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Have you thought about getting an account with one of the online only banks like Monzo or Starling which do everything you describe? I got a Monzo account for using abroad as it carries no charge for direct debits, but ended up using it to send my spending money too as I find the budgeting tools really helpful. Monzo let you bring in your balances from other accounts so you can see them in the App, although you have to pay £5 month for that feature.
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Oct 4, 2023 20:07
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I don't mind paying for an app, but not sure I need a whole new bank account to do it I'll keep it in mind though
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Oct 4, 2023 20:08
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I think I've settled on Emma, it's not quite as clear and straightforward as Money Dashboard was but it's got a 'true balance' thing that does the job I need
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Oct 8, 2023 11:07
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Skarsnik posted:I think I've settled on Emma, it's not quite as clear and straightforward as Money Dashboard was but it's got a 'true balance' thing that does the job I need I had to get rid of Emma because there was no way of shutting off the multiple marketing notifications it sent every day without also shutting off the actual useful ones.
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Oct 9, 2023 15:07
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There does seem to be granular notification controls but to be honest I will probably just end up turning them all off
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Oct 10, 2023 00:22
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Does anyone have any recommendations about actually getting to talk to someone about finances, and best ways to manage them? Have spoken to 3 separate financial advisors: 2 of them were essentially just Compare the Market. When I told them my current finances they basically said, I can get you a better deal on your life insurance or car insurance. They offered nothing in terms of, you have your money in X but you should put it in Y. The third one seemed to be exactly that, but when I gave them our full financial breakdown they said, we only work with clients with more than £200000 in investments. I was like...if I had more than £200000 in investments, this would be a very different conversation! Also, any advice here would be welcome. Current situation is: £8000 in Premium Bonds ~£6000 in a Nutmeg 10/10 risk ISA ~£18000 in a Vanguard ISA, majority in a LifeStrategy 100% Equity Fund - Accumulation ~£2000 in random stocks on Revolut and eToro Combined ~£120000 in Pension, both making max employer-matched contributions each month I'm putting roughly the ISA non-tax max each month (£1666.66) into the Vanguard & Nutmeg. We have a 2% mortgage, remaining ~£250k, £1300/month & we're overpaying it by £1000 every month. Up next September. So basically, we have about £2500 each month going into either mortgage overpay or ISAs, that we could play with. Are we doing the right things here? Is the Vanguard ISA we've chosen the best bet for us? I've heard that overpaying the mortgage is a fool's errand if you can get a better return than your mortgage % elsewhere, but I'm not sure if I should trust that, especially with it likely shooting up when we renew. Thank you all!
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Oct 15, 2023 08:42
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Mourning Due posted:I've heard that overpaying the mortgage is a fool's errand if you can get a better return than your mortgage % elsewhere, but I'm not sure if I should trust that, especially with it likely shooting up when we renew. It shooting up doesn't make a difference to your current rate - you can take the £1000 you're overpaying at a 2% return, put that into a 4%+ easy access savings account, and if you still want to overpay, just take it out when you renew the mortgage and overpay in a lump sum then. In the year till then you're making an extra 2% by not overpaying. Meanwhile you're giving yourself options to do something else with the money if you decide that you're ok having a mortgage for a bit longer.
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Oct 15, 2023 10:07
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A few thoughts: -Why the Nutmeg ISA? The fees are pretty high. I would consider ditching that and moving into the Vanguard which will almost certainly have lower fees (note that I haven’t checked recently but last time I did this was true). You could also pick another platform. once you get above a certain balance, percentage-fee based platforms start to get expensive. I use iweb. There is a comparison list on monevator. Note that you can still invest in the same vanguard fund on another platform. -Rather than overpaying your mortgage (which is “gaining you” 2%, take that money and put it into something safe until you remortgage. A Chip savings account is ~4.8% right now, or you could use your existing premium bonds account. At remortgage time, take the stuff you saved and put it towards the mortgage then. In the meantime you’ve been earning 4+% rather than 2. -It’s not clear what your income situation is but based on the amount you’re able to save, you may be on higher-rate tax? If so you may want to consider increasing pension contributions, because they are pre-tax and hence are “worth more” if you’re paying a higher tax percentage.
