One for JRM and other Financial Types

[anonymous-user]

[redacted]

[Vesuvius 996]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Well you need to stop confusing what you read in the Daily Mail to what is really happening in London.

Actually I don't read the Daily Mail. I do however, work in Construction which is recent months has seen a much bigger hit in the redundancies stakes than the finance sector. Not to mention competition from the cheap labour imports from Eastern Europe.

Well that explains your brilliant understanding of the financial markets then.

Maybe I'll go and spout crap like an expert on a construction topic should anyone ever be interested in starting one.

So as an expert in the Financial world - I would like you (and anyone else in finance) to comment on the following:

I have a pension fund - in that fund is £27,578 - it is frozen.

My last statement dated 31st December 2007 (before the current crisis) says that in order to buy a pension of £1,000 pa, I will need £29,578. This also compares with similar figures on other pensions I hold.

My £27k will therefore buy me about £922 per year.

Now even with my limited financial experience, that means that if I retire at 65 and start claiming my pension, then I will have to live to 95 before I start costing the pension comapany more than the value of the investment. (£27,578 divided by £922 equals 29.9 years).

Now bearing in mind the average age is 77/78 - do you think that is good value for money?

OK I know that I have received tax relief on the initial payments (so probably in real terms only paid in £18k) but if I had stuffed £18k in the mattress, that would still take me to 85 (unlikely to reach that far). Better still, I could have put it in premium bonds.

As I said, I am not a financial expert, I a just a member of the public who trusted financial experts with my money as encouraged to do so by the Government.

You've been taken for a cu.........

[havoc]

Vesuvius 996 said:

You've been taken for a cu.........

Sad but true. We all have. The annuities sector has taken a battering and has massively cut it's returns in recent years. Plus they're assuming loads of medical advances which will see us all living for an extra decade by the time we get there...probably won't happen, but their job is to predict, and they'd be no good if they predicted the wrong way. Plus they need to show a profit too (although god knows why...).

If you're the sort of chap who:-
- is pretty sure they won't live to a ripe old age;
- can trust themselves not to dip-into it if times are tight;
...then an ISA is currently a better bet than a shares-based pension scheme. But that's not financial advice, and it may change at any time...

[JRM]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Just been heading home via the vitners so that I can crack into a nice '82 Lafite...!

996 has a point...

It's like anything though if you take blind advise from people without understanding what you are doing, then you might well become a cropper

Would you buy a car off someone because he said you should? If that turned out to be a complete dog would you then go around saying that anyone involved in the car industry from the dealer that sold you a pup through to the engineers that designed the light clusters should be fired?

Rover made st cars for the most part, many people that bought the cars probably had a crap experience, but when they all got binned there was universal support for them and people called on the government to help the employees. You didn't see loads of Rover 75 owners going - serves them right they made rubbish cars!

If you're so clued up, remove the money from the pension fund, and invest it however you like? Why sit and moan about something that you could change if you could be bothered?

[KatieK]

Vesuvius 996 said:

You've been taken for a cu.........

This is the same idiot in the UBS conversation who was telling everyone we should feel sorry for these bds that have ripped everyone off because they are losing their jobs.

[JRM]

KatieK said:

Vesuvius 996 said:

You've been taken for a cu.........

This is the same idiot in the UBS conversation who was telling everyone we should feel sorry for these bds that have ripped everyone off because they are losing their jobs.

And you're the same stupid bh who doesn't know the first thing about the financial industry, but still likes to give her hugely uninformed opinions...was funny though

So what colour were they?...

[KatieK]

JRM said:

KatieK said:

Vesuvius 996 said:

You've been taken for a cu.........

This is the same idiot in the UBS conversation who was telling everyone we should feel sorry for these bds that have ripped everyone off because they are losing their jobs.

And you're the same stupid bh who doesn't know the first thing about the financial industry, but still likes to give her hugely uninformed opinions...was funny though

So what colour were they?...

Keep kidding yourself you do something that contributes to society and don't just shuffle money around all day.

