 15:40
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Oodles posted:Hi thread, I’ve decided that 2020 is the year to try and get control of my finances. I’m not in a terrible place, but my outgoings are pretty much matching my incomings. Have you ever seen the first episode of 2 and a half men, with the paper cup analogy? That’s my finances, and I think it’d be wise to fix that. As others have said, the best thing to do here is to create a Savings Builder account that pay interest at an inflation beating rate as long as you're putting a certain amount in per month. Some options (without the faff of irritating your employer every 3 months to change your paycheque details) : Lloyd's Monthly Saver - save £25-£250 per month for 2% AER for the first year, pays at end of year NatWest Savings Builder - Save £50 or more per month for 1.5% AER, pays monthly Marcus Online Savings - 1.35% no min monthly savings required, pays monthly Once the account is set up the best way to not touch it is to set up a direct debit from your current account on payday to the savings account and forget it exists until you hit your target/need the money. Also Happy New Year, the Reddit PF lot have updated their flowchart (drops Help to Buy ISAs which aren't available any more, adds details of where/how to claim eligible benefits near the top) https://flowchart.ukpersonal.finance/
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Dec 30, 2019 15:58
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Oodles posted:Hi thread, I’ve decided that 2020 is the year to try and get control of my finances. I’m not in a terrible place, but my outgoings are pretty much matching my incomings. Have you ever seen the first episode of 2 and a half men, with the paper cup analogy? That’s my finances, and I think it’d be wise to fix that. When I started out I’d have my savings in different bank accounts and only carry one card around, so money would be out of reach enough to be annoying to use but not enough so that in an emergency it is inaccessible. In any case, you’re gonna need a budget if you do not have one already. I will second the TSB 3% current account recommendation (if not your current bank) and once you feel more confortable you can open up a solid monthly saver with them. After that all you need to do is branch out and explore your options a bit more. MSE and Which? are how I make these decisions, personally. Shut up Meg posted:Given the miserable rates of interest available, I think you can make significantly more cash by swapping your current account at regular intervals and taking advantage of the signing bonuses. I’d heard of this but I was worried it might affect my credit score or something. Could you please elaborate on what you do and how you do it?
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Dec 31, 2019 13:09
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I too am looking to try and straighten poo poo out a bit in 2020. I'm never going to be a high or even median earner but I am in an ok position that could be better with a bit of forethought and willpower (I lack both sigh). Dunno if it's better for this thread (I live UK) or the financial goals 2020 thread, happy to delete if better elsewhere Sloth Life fucked around with this message at 13:36 on Dec 31, 2019 |
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Dec 31, 2019 13:33
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Furia posted:I’d heard of this but I was worried it might affect my credit score or something. Could you please elaborate on what you do and how you do it? Sure: instead of being a loyal customer and sticking with a bank that offers you a pathetic £4/year interest, you jump ship to whoever is waving a bribe at you. 6 months later, you do the same thing again. https://www.finder.com/uk/switching-banks-credit-score quote:Will switching banks be visible on my credit file? https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/2013/09/you-can-now-switch-bank-in-seven-days-time-to-ditch-and-switch/ quote:Bank switching should get easier from today, with the launch of a guarantee to ensure all your incoming and outgoing payments will get moved to your new accounts, along with a promise the transfer will happen within seven working days. It should be a simple process to apply to the new bank and within a week, everything is switched over. You still need to get your company accountants to change your bank a/c details on their system, but at least you won't get screwed if they forget to do it. One catch is that they do automatically close your old bank a/c and I think that is a bad idea for a few reasons. When I did this, I told the new bank that I wanted to keep the old a/c alive, so I did it manually - changing DDs is less of a hassle than you might think. I asked the new bank what criteria I needed to meet for it to be eligible for the bonus and it was pretty low (I think just a single DD and a min payment of £500/month was enough) so I actually used the old a/c for my salary & DDs for about 3 months and simply transferred £500 at the end of every month into the new a/c and then transferred it back a week later. I had a single DD for my mobile phone bill with the new a/c. When I was happy that the new bank was worth sticking to, then I told my HR dept and changed all my DD instructions and the old a/c/ became effectivel dormant. Sloth Life posted:Dunno if it's better for this thread (I live UK) or the financial goals 2020 thread, happy to delete if better elsewhere Shut up Meg fucked around with this message at 13:56 on Dec 31, 2019 |
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Dec 31, 2019 13:51
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Ok so things as they stand on Jan 1, in order of priority. Mortgage: 30,430.10, (approx 300pm on svr rate) Aim: overpay overpay overpay. Holding off on new deal as might move this year if the stars align and ERC are HIGH Credit card: 3,421.18 Aim: stop spending on it God drat! DD upped to 250 from Jan to clear within 0pc period. Reason for this: being a gobshite. Time to pay the Piper. Emergency savs: 151. Aim: 1k to cover 1 month outgoings. My job has pension matching I think but I just pay minimums. Will look into this. .
