Investments

[united we stand]

What was your takeaway from speaking to the financial advisor?

Are we just talking about things like the rule of thumb being contributing 0.5% of salary for every year old you are when you start contributing (ie 12% if you’re 24)?

I haven’t heard if that

I simply started putting in significant sums into my pension,Basically the maximum allowance for 5 years.
I took out a personal pension at 20 at £30 a month with the intention of increasing it every year——- and never did . That £30 became significantly more in one hit
I moved a personal very small pension( the £30 mentioned above), and found that the pension provider was VERY happy to move me ( pot was £18,000, transfer value £22,000). Sometimes apparently they will effectively pay to have you move.
Over time they moved another pension from Morgan Stanley which was not doing as well as my new one, but it hada special free tax element that could only be moved if done in a group. They found one other person in the same position as me which meant they could do it as “a group”. This in itself has saved me £10,000

I found out that if you are likely to hit the lifetime allowance you can ask your employer to pay your pension in salary- not something I would have thought to do.

I found out how final salary pensions worked with regard to the lifetime allowance and how this impacted decisions on moving a final salary pension over to your own provider. ( it always make you trust someone more when their advise is- don’t give us your money)

They asked me when would I like to retire , how much I thought I would want a year and then showed me what I would need to do to achieve it.
It was very sobering but I thought ok their advice and it was hard for a few years but it’s the best thing I have ever done.

But the BIG thing was simply to put more money in each month, even if the scheme you are in is crap, doing “something “ is better than doing nothing.

My advisor is at at James place, I can send on his details if helpful

 

[londonblue]

I haven’t heard if that

I simply started putting in significant sums into my pension,Basically the maximum allowance for 5 years.
I took out a personal pension at 20 at £30 a month with the intention of increasing it every year——- and never did . That £30 became significantly more in one hit
I moved a personal very small pension( the £30 mentioned above), and found that the pension provider was VERY happy to move me ( pot was £18,000, transfer value £22,000). Sometimes apparently they will effectively pay to have you move.
Over time they moved another pension from Morgan Stanley which was not doing as well as my new one, but it hada special free tax element that could only be moved if done in a group. They found one other person in the same position as me which meant they could do it as “a group”. This in itself has saved me £10,000

I found out that if you are likely to hit the lifetime allowance you can ask your employer to pay your pension in salary- not something I would have thought to do.

I found out how final salary pensions worked with regard to the lifetime allowance and how this impacted decisions on moving a final salary pension over to your own provider. ( it always make you trust someone more when their advise is- don’t give us your money)

They asked me when would I like to retire , how much I thought I would want a year and then showed me what I would need to do to achieve it.
It was very sobering but I thought ok their advice and it was hard for a few years but it’s the best thing I have ever done.

But the BIG thing was simply to put more money in each month, even if the scheme you are in is crap, doing “something “ is better than doing nothing.

My advisor is at at James place, I can send on his details if helpful

I still have my MS pension! I haven't paid into it for years. Even when I worked for them I was paying into a private pension which is still going. Those, plus my other pensions, and my wife's and the equity we will free up when we downsize should be enough.

 

[Mad Cyril]

I still have my MS pension! I haven't paid into it for years. Even when I worked for them I was paying into a private pension which is still going. Those, plus my other pensions, and my wife's and the equity we will free up when we downsize should be enough.

I was a contractor at MS for three and a half years. Like a fool I didn't pay into a pension at the time.

In talks to possibly go back.

 

[londonblue]

I was a contractor at MS for three and a half years. Like a fool I didn't pay into a pension at the time.

In talks to possibly go back.

Inside?

 

[Mad Cyril]

Inside?

Outside. This was back in 2013.

 

[Holy Joe]

I haven’t heard if that

I simply started putting in significant sums into my pension,Basically the maximum allowance for 5 years.
I took out a personal pension at 20 at £30 a month with the intention of increasing it every year——- and never did . That £30 became significantly more in one hit
I moved a personal very small pension( the £30 mentioned above), and found that the pension provider was VERY happy to move me ( pot was £18,000, transfer value £22,000). Sometimes apparently they will effectively pay to have you move.
Over time they moved another pension from Morgan Stanley which was not doing as well as my new one, but it hada special free tax element that could only be moved if done in a group. They found one other person in the same position as me which meant they could do it as “a group”. This in itself has saved me £10,000

I found out that if you are likely to hit the lifetime allowance you can ask your employer to pay your pension in salary- not something I would have thought to do.