[Chilli]

KatieK said:

Vesuvius 996 said:

You've been taken for a cu.........

This is the same idiot in the UBS conversation who was telling everyone we should feel sorry for these bds that have ripped everyone off because they are losing their jobs.

You don't get it do you? Do you think the 4000 or so people who lost their jobs at Lehmans were busy gambling your money away? No, they were not. Do you think EVERYONE that works for a bank is a risk obsessed trader? No, they are not. I suggest 3800 of them were just doing a mundane job just like most others. I also suggest that 75% of them had little idea of the things their company was investing in.
OP, it's like me saying that the st Barratts house I bought was the fault of every construction worker, and labeling you a sh!t builder ( or equiv) and that it's your fault. Also, can I ask how long you have until retirement? If it's quite a while, I wouldn't worry. I would bet that markets will recover in plenty of time for you to reap what you've sowed.

[Vesuvius 996]

KatieK said:

JRM said:

KatieK said:

Vesuvius 996 said:

You've been taken for a cu.........

This is the same idiot in the UBS conversation who was telling everyone we should feel sorry for these bds that have ripped everyone off because they are losing their jobs.

And you're the same stupid bh who doesn't know the first thing about the financial industry, but still likes to give her hugely uninformed opinions...was funny though

So what colour were they?...

Keep kidding yourself you do something that contributes to society and don't just shuffle money around all day.

How about the hundreds of grand a year we pay in tax, love? To pay for the services which everyone benefits from.

Vacuous loser.

Edited by Vesuvius 996 on Friday 3rd October 20:37

[JRM]

KatieK said:

JRM said:

KatieK said:

Vesuvius 996 said:

You've been taken for a cu.........

This is the same idiot in the UBS conversation who was telling everyone we should feel sorry for these bds that have ripped everyone off because they are losing their jobs.

And you're the same stupid bh who doesn't know the first thing about the financial industry, but still likes to give her hugely uninformed opinions...was funny though

So what colour were they?...

Keep kidding yourself you do something that contributes to society and don't just shuffle money around all day.

Unfortunately you are about to see just how much the financial industry does contribute to society - and when it goes wrong it affects everyone in someway or another.
Lets be honest the majority of jobs don't have any 'real' value these days, we're not a primary industry nation any more, we're a service based country, it's called progress, but don't let that cloud your blinkered views

[KatieK]

Vesuvius 996 said:

KatieK said:

JRM said:

KatieK said:

Vesuvius 996 said:

You've been taken for a cu.........

This is the same idiot in the UBS conversation who was telling everyone we should feel sorry for these bds that have ripped everyone off because they are losing their jobs.

And you're the same stupid bh who doesn't know the first thing about the financial industry, but still likes to give her hugely uninformed opinions...was funny though

So what colour were they?...

Keep kidding yourself you do something that contributes to society and don't just shuffle money around all day.

How about the hundreds of grand a year we pay in tax, love?

If you believe that..

Anyway even if you did it does not give you the right to do whatever the hell you want at the expense of everyone else.

[Vesuvius 996]

I'm too tired for a punch up, to be honest. Been earning a crust, see.


Enjoy your night.

[Vesuvius 996]

coyft said:

JRM said:

KatieK said:

JRM said:

KatieK said:

Vesuvius 996 said:

You've been taken for a cu.........

This is the same idiot in the UBS conversation who was telling everyone we should feel sorry for these bds that have ripped everyone off because they are losing their jobs.

And you're the same stupid bh who doesn't know the first thing about the financial industry, but still likes to give her hugely uninformed opinions...was funny though

So what colour were they?...

Keep kidding yourself you do something that contributes to society and don't just shuffle money around all day.

Unfortunately you are about to see just how much the financial industry does contribute to society - and when it goes wrong it affects everyone in someway or another.
Lets be honest the majority of jobs don't have any 'real' value these days, we're not a primary industry nation any more, we're a service based country, it's called progress, but don't let that cloud your blinkered views

No, we're about to see how much the financial industry sucked from the economy. Jesus I can't believe how blinkered some of you lot are. You have been brainwashed, you seem unable to think clearly and use basic common sense.

