Moving through life's seasons
I guess we have all heard how being poor is more expensive. Recently I had another reminder how life seems weighted against disadvantaged people who are poor. I have known a young adult who just seems to struggle and I worry this is getting much worse in the UK. Continue reading “Being poor is more expensive”
If you’re a regular reader you might have read we have just had the air conditioning repaired in our car. While paying out £324 really hurt, I was comforted knowing we had this money stashed away. This has made me reflect on why is having savings important? Continue reading “Why is having savings important?”
This first year of retirement has been truly amazing. Nevertheless it is worth standing back and taking a look at how things are and what we still need to work on. Continue reading “First year of retirement!”
I was not impressed when I received my latest HMRC tax code, something was wrong. Seriously wrong. Turns out HMRC had my pension income down as £359,000 for the year. So this post is how HMRC reduced my tax bill from £143,000 to zero. Continue reading “HMRC reduced my tax bill from £143,000 to zero”
Despite the promising title, we have had a real disappointment with our little nest egg. One investment fund has gone down the pan and we are now being advised to sell the remains for whatever is there (probably peanuts). For a moment, this got me really worried…. will I have to go back to work? In the cold light of day, no I doubt it, but in the middle of the night and lying awake thinking about it, it’s a terrible situation. Continue reading “The benefits of a varied portfolio”
Rachel keeps a close eye on our cash flows and there are a few surprising things coming up. This is mostly the cost of food and petrol but thankfully we are okay with this; but definitely not complacent. Continue reading “The cost of food and petrol”
I have been really looking forward to bringing you my interview with our financial advisor. Or to use the correct terminology, Independent Financial Advisor, or IFA for short. IFAs rightly place great importance on their independent status in not being tied to a limited range of financial products and yet it is wider than that. I have already blogged about the importance of some kind of financial/life planning and here I talk to Jon Cobb, our very own IFA. Continue reading “Interview with our Financial Advisor”