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Jan 1, 2020 10:48
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Sloth Life posted:Ok so things as they stand on Jan 1, in order of priority. May I make a couple of suggestions re your priorities? 1- Credit card. Obviously the curse of the devil and you should get rid of this as first priority. However, if you are struggling to clear it before the 0% ends, don't be afraid to consider a second card and using balance transfer to get a new zero-interest period. Credit cards can be your friends if you take care and have self-control. 2- Emergency saving: You need £1k to cover surprise nasties and you should be frugal until you have gotten this. 3- Pension - if you get free money via matching, it's definitely worth looking into this as even a small increase could make a big difference. I'd be aiming to increase my emergency fund to £3k at the same time as adding to this funding, perhaps 50:50 on the savings? ..... 9: Mortgage - Have you run the numbers to see how much you will save in the next 24 months by overpaying? I recently looked into this and frankly, it's not worth it. Better to have the money free at this time and use it for other things. Don't forget that Sloth Life 2022 should be in a better place than you are now and it's okay for him to pay a bit more if it means that Now You is more financially secure.
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Jan 1, 2020 22:06
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Furia posted:I’d heard of this but I was worried it might affect my credit score or something. Could you please elaborate on what you do and how you do it? HSBC are offering £175 if you switch to them: https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/hsbc-switch-offer-3377692 M&S are offering giftcards worth £180-220 if you switch current a/c and credit card to them: https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/free-180-marks-and-spencer-gift-card-when-you-switch-and-stay-at-ms-bank-3379196 Free money! Though with the obvious downside that you'll be banking with HSBC with either of these deals.
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Jan 2, 2020 15:17
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Any Goons using Moneybox? They have a 95-day notice account that offers 1.65% - not amazing but there's a possibility i need to get at that money next year so i can't lock it away too tightly. But I'm more curious about what y'all think of moneybox itself, which seems to be mostly a platform for spare-change saving - moneysavingexpert recommended it on their savings accounts rundown, but it super weirds me out that it's literally just an app. No branches, not even a website
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Jan 2, 2020 16:05
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JeremoudCorbynejad posted:Any Goons using Moneybox? They have a 95-day notice account that offers 1.65% - not amazing but there's a possibility i need to get at that money next year so i can't lock it away too tightly. I mean they're FCA regulated and covered by the FSCS, so I wouldn't be too concerned about the lack of branches or a website and the 95-day account is provided by Investec who are a well known company.
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Jan 2, 2020 16:14
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JeremoudCorbynejad posted:Any Goons using Moneybox? They have a 95-day notice account that offers 1.65% - not amazing but there's a possibility i need to get at that money next year so i can't lock it away too tightly. This review suggests that the underlying savings account is an Investec one (note that to get 1.8% from Investec directly you need £10k in the account and to have had it sitting there for 90 days already) and like their investment vehicle products it'll calculate your card spend, round up every transaction and then debit it at certain times from that card's account The site that I found for them is https://www.moneyboxapp.com/95-day-notice-savings-account - You'll probably find that the Moneybox scheme is to have an Investec account themselves with all of their customers' holdings in it to take advantage of the 1.8% AER then skim .15% off the top to allow access to people who don't have 10k to drop in a savings account.
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Jan 2, 2020 16:20
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Shut up Meg posted:HSBC are offering £175 if you switch to them: This is about what I expected. Only issue is I keep my money across many different banks/building societies to save up so that basically excludes me out of a lot of them. That HSBC deal is looking good though. Do you have an account explicitly for switching or do you switch your main one each time?
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Jan 4, 2020 15:36
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Furia posted:This is about what I expected. Only issue is I keep my money across many different banks/building societies to save up so that basically excludes me out of a lot of them. That HSBC deal is looking good though. Do you have an account explicitly for switching or do you switch your main one each time? I'll be honest: it's been a few years since I last did this, so I wouldn't trust my suggestions. At the time, all I had to do was open a new a/c and then manually move 3 direct debits and make sure I was depositing at least £500 per month for 3 months and then I got the bonus. I did not close the original a/c or move my actual salary payment. I don't know what the rules for this offer is: whether I can do this again, or whether I have to go through the Current Account Switch Service process which automatically closes the original a/c. If I do, then I won't do this because I have zero faith in the ability of two banks to open/close the a/cs and not gently caress it up. If I can do without closing the original a/c then I am going to seriously consider doing it because that's a better use of my money than anything else. Plus, with internet banking, it's each to move stuff around.