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Oct 15, 2023 10:19
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Mourning Due posted:Have spoken to 3 separate financial advisors: Being generous to your advisors, up to a certain point there's only so much you can fiddle with that'll make much of a difference, and it's pretty much all there on the front page of MoneySavingExpert (which I'm always surprised hasn't been swallowed by a content mill yet) - like once you've sorted your utilities, your mortgage and your car & contents insurance, there probably isn't much concrete, actionable advice there is to give until your wealth has however many zeroes at the end, and your problems become 'if 2007 happens again, will the FSCS still cover everything' rather than 'should I argue with Sky for half an hour about knocking down my broadband bill'. You mentioned an ISA with both Nutmeg and Vanguard - sounds daft but, what kind are they? Asking because, fund choices aside, you can only pay into one of each type of ISA per tax year - I know Vanguard only offer a Stocks & Shares ISA, so I'm guessing you've a Lifetime ISA with Nutmeg? Nutmeg are a little pricey as a platform, but given the free money you get with a Lifetime ISA, and that it couldn't be transferred across to Vanguard without being liquidated into cash (thus paying the withdrawal penalty plus income tax) I'd honestly just stay the course.
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Oct 15, 2023 11:46
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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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I'd agree with the posts above about repaying your mortgage early and about Nutmeg; you are likely to be able to get the same exposure cheaper elsewhere. You could consider opening a lifetime ISA if you're in the right age range, it's basically a free £1000 each year if you fill it up. Premium bonds are never likely to return much if you don't have a lot of them (and even then not brilliant), so unless there's some other reason you hold them, like already having enough interest income that you're being taxed, you might be better off with a savings account.
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Oct 15, 2023 15:56
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Yargh...so, the above is why I really feel like I need to speak to a professional, but while I've been able to speak to a ton of different people here in London, not a single one is what I'm after. I keep thinking "maybe what I'm after doesn't exist", but back home in Canada my bank had a service for normal customers where they'd advise on stuff like this. Turns out, you're all correct, and I've incorrectly had two Stock & Share ISAs for the past few years. Have immediately set it up to transfer my whole Nutmeg pot over to Vanguard as they seem like the better option. Although, my Nutmeg has returns of 17.63%, whereas my Vanguard has returns of 3.2%, and that's lifetime since the account opened. I know it's a total 1st world problem, but I've got £2500 a month I could be playing with here and I feel like I'm sort of getting nothing with it currently. People say overpaying the mortgage is losing me money, but with the Vanguard's returns so low I worry about lumping all my eggs in that basket, especially as I hear that the only way to really make money is put it aside and don't touch it for years. I know I can't expect to be earning millions here, but when I see all these videos about compound interest earning you millions by the time you retire, and talk to colleagues who earn much less than me who have these huge savings pots, I feel like either they're taking on mountains of debt or I'm doing something wrong. I have so many questions, like: - Do I have the right credit card? I have an Amex that gives a 0.75% Cashback on spend up to £10,000. Got about £400 back this year which was nice, but...for my lifestyle, would there be something better? - RE the overpay mortgage, people tell me "just put your money into an account that has a greater than 2% return instead": there's literally thousands of different accounts and I have no idea which ones are good and which are poo poo. - People told me, close the Nutmeg as they're less reputable than Vanguard...but it was giving me a much higher rate of return, and I haven't seen any fees, so I'm struggling to understand why that's what I should have done. I've done it, but I don't get it. - I turned 40 in February: I believe that means an additional lifetime ISA is a no-go? Had one originally when saving for the house & cashed it out. Also, we plan to potentially move overseas: would that invalidate the ISA? And that's just the tip of the iceberg. I really just need advice on, who should I be speaking to here? I know Fidelity are advisors, are they just for stocks and bonds? It feels like my sort of "baby's first financial questions" would be a lucrative market niche for someone to be addressing. The advice in this thread is great, and I'm trying to self-educate, but the whole "having two S&S ISAs at the same time" thing has just shown me that I really don't know what I'm doing, and that mistakes now could be costing me thousands in the future. I'd much rather pay someone to point me in the right direction, with a yearly financial health check-in or something. Does nobody do this sort of thing in the UK for the relatively low amounts I'm talking about here?
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Oct 30, 2023 09:56
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Mourning Due posted:The advice in this thread is great, and I'm trying to self-educate, but the whole "having two S&S ISAs at the same time" thing has just shown me that I really don't know what I'm doing, and that mistakes now could be costing me thousands in the future. I'd much rather pay someone to point me in the right direction, with a yearly financial health check-in or something. Yes they do. https://www.unbiased.co.uk/ It's almost certainly NOT going to be free advice though. A lot of banks etc Financial Advisors are tied to the products of their group (and are paid accordingly), so to get independent advice will cost as they will earn their income from their clients. Also check their qualifications: https://www.unbiased.co.uk/discover/personal-finance/savings-investing/financial-adviser-qualifications
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Oct 30, 2023 16:11
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Mourning Due posted:I have so many questions, like: You haven't said exactly what you were investing in in your Nutmeg account vs. Vanguard, so you might not be comparing apples with apples. The fee you pay at Nutmeg (IIRC) is in the form of higher expenses on your funds, which don't show up as explicit fees - most of their funds are 1%+ all in, which is incredibly high by the standards of other accounts you can open. No more lifetime ISAs for you as you're over 40, unfortunately.