I found out how final salary pensions worked with regard to the lifetime allowance and how this impacted decisions on moving a final salary pension over to your own provider. ( it always make you trust someone more when their advise is- don’t give us your money)

They asked me when would I like to retire , how much I thought I would want a year and then showed me what I would need to do to achieve it.
It was very sobering but I thought ok their advice and it was hard for a few years but it’s the best thing I have ever done.

But the BIG thing was simply to put more money in each month, even if the scheme you are in is crap, doing “something “ is better than doing nothing.

My advisor is at at James place, I can send on his details if helpful

No offence, but I wouldn't touch St James Place with a barge pole. Very expensive and not truly independent

 

[united we stand]

No offence, but I wouldn't touch St James Place with a barge pole. Very expensive and not truly independent

I can only go on my experience.

It depends how you count “expensive”
Would you rather pay 1% in fees and earn 5% or pay3% and earn 11%?
I am very happy with/
what I pay
the risk of my funds vs the (constant) growth rate
The knowledge of my advisor
The advise I receive.
As I said earlier when your advisor says “no” to you moving a six figure sum to them and spends 2 years searching for another ex colleague so you don’t loose a tax advantage on another Six figure sumyou didn’t know you had it makes you trust them a bit more that they are looking after you and not their own bank balance.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

My savings (such as they are) are currently earning 3% interest (in a savings acount in France) I 'm sure I could better that quite easily somewhere else but at least I can sleep at night.

 

[davewebbsbrain]

I can only go on my experience.

It depends how you count “expensive”
Would you rather pay 1% in fees and earn 5% or pay3% and earn 11%?
I am very happy with/
what I pay
the risk of my funds vs the (constant) growth rate
The knowledge of my advisor
The advise I receive.
As I said earlier when your advisor says “no” to you moving a six figure sum to them and spends 2 years searching for another ex colleague so you don’t loose a tax advantage on another Six figure sumyou didn’t know you had it makes you trust them a bit more that they are looking after you and not their own bank balance.

SJP are doing well for me too. They do seem to invest better than most fund management companies and get higher %age yearly profit on my investment.

 

[united we stand]

I still have my MS pension! I haven't paid into it for years. Even when I worked for them I was paying into a private pension which is still going. Those, plus my other pensions, and my wife's and the equity we will free up when we downsize should be enough.

I have a very different view on mortgages to 99% of people.
We moved 6 weeks ago to a more expensive house in panfield near Braintree. While I am still working and able to access a mortgage easily I have the biggest interest only mortgage I can get and I took money out of the property to invest and/or spend on the property.
Paying off your mortgage/downsizing to release capital in my opinion an outdated concept.
You can get a interest only mortgage for 50% of a property value until you are 70 from main lenders and rates are so low now.Once you have the mortgage you don’t have to give proof of income going forward. My only issue is I am now tied to Santander. I would only downsize if it’s something I “wanted “ to do, not for financial reasons as once you take in fees, stamp duty et. it would actually COST me money to live in a cheaper house.

We have all been brainwashed on mortgages IMO, what made sense with 10%_15% rates doesn’t make sense now.

 

[Mad Cyril]

I have a very different view on mortgages to 99% of people.
We moved 6 weeks ago to a more expensive house in panfield near Braintree. While I am still working and able to access a mortgage easily I have the biggest interest only mortgage I can get and I took money out of the property to invest and/or spend on the property.
Paying off your mortgage/downsizing to release capital in my opinion an outdated concept.
You can get a interest only mortgage for 50% of a property value until you are 70 from main lenders and rates are so low now.Once you have the mortgage you don’t have to give proof of income going forward. My only issue is I am now tied to Santander. I would only downsize if it’s something I “wanted “ to do, not for financial reasons as once you take in fees, stamp duty et. it would actually COST me money to live in a cheaper house.

We have all been brainwashed on mortgages IMO, what made sense with 10%_15% rates doesn’t make sense now.

Which is great if you understand that you will still owe a large chunk of money at the end of the mortgage term.

Maybe the house will appreciate enough to cover the outstanding, maybe you intend to pay off the mortgage through other investments.

Plenty of people do not plan for this and get themselves into serious trouble.

 

[Holy Joe]

SJP are doing well for me too. They do seem to invest better than most fund management companies and get higher %age yearly profit on my investment.

SJP has largest number of funds in the 'dog house'​

https://www.ftadviser.com/investments/2022/02/14/jp-morgan-3-9bn-fund-largest-to-top-dog-list/

Four out of five SJP funds are poor value

Nearly 80 per cent of funds run by the wealth manager St James’s Place (SJP) are failing.Money looked at 51 SJP products, holding a total of £33.8 billion, and

www.thetimes.co.uk

Nearly 80 per cent of funds run by the wealth manager St James’s Place (SJP) are failing.