Oh dear. You're about to find out just how much your cars' value will plummet when there's no one to buy them any more.



Anyway, as I said, enjoy your night.

Edited by Vesuvius 996 on Friday 3rd October 20:44

[Tall_Paul]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Couple of questions: does the statement state that the £1000 pa figure is in today's money/value/figures?

Does it say if the annuity will provide for a spouse? If so, at what percentage and is the (possibly assumed) age of the spouse younger or older than you?

And finally, what retirement age the statement is based on? 55, 60, 65?

All the above can drastically alter the forecasted pension amount

[JRM]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

1) To get some different opinions, so that you can decide the best course. I don't know why people think financial advise is any different to anything else in life and why they only ask one person. Would you only ask one person to, say, recommmend a school for your child?

2) Well probably depends on the particular one you have, but most are personal so they are tied to you and not an employer. You mentioned that it's frozen, so I assume you have left the employer? If that's the case you could ring the pension fund adminitrator and ask if it can be ported to another pension or ask if you have any options around the portfolio structure

Most pension schemes these days comes with a mind-bending number of options, where you can chose the types of investment you want to focus on. If you've not made a preference then it might just be on a lifestyle model, so early years are higher risk (mainly equities), before moving more into bonds and cash as you get older and want to protect what you have.

Definitely worth giving them a call to find out what options you have, I'd be very surprised if you couldn't move it elsewhere or dictate the types of investments it bought into

[halo25]

Is it actually worth paying into a pension right now or directing the funds towards debts such as your mortgage.

I have watched my Virgin pension value drop - and the company one cant be far off, starting to think its better paying into the Mortgage....and maybe keeping a small amount going in until things settle.

[JRM]

halo25 said:

Is it actually worth paying into a pension right now or directing the funds towards debts such as your mortgage.

I have watched my Virgin pension value drop - and the company one cant be far off, starting to think its better paying into the Mortgage....and maybe keeping a small amount going in until things settle.

It depends.
Does your company contribute towards your pension as well? Often benefit schemes can double the money being put into the fund, so you are unlikely to match that with other cash investments

If you are just taking your net pay and putting it on a personal pension scheme invested in equities, then no, probably not the best place, you'd be better off putting it a savings account (maybe with Lloyds though rather than Halifax! - only kidding) right now.

You would probably be better off paying the mortgage off

[Vesuvius 996]

Here's my advice.

With the government skewing everything to those who have no money and who never worked or saved, and stealing the houses and savings of those who save and invest to pay for own care, I suggest you go out and enjoy yourself, blow the lot, have a party while you're alive and then rely on the state when you're too f cked to party any more and too old to care.

Goodnight.

Edited by Vesuvius 996 on Friday 3rd October 20:50

[Olf]

My father-in-law is still wondering what happened to his 800k pension fund invested with Equitable Life.

It's now worth well under 400k.

I keep handing him tissues he's crying for the city soooo much.

---

p.s. I don't have a problem with 'the city' but I can easily understand why people don't give a st.

[halo25]

JRM said:

halo25 said:

Is it actually worth paying into a pension right now or directing the funds towards debts such as your mortgage.

I have watched my Virgin pension value drop - and the company one cant be far off, starting to think its better paying into the Mortgage....and maybe keeping a small amount going in until things settle.

It depends.
Does your company contribute towards your pension as well? Often benefit schemes can double the money being put into the fund, so you are unlikely to match that with other cash investments

If you are just taking your net pay and putting it on a personal pension scheme invested in equities, then no, probably not the best place, you'd be better off putting it a savings account (maybe with Lloyds though rather than Halifax! - only kidding) right now.

You would probably be better off paying the mortgage off

Thank you

The company double my contribution up to 5% so its not like its not worth it, I just was starting to wonder whether cutting it back a bit and putting a bit more into the Mortgage was worthwhile. I am sure there are others out there thinking the same thing!

Given each £1 borrowed on a house is around £2.70 in payback!