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Oct 31, 2023 15:55
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Thank you Jaeluni and Naar! Oh yeah, I mean I'd be happy to pay say up to £1000/year, just to be able to speak to a specific person who would review my current situation and say, "you should really be doing more of Z", or "are you really getting any benefit from Y?" In particular, someone who'd be willing to actually look at my entire financial situation, and tell me where I'm being stupid. I'll definitely look at Unbiased. Money Saving Expert I've used, that's how I got the Vanguard, but it feels a bit too "do it yourself" for me. RE what I'm invested in: Nutmeg: just says, 10/10 risk pot (which is what I wanted). Says Assets: Equities 99.56%, predominatly (90%) Developed Market Equities, and within that there's like 30 companies it's invested in? Vanguard: all in LifeStratey 100% Equity Fun - Accumulation. Looks like that's mostly in Blended products, like Vanguard US Equity Index Fund? Long story short though, as I'm sure you can tell: I don't really understand this stuff and I don't have the time or patience to learn it. Definitely not the type of person who wants to be doing hours of research to make sure I'm doing the right thing, would much rather pay someone to manage it for me & take some sort of payment or comission to handle it. But yes, will have a look at Unbiased. THank you again!
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Nov 1, 2023 13:38
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Mourning Due posted:Thank you Jaeluni and Naar! One thing you really need to think about is how risk averse you are & how much risk you are willing to take and any financial advisor should quiz you on that, but think really hard about it and discuss with partner if you have one. For example: over the last 18 months, a couple of funds I've got have underperformed simple cash savings, but over 5 years have very much outperformed cash - bear in mind though that until around a year ago, interest on cash savings was diddly squat. If watching your fund rocket up one day then lose all that and another 12% overnight gives you the horrors then think about whether that is the fund for you! Most of my stuff is in high "profit" cash savings including ISAs (sharia bank - they do profit rather than interest and are generally more ethically sound - around 4.5-6% depending exactly on whether it's easy access or fixed for 1, 2 or 5 years) and less than 10% in funds. As I'm going to be reliant on state pension, small work pension that will probably just about cover council tax by then, my savings dough to pay for luxuries like visiting the dentist, getting a physio-massage on my leg, or calling out a plumber when I reach state pension age (less than 5 years to go) I need it to be reliable.
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Nov 1, 2023 15:25
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If you want to invest in some stuff you don't have to think about, a Vanguard Lifestrategy fund is very appropriate (though IMO it has too high a UK bias - it's a bit more hassle to DIY it out of ETFs and it sounds like you can't be bothered). If you are planning to retire more than 10 years out, 100% equity is fine. Alternatively, you could go for a Vanguard target retirement fund which automatically increases bond allocation following a vaguely 'optimal' strategy as you get closer to the end date.
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Nov 1, 2023 18:13
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Honestly you probably don’t need an adviser unless you’ve very complicated finances (which it doesn’t sound like you do). Have you seen the UKPF flowchart from Reddit? https://flowchart.ukpersonal.finance/ This should give you everything you need to work on.
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Nov 1, 2023 19:37
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As a foreigner, it has been very helpful to see the Lifetime ISA mentioned, didn't know that existed. Was rushing to see how to set up one, but now that I see that the first home bought has to be specifically in the UK, it's less of a no-brainer for me. And also Vanguard doesn't offer it so I have to find a new provider. Still, a risk-free 25% sound too good to pass up, even if it gets locked until 60. (So far, my strategy has simply been to slam everything into the Vanguard stocks and shares to get as close to maxing it out as possible; there's already a mandatory pay/matched pay pension contribution at work and I've never seen any options to deviate from that amount).
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Dec 15, 2023 09:59
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What’s a goonsensus on my predicament. I’ve got a portion of my mortgage that’s on a base rate tracker, BBBR +1.4%. Which tbf has started to hurt over the past 6 months. The last 12 years have been magical. I’ve got 25 years left on it. I don’t think rates are going to reduce by 2% for a while, so I believe my best option is to fix it at a low rate to save money. Historic interest rates over the last 40 years have been about 5% percent, besides the thatcher years. So it looks like 5% is normal, and under that was unusual. I’ve got about 70k in that mortgage, so shaving off a percentage saves me about £60 per month. I’d rather the money in my account than the mortgage provider. But then it sticks on a grand to the mortgage, so takes more than 15 months to break even.
