Year end. ISAs

berty3000 said:
The point I was responding to was that most people cannot take advantage of the ISA - I disagree. I contend that a large number of people who are not doing so and not saving at all are choosing this for themselves. That is obviously up to them and I don't tell others how to spend their own money. Just as long as I'm not expected to bail them out or be sympathetic when they don't have anything to get them through the rainy days and unexpected shocks.
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I broadly agree with this. In society, we obviously have people who can't save/invest even if they wanted to. They simply don't have the spare £££ to play with and all their money goes on stuff that's required. However, there are those who do have varying levels of spare cash and choose to spend it on stuff that's not required. Fine, their choice. However don't then moan because you have zero wiggle room when it comes to your finances.

We can all be guilty of this to varying degrees and to a large extent our consumerist model doesn't help. I sometimes joke it's a good job not everyone is like me as, essentials aside, I buy other stuff very rarely. I look on my 8 year old trainers as still being new ;) The economy would collapse if everyone followed my approach!
 
Though 10% of the UK peeps have 50% of the wealth, the median person is wealthy enough for ISAs to matter, (I remember a figure but won't quote it unless I can be bothered to look for it again, apparentlly. ONS I think.)
Usually that's in their house of course.
I'm aware that "most people can't survive until their next payday". Yes, the thread isn't for them.

I found this, FTSE over the years, which is interesting anyway:
It's maybe ok, but think how much better it would be ifthe dips were all flat. Even the sharpest, Covid, gave plenty of time to step out.
Then, if you took a little action to say double the FTSE while it's climbing, the graph would be off the screen.

I'm sure there's a chart for bldg socs, haven't found one yet.
That FTSE chart works out to 8.7%pa, which for shares, is pi$$ poor, but it beats inflation by a factor of 3 or 4 every year according to this
www.money.co.uk

UK Savings Statistics 2024 - Saving Facts and Stats Report | money.co.uk

We’ve collated the latest UK savings statistics for 2024, investigating how people can save money, and the average amount of savings held by UK adults.
www.money.co.uk www.money.co.uk
 
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OK.

If you were running a service, how would you lower your prices?
 
Market looks fragile, and edging back, so I've shoved much of the inheritance into Money Market funds pro tem. They get about 5.2%.
Iran could easily cause a pullback of a few percent.
Oil dropped today though, contrarily. The Yanks' stores are full.
 
3 Facts:
1. Generally unmanaged funds do better than managed funds.
2. When investing in stocks and shares, and funds etc, you have to assess the risk using time as a risk reduction factor, and mostly 5+ years is needed to reduce risk sufficiently, otherwise it is gambling instead of investing.
3. Over the longer term (30+ years, eg pension saving) stock markets returns should be reliable, but you should expect to average around inflation plus 4 to 5% per year, plus compounding.
 
jackflashh said:
3 Facts:
1. Generally unmanaged funds do better than managed funds.
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Wrong. I can quote you funds I have used as examples.
jackflashh said:
2. When investing in stocks and shares, and funds etc, you have to assess the risk using time as a risk reduction factor, and mostly 5+ years is needed to reduce risk sufficiently, otherwise it is gambling instead of investing.
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Poppycock. In assessing the risk you use many things. If you want to buy/invest in something and forget it, you're not going to do particularly well unless you're lucky. You're quite likely to go backwards relative to inflation. That's gambling.
jackflashh said:
3. Over the longer term (30+ years, eg pension saving) stock markets returns should be reliable, but you should expect to average around inflation plus 4 to 5% per year, plus compounding.
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Who says? Some Edwardian relic of the Bowler Hat Brigade with fond memories of the 50's?
If you think stock market returns are "reliable" you are uninformed. They can take a dive when it damages you most.
If you think managing a fund is damaging, you got the wrong manager of the wrong fund.

Look at typical pension funds, a mix of bonds and cash and a rash of stocks, with significant charges. You very often get less than inflation.
About 6 mmonths ago I took charge of our pension funds which had been in those sensible usual places, and had done pathetically.
Under inflation, some had gone backwards where sitting in sensible, safe, bonds.
Since then - a time of unusual growth, the pension company's age- steered choices of funds have come up about 3-4%.
FTSE 100 or Dow are up 8-10%
The Managed Funds I chose, have come up about 25%
The aggregate of all the funds, which include my non-managed picks, is up about 45%.
SInce the end of March they've been moved to money market funds earning about 5% pa.

I'm no expert at all, I might make some unwise moves, but I'd have to make some bloody silly choices to be below inflation having gone up 45% in 6 months.

If you still believe what you wrote, you're silly.
 
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Arbu said:
Where do you get this from? I can't see it referred to elsewhere.

You can keep doing it, but the amount you're allowed to do it with, and get the tax reimbursement, is liable to reduce to £10,000 if you make a withdrawal under what is called the Money Purchase Annual Allowance. You can avoid this if the pension is for less than £10,000, you close the whole of it, and you make it clear you are using the "small pot" rules. https://help.getpenfold.com/en/arti...aw-from-my-pension-when-i-reach-the-age-of-55 (option 3)

6-11 weeks apparently. https://help.getpenfold.com/en/articles/7991165-how-long-does-it-take-to-receive-tax-top-ups?notification_link_uid=bnZEdjkrbDVBVjlEZkNJeVRXaG91WmRHaXJQMFB0TTdtbHBZcURwaW5SNnp4WVRSMFlvOVNJNmZ2V2F3REpYRTc2OG12MEpwbEZsaFltVktkMDBCNkpGZXlnN3h1eVdCekR1TVlseWpzemVNWlRTTFBkeXovNGVPelVQUDJqRno4Q0trZ28rTTU3OWdFa3FUNTNTVmtRPT0tLTc1RXB5RlpsaG91NzRDQVU3WkNMa1E9PQ==--31896ae197a8a4d79c62b96023add9d055fae6e1
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You can only use the "small pot" rules three times. https://www.mandg.com/wealth/advise...ll pensions,pension schemes, subject to rules.

I suppose, if you're not working at 55, the chances of wanting to pay more than £10,000 in a given tax year into your pensions after that, is probably quite low. Still, I'd prefer not to close the possibility off if I can.
 
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