[Misc] Retirement

[Shropshire Seagull]

I think someone posted earlier (or maybe another thread)?

If you're not sure what to do, choose to do nothing.

Caveat: Bad advice for a rabbit in the headlights situation, of course.

 

[dazzer6666]

ISA and 2 pension funds up between 6 and 9% yesterday. #Holdthenerve

 

[Eric the meek]

ISA and 2 pension funds up between 6 and 9% yesterday. #Holdthenerve

Hang on a minute. You haven't ditched the long term view already have you Dazzer? Don't get drawn in to checking your retirement fund every day - it's a fool's errand !

(If you haven't mastered downloading it all into a spreadsheet, you'll end up with your desk covered in yellow stickies).

 

[Weststander]

Hang on a minute. You haven't ditched the long term view already have you Dazzer? Don't get drawn in to checking your retirement fund every day - it's a fool's errand !

(If you haven't mastered downloading it all into a spreadsheet, you'll end up with your desk covered in yellow stickies).

Or only looking when hearing the markets are up .

 

[A mex eyecan]

Given I don’t have the ability to recognise a good or bad financial investment even if it were to hit me in the face I do still leave my pension with a managed platform. Yes I know I pay a bit for it but better that than me lose my shirt.

As Mrs A and I are both now retired we opted to start to take a more defensive position, I’m rather glad we listened to the advice and did that. Just downloaded a report for year to date and month to date, given the disasters throughout the world I think it’s done/doing okay, down this month for sure but at only 1.8% it almost feels a relief.

 

[Eric the meek]

Or only looking when hearing the markets are up .

Indeed. It's a cracking result though. My holdings are a mix, just slightly more blue than red this morning.

If anyone is really serious about taking a long term view, they should consider becoming a landlord. Entry and exit costs are high, and the assets are not liquid, so it obliges you to have a long time horizon. I'm not a 'never sell' landlord, but I regard it as twenty year money. Funnily enough, I've been in it for just over twenty years.

 

[Weststander]

Indeed. It's a cracking result though. My holdings are a mix, just slightly more blue than red this morning.

If anyone is really serious about taking a long term view, they should consider becoming a landlord. Entry and exit costs are high, and the assets are not liquid, so it obliges you to have a long time horizon. I'm not a 'never sell' landlord, but I regard it as twenty year money. Funnily enough, I've been in it for just over twenty years.

Funds … a better question is what‘s been the overall % movement this calendar year? Otherwise we do ‘a Trump’ and only mention the good days.

BTL’s …. I know landlords who are gradually pulling out, no longer wanting the red tape and those Sunday calls/emails that the boiler has broke. I mention that at least they made the years of capital appreciation.

 

[Weststander]

Given I don’t have the ability to recognise a good or bad financial investment even if it were to hit me in the face I do still leave my pension with a managed platform. Yes I know I pay a bit for it but better that than me lose my shirt.

As Mrs A and I are both now retired we opted to start to take a more defensive position, I’m rather glad we listened to the advice and did that. Just downloaded a report for year to date and month to date, given the disasters throughout the world I think it’s done/doing okay, down this month for sure but at only 1.8% it almost feels a relief.

To benchmark, most people even if they don’t realise it are heavily invested in the S&P 500, down 10.4% in 2025 and still very much at the whim of Trump.

 

[A mex eyecan]

To benchmark, most people even if they don’t realise it are heavily invested in the S&P 500, down 10.4% in 2025 and still very much at the whim of Trump.

wow, poor buggers. All those years of hard work decimated because of some thick egotistical giant cock

 

[Weststander]

wow, poor buggers. All those years of hard work decimated because of some thick egotistical giant cock

It may all well come good. NOT through his doing, instead purely because people across the world have to invest their money somewhere and most people won’t tolerate low safe returns …. so prices will rise from buying. But it’s highly volatile, not for the fainthearted.

 

[Eric the meek]

Funds … a better question is what‘s been the overall % movement this calendar year? Otherwise we do ‘a Trump’ and only mention the good days.

BTL’s …. I know landlords who are gradually pulling out, no longer wanting the red tape and those Sunday calls/emails that the boiler has broke. I mention that at least they made the years of capital appreciation.

Funds - Trump mentioned a record day on the Nasdaq, failing to mention that he caused the bloody chaos in the first place. Note that the Nasdaq finished 4.13% down yesterday which was to be expected I guess.

BTLs - I use letting agents, and so am completely hands off. I never get calls/emails at weekends. My lettings agents are both also estate agents and landlords so they know the score, and are incidentally, very well placed to take advantage of opportunities.