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Jan 4, 2020 20:59
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Shut up Meg posted:I'll be honest: it's been a few years since I last did this, so I wouldn't trust my suggestions. In the one instance I’ve attempted (and failed) to get a switch incentive, they explicitly requested you use CASS. From what I have read and what you describe the process is not much changed otherwise. Might get a Revolut account and use that to start bank hopping and getting some extra money.
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Jan 4, 2020 21:44
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Shut up Meg posted:I don't know what the rules for this offer is: whether I can do this again, or whether I have to go through the Current Account Switch Service process which automatically closes the original a/c. If I do, then I won't do this because I have zero faith in the ability of two banks to open/close the a/cs and not gently caress it up. I imagine you've been through this already, but for the benefit of the thread: If you go through the Current Account Switch Service, opting to close your 'original account' means you get the guarantee that your 'new account' will be ready by a specified date, and your direct debits and standing orders will transfer over automatically; plus you get three years' grace where anything paid into your 'original account' will be redirected into your 'new account' instead. If there's any hiccups during the change-over process, the responsible bank is on the hook for any inconvenience. However, if you opt to keep the old account open (a 'partial switch'), all it does it open a new account and let you specify which payment arrangements to transfer over - there's no 'account will be ready by X date' guarantee, or a grace period for any 'whoops' incorrect-stored-details payments. ...all I'm saying is, if you're going to open a new current account for the signup bonus, I'd go all-in just for the peace of mind, rather than juggling direct debits and minimum funding per month over multiple accounts. £175 would be nice, for sure, but I'd end up with ulcers keeping track of everything.
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Jan 4, 2020 21:48
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What investment platforms are recommended? I'm thinking of 1 or 2 low cost index funds for 10-15 years. Vanguard has an annual platform fee of up to £375 while Halifax has no annual fee. So buying Vanguard index funds from Halifax instead of Vanguard seems to save me £375 a year? Am I missing something obvious? Thanks
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Jan 8, 2020 18:47
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dwayne_dibbley posted:What investment platforms are recommended? Are they the same share class funds in Halifax as they are on Vanguard's platform? A typical move for fund houses is to keep a preferentially priced share class for their own platform. Check the OGCs for the funds are the same on both platforms to be sure.
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Jan 8, 2020 21:01
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dwayne_dibbley posted:What investment platforms are recommended? I use Charles Stanley direct for my ISA, I think it’s something like 0.35% on funds held
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Jan 8, 2020 21:07
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However Halifax charges you £12.50 every trade (buy or sell order) as well, or £2 per trade for an ongoing monthly investment whereas Vanguard charges nothing, so if you're making a monthly purchase of say £100 over a year it'll end up costing you £12.50 + (£2 x 12) = £36.50 plus any Fund Management Charges depending on which funds you invest in, whereas with Vanguard you'd just pay about £1.80 (£1200 + any growth x 0.15%) for the year charged quarterly plus any FMCs Literature: https://static.halifax.co.uk/assets/pdf/filestore/CostAndCharges.pdf https://www.vanguardinvestor.co.uk/content/documents/legal/key-features-isa-gia-201902.pdf e: just seen the second page on the Halifax document and it looks like they also skim 0.5% per transaction as well on the Fund cost Doccykins fucked around with this message at 21:29 on Jan 8, 2020 |
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Jan 8, 2020 21:14
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Sorry, I was stupid, left out two important details. I have a 300k lump sum to invest and so need a standard investor account (no ISA). Yes the funds seem to be the same on Vanguard v. Halifax. Eg. the Vanguard "U.S. Equity Index Fund" ISIN number GB00B5B71Q71 is on both platforms with 0.10% charges. I did notice the 0.5% transaction charge on Halifax but think this is a generic information figure they write for all funds? It seems not to be money taken by Halifax. "Fund charges are taken out of your holding in the fund by the fund manager." So for 15 years I see costs: Halifax: 2 tradesx£12.50=£25 Vanguard: £375x15=£5625 I keep thinking I'm missing something...
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Jan 9, 2020 22:42
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dwayne_dibbley posted:Sorry, I was stupid, left out two important details. I have a 300k lump sum to invest and so need a standard investor account (no ISA). Are you sure of those figures? A quick look on Halifax's website suggests: quote:The maximum you’ll pay in charges (annually): I would legitimately run a pepsi challenge that any high street bank is offering a free General Investment Account because these companies' bread and butter is ripping off retail investors. Also, if you're going to be dumping £300k into it you need to be watching your notional CGT liability like a hawk and doing Bed & ISAs and Bed & Pensions every year to run down those liabilities (which thankfully, is pretty straightforward).
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Jan 9, 2020 23:32
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