Money looked at 51 SJP products, holding a total of £33.8 billion, and found that 39 (holding £29 billion) had underperformed their benchmarks, failed to meet their objectives or both.

 

[davewebbsbrain]

SJP has largest number of funds in the 'dog house'​

https://www.ftadviser.com/investments/2022/02/14/jp-morgan-3-9bn-fund-largest-to-top-dog-list/

Four out of five SJP funds are poor value

Nearly 80 per cent of funds run by the wealth manager St James’s Place (SJP) are failing.Money looked at 51 SJP products, holding a total of £33.8 billion, and

www.thetimes.co.uk

Nearly 80 per cent of funds run by the wealth manager St James’s Place (SJP) are failing.

Money looked at 51 SJP products, holding a total of £33.8 billion, and found that 39 (holding £29 billion) had underperformed their benchmarks, failed to meet their objectives or both.

Covid had caused markets to drop. I'd like to see reports from other funds management companies but my guess is SJP have lost less investment wise than most others

 

[Yorkshire Blue]

Covid had caused markets to drop. I'd like to see reports from other funds management companies but my guess is SJP have lost less investment wise than most others

Isn’t it comparing them to other fund management companies’ performance rather than the market as a whole - i.e. others have gone down in value less?

 

[Holy Joe]

Isn’t it comparing them to other fund management companies’ performance rather than the market as a whole - i.e. others have gone down in value less?

IMHO where IFA's can add value is around tax planning, e.g., mix between ISA, pensions, mix between you and partners assets etc- and of course setting a plan to achieve your retirement goals.

There are plenty of advocates for just investing in cheap passive funds, for example a Global Equity tracker fund will have returned circa 10% annualised returns over the past 5 years - for a fee between 0.1% and 0.2% plus platform fee if applicable of say 0.35%) - so around 0.5% fee per year.


There's lots of research to suggest/proves that the vast majority of active fund managers do not beat their benchmarks over the medium to long term. There's also a few websites that compare the performance of funds - morningstar or trustnet are just a couple. For example above chart/table looks at SJP Global Growth fund v FTSE World Index - Looks like SJP had a good couple of years - but has had a shocker over the past year or so - I'd just caution I'm not sure if that is an appropriate benchmark for the fund just going on the fund name rather than digging deeper into strategy.

 

[davewebbsbrain]

Isn’t it comparing them to other fund management companies’ performance rather than the market as a whole - i.e. others have gone down in value less?

Yes it seems to be but my point is your set a benchmark based on the last 3 years but that benchmark can be affected by numerous things
If SJP benchmark is 5% but due to covid or a n other reason they only hit 2%, I don't see that as worse than a company that has a benchmark of 3% but hits 2%.

I am looking at the last 10 years for SJP and basing the next 10 years on that, not just the last year.

SJP outperform most FMC's every year so I am not worried

 

[londonblue]

I have a very different view on mortgages to 99% of people.
We moved 6 weeks ago to a more expensive house in panfield near Braintree. While I am still working and able to access a mortgage easily I have the biggest interest only mortgage I can get and I took money out of the property to invest and/or spend on the property.
Paying off your mortgage/downsizing to release capital in my opinion an outdated concept.
You can get a interest only mortgage for 50% of a property value until you are 70 from main lenders and rates are so low now.Once you have the mortgage you don’t have to give proof of income going forward. My only issue is I am now tied to Santander. I would only downsize if it’s something I “wanted “ to do, not for financial reasons as once you take in fees, stamp duty et. it would actually COST me money to live in a cheaper house.

We have all been brainwashed on mortgages IMO, what made sense with 10%_15% rates doesn’t make sense now.

We do want to. That has been our plan all along. We're not doing it for financial reasons. Even when we bought the house our LTV was 50%. In the last 15 years that has reduced to about 10%. It's been our strategy from the off.

 

[Holy Joe]

SJP outperform most FMC's every year so I am not worried

Have you got a link to any evidence of that?

 

[londonblue]

Covid had caused markets to drop. I'd like to see reports from other funds management companies but my guess is SJP have lost less investment wise than most others

Indeed. I have a friend that owns a hedge fun. He was saying he has lost millions over the last few years. I asked him if he had lost more or less than everyone else. He said that to start with he had lost more, but they're now catching up. It's partly a timing thing I suppose, i.e. it depends on when you look.

 

[Mad Cyril]

Indeed. I have a friend that owns a hedge fun. He was saying he has lost millions over the last few years. I asked him if he had lost more or less than everyone else. He said that to start with he had lost more, but they're now catching up. It's partly a timing thing I suppose, i.e. it depends on when you look.

People complain about rising prices but they forget how tough hedge fund owners have it.