 

[nickbrighton]

What’s been ‘wiped out’ are recent (12-24 months) gains in most cases so not actually material if you’re taking a long term view. If you don’t need to sell (access the funds) now most advisors will tell you to sit tight and wait for the recovery. It’s virtually impossible to sell at the top of the market and buy at the bottom and even this ‘carnage’ is a once-in-5-years type of thing imo.

Anyone panicking about the current volatility probably shouldn’t be holding much of a % their assets in the stock market.

Im certainly not panicking, and like i said, can hold on before using any of my retirement savings, As you say, retirement planning (which is what this thread is about, rather than investing in general) is long term, except when its time to start buying annuities, or take lump sums etc. Then it becomes very immediate, and then these huge fluctuations caused by Trumps "plan" can have a massive long term affect especially if the on again, off again tariff announcements continue.

. I agree large fluctuations even themselves out over an extended period of time, and I am sure the current situation will resolve itself, just as the Truss, Covid, and Ukraine drops did, but thats little comfort to those who have to cash in ISAs, or other investments now, and seen the value drop by considerable amounts.

 

[Shropshire Seagull]

If anyone is really serious about taking a long term view, they should consider becoming a landlord. Entry and exit costs are high, and the assets are not liquid, so it obliges you to have a long time horizon. I'm not a 'never sell' landlord, but I regard it as twenty year money. Funnily enough, I've been in it for just over twenty years.

I was in the landlord market, just over 20 years ago, gor about 10 yeara, or so. But the erosion of mortgage interest as tax deductible and CGT on the sale always loloomingmade them less attractive, so I sold them all (3) before the hit became too great.

I chose to manage the properties myself as they were all local. Maybe I was lucky, but, with pretty strict vetting, I didn't get too many of those calls @Weststander mentions.

 

[Eric the meek]

I was in the landlord market, just over 20 years ago. But the erosion of mortgage interest as tax deductible and CGT on the sale always looming, I sold them all (3) before the hit became too great.

Maybe I was lucky, but, with pretty strict vetting, I didn't get too many of those calls @Weststander mentions.

I hope you didn't sell them all at the same time, otherwise you would have taken a hit from CGT. That said, I would counsel against letting the tax tail wag the dog.
To offset the erosion of mortgage interest as tax deductible, you can always pay off the mortgage...

The exodus of some landlords from the market is now squeezing rents up sharply in thin volumes.

I don't get any calls from tenants, as I outsource tenant management to lettings agents.

 

[Weststander]

I hope you didn't sell them all at the same time, otherwise you would have taken a hit from CGT. That said, I would counsel against letting the tax tail wag the dog.
To offset the erosion of mortgage interest as tax deductible, you can always pay off the mortgage...

The exodus of some landlords from the market is now squeezing rents up sharply in thin volumes.

I don't get any calls from tenants, as I outsource tenant management to lettings agents.

Spacing out the sales.

Regarding interest relief, BTL's still get that in full as do basic rate taxpayer landlords (around the houses on a tax return ... excuse the pun).

 

[Weststander]

Im certainly not panicking, and like i said, can hold on before using any of my retirement savings, As you say, retirement planning (which is what this thread is about, rather than investing in general) is long term, except when its time to start buying annuities, or take lump sums etc. Then it becomes very immediate, and then these huge fluctuations caused by Trumps "plan" can have a massive long term affect especially if the on again, off again tariff announcements continue.

. I agree large fluctuations even themselves out over an extended period of time, and I am sure the current situation will resolve itself, just as the Truss, Covid, and Ukraine drops did, but thats little comfort to those who have to cash in ISAs, or other investments now, and seen the value drop by considerable amounts.

This was a reminder to me not be all in on equities, riding the Wall Street boom. Thankfully my portfolio was more diversified than I thought it was, plus I took early actions against all the usual advice to minimise the risk on the Mag7.

 

[Eric the meek]

Spacing out the sales.

Regarding interest relief, BTL's still get that in full as do basic rate taxpayer landlords (around the houses on a tax return ... excuse the pun).

Don't talk to me about tax returns ! Life would be so much easier without them.

 

[Weststander]

Don't talk to me about tax returns ! Life would be so much easier without them.

They're part of my day job

 

[Eric the meek]

They're part of my day job

Ah. May I ask what your day job is? At some point I will be after some inheritance tax advice. (The advice which I should have sought years ago).

 

[BLOCK F]

Do you think now’s the time to invest or will the damage from Trump and a “60% chance of a recession” mean the falls have a long way to go? The big question.

View attachment 199785

As Harold MacMillan might have said, ‘timescales, dear boy, timescales.’
At my advanced age, I probably have too large a percentage of my portfolio invested in equities for the ‘experts,’ but I haven’t sold anything and I am not buying anything either. As long as the divis keep coming I shall be fine whilst we wait for the recovery to happen. Hopefully before I peg!