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Jan 14, 2024 19:44
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If anyone had a definite answer to that one then they’d be too busy profiting from the info to give a decent answer here. That said it does seem like inflation has slowed and further rises are a lot less likely than they were looking a few months back. My personal guess is that rates will stay flat for some time before dropping slightly, but I probably wouldn’t make a bet on that. If you want to lower your outgoings you could also consider a longer term, eg 34 years assuming you’re under 40, though you will end up paying more in interest in the long run.
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Jan 14, 2024 22:14
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Oodles posted:What’s a goonsensus on my predicament. BoE is almost certainly gonna be cutting rates soon: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/jan/11/bank-of-england-may-cut-interest-rate-sooner-after-surprise-inflation-forecast from the same article: quote:At a hearing of the Treasury committee on Wednesday, Bailey said he hoped the recent fall in the cost of mortgages would continue. might be worth waiting a few months to get a more favorable rate, if you can afford to risk the wait?
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Jan 14, 2024 22:26
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The situation in the Red Sea might cause price increases, and since the BoE’s strategy is to raise interest rates even if inflationary factors are external, who knows what’ll happen.
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Jan 15, 2024 13:39
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I'm on the look out for some accounting software. I'm switching to fully freelance as opposed to full time PAYE/part time freelance. I also manage the in/outgoings of our furnished holiday let, receive some dividends, and account interest in a taxable account. The last couple of years I've done tax returns without things like expenses and deductible spends, but the Airbnb revenue and property upkeep has complicated things somewhat. I'll also be invoicing people and need to spend on things like mileage, consumables etc. Is there a software which is relatively straightforward for a sole trader, but can handle two "businesses", i.e. the rental and my freelance work, not to mention dividends? I'm happy to pay. I could also get an accountant, but I like to have a handle on these things.
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Jan 22, 2024 18:30
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Lady Gaza posted:The situation in the Red Sea might cause price increases, and since the BoE’s strategy is to raise interest rates even if inflationary factors are external, who knows what’ll happen. yup very good point, that's a new wildcard
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Jan 22, 2024 19:50
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Shelvocke posted:I'm on the look out for some accounting software. I'm switching to fully freelance as opposed to full time PAYE/part time freelance. I also manage the in/outgoings of our furnished holiday let, receive some dividends, and account interest in a taxable account.
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Jan 22, 2024 20:52
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Shelvocke posted:I'm on the look out for some accounting software. I'm switching to fully freelance as opposed to full time PAYE/part time freelance. I also manage the in/outgoings of our furnished holiday let, receive some dividends, and account interest in a taxable account. Xero is by far the best software out there. We use it for our Ltd company (though to be fair our accountants do all the hard stuff…)
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Jan 22, 2024 21:17
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Thanks for recommendations, I looked into packages and it looks as though I'd have to pay individual subscriptions for multiple types of income. I spoke to a friend's accountant who just needs the level of fidelity captured by my spreadsheet, so I'm going to continue that for now.
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Jan 24, 2024 10:33
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My wife and I began casually looking to buy a house a couple of months ago and have suddenly found ourselves in the situation of being able to put an offer on a house being put up for sale by a mutual friend. This deal would be without the involvement of an estate agent. We have never purchased a home before and have only a minimal idea of how the whole home buying process works. We have no debt and about twice the amount we would need for a down payment set aside in savings. Are there any good guides laying out how the process works without an estate agent (involvement of solicitors, transferring council taxes, etc.)? Similarly, any guides as to how to approach mortgages (using a mortgage broker, terms, length of fixed-rate, etc.)?
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Feb 4, 2024 17:03
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I'm a couple of months into trying to buy a house and have just done the haggling over price now that a survey came back with 30k of work that needed doing https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/how-to-buy-a-home/how-to-buy lays out most of the process gives an overview of the whole process An estate agent is just a go between you and the seller and all the important paperwork is handled by the solicitor/conveyancer. Council tax is dealt with the same way is as when you move between rentals For a mortgage I checked a couple of the comparison sites calculators and they mostly came back with NatWest having the lowest rates on a 5year fix, I've got no idea if that's going to prove to be a good idea or not but at least I know what my mortgage costs will be
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Feb 4, 2024 17:41
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Thanks! That's really helpful. With rates bound to go down this year or next, is a 5 year fixed better than a shorter term? I was thinking of opting for something around 3 years instead.
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Feb 5, 2024 07:36
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There is no guarantee rates are going to fall.
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Feb 5, 2024 10:18
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MeinPanzer posted:Thanks! That's really helpful. You’ll probably find that 5 year fixes are cheaper than 2 year fixes, as the rates bake in a forecast of where the banks think the rates will go. There is a chance that you could get a 2 year fix, and in 2 years time the new rate will be lower than what you would average vs getting a 5 year fix now. But, that might not happen. If you can afford the rate now, there is some comfort in knowing you don’t have to think about it for longer, and avoiding the risk that rates may even rise in that timeframe.
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Feb 5, 2024 10:43
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MeinPanzer posted:With rates bound to go down this year or next... As qhat mentions, (and it's worth reiterating) there's no way to predict the future of interest rates. To illustrate, among the many events that could affect interest rates going forward: * What's going to happen in the Middle East over the next six months? * Will the UK and other European countries sanction the refined products of Russian oil coming in via India (among others)? * How will the situation at the Panama Canal develop? * What will be the outcome of the coming US election? * How will governments respond to the housing crises going on in various countries (Canada, Australia, UK, Germany)? * What's going to happen with the Ukraine war over the next year? So following Bills' advice, and going for a choice that reflects what you can personally afford going forward, is Wise.
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Feb 6, 2024 04:30
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Quick bit of advice. I've inherited a chunk of money from my grandparents, half of which is "mine" and half of which is for my nine year old daughter. The plan is to use both lots in the short term to pay off the mortgage and do a few nice things too, then save back up to my daughter's half to give her when she's an adult. My question is what's the best way to do that, a Junior ISA (either with a bank or Vanguard etc?) I suppose with a Junior ISA the money goes to her by default when she turns 18 whereas with a different account it would still be under my control until I decide the time is right? How does the interest rates typically compare? ISAs are tax free which helps too I guess. Also, I suppose I could do with some sort of calculator to make sure we're paying in enough to (probably) be there or thereabouts by the time the money reverts back to her. There's about £3k in an account we've been (very slowly) saving for her since she was born (£25/month) which will be the start of the new fund, but obviously we'll need to go a bit harder to get to the numbers we need in 9 or so more years.
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Feb 26, 2024 11:50
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Just to check, the named beneficiary in the will is only you? Not your daughter? Because if she is named I doubt you'd be allowed to do the mortgage pay down plan.
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Feb 26, 2024 12:19
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I have no idea of your circumstances but I will tell you a story. My gran left me and my sister some money when she died, but it wasn’t formally captured in a will or anything (just an understanding between her/mum/me). When she died, my parents used the money to fund a short term need, with the promise that they would give me the money when I needed it (house deposit or something like that). It never happened because for various reasons they were unable to pay me back. It has caused a significant amount of friction in our family. So…be very very careful
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Feb 26, 2024 14:18
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sebzilla posted:Quick bit of advice. https://youtu.be/Ib1C3tujEno?si=J8kjqBHmVE3So78E I don't have children but here's a finance YouTube I do trust talking about it. The simplest thing for finance is time in market wins so investing that money early is a really good thing. Her getting 10k now and you investing it properly will be a lot more than you giving her 10k when she's 18.
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Feb 26, 2024 14:34
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peanut- posted:Just to check, the named beneficiary in the will is only you? Not your daughter? Yep, just me. The money landed in my account this morning. Pantsmaster Bill posted:I have no idea of your circumstances but I will tell you a story. Yeah, sensible point. "Various reasons" doing a lot of lifting there but I totally get it. The thinking is that by creating financial security now we'll all have a much better quality of life over the next decade and my kid will still get what's "hers" in the long run. Which comes back to the post below... Sad Panda posted:The simplest thing for finance is time in market wins so investing that money early is a really good thing. Her getting 10k now and you investing it properly will be a lot more than you giving her 10k when she's 18. Absolutely get this argument and ideally that would be the way we go but to be honest the short-term need is quite pressing if we want to avoid our mortgage becoming unaffordable at the end of next month.
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Feb 26, 2024 15:31
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I'll be honest, this seems like a terrible idea but I'm not you and I don't know your circumstances.
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Feb 26, 2024 18:39
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sebzilla posted:Quick bit of advice. How do you plan on explaining this to your daughter? [e] sorry, 'future estranged daughter' spincube fucked around with this message at 18:43 on Feb 26, 2024 |
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Feb 26, 2024 18:40
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