Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms Financial planning: what indexes are you using?

Definitely. I borrowed £100 from my father to buy my first motorbike, and we bought our house with a mortgage, but apart from that I've always saved up for stuff. I've never liked the idea of being in debt or renting stuff as it removes options. You can't tell your boss to Eff Off if you need to keep your job to make this month's credit card payments.

Best practice: Planning of any kind, should aways be printed on one side only, so it can at leat serve as scrap paper.

That so rang an accord with me, I was fortunate to work for a really good employer that paid well above the industry norm but was quite demanding of you. They sucked you in deeper by giving you more money hoping you would get a bigger house etc and therefore become more financially indebted and therefore more dependant upon them and so the screw turned. In the late 80's after a final 2 year spell of a 5 year stint abroad, where they paid for everything in a beautiful home I had enough savings to pay off my mortgage. Paying off that mortgage removed a shackle and the dependency tie to the company, lifting a weight and an obligation from my shoulders. So much so they noticed a change in my approach, the MD pulled me to one side after a Board meeting having noted there's something different since coming back to the UK, I never let on, but it did change my approach to everything. I remained with the company for quite a few years after, but they had lost that effective control over my finances and therefore me. Since then I have been completely debt free and pay cash for everything and never place myself under any financial obligation to anyone

John I had a very similar experience. We came back to the UK after 12 years abroad (Germany, Holland, Kenya & Holland) to join Reckitt & Colman. After 2 1/2 years as European Engineering Director Benkiser bought them. They made me redundant with a big mortgage & 4 kids. I worked as a consultant flat out till I got a "real job" again. The redundancy was untouched & I paid off the mortgage with it.

The freedom to act after that was amazing & coercive management control didn't work on me.
3 redundancies later I am happily retired.
Changing jobs & taking the redundancy after the first wasn't an issue due to having a secure base.

Yes, I find it quite sad how so many people are sucked into the Happiness=Standard of Living. illusion, instead of Happiness=Quality of Life. We've never pursued the obvious trappings of wealth but instead went as fast as we possibly could for financial independence and security. You don't need a lot of money to be rich, you just need to want less than you are able to afford. I reckon it's because I'm fundamentally lazy. Who wants to work harder than they need to? Much easier to rein in ambition than bust a gut working for someone else. Work to live, don't live to work.

Still, each to their own. We all have to steer our own path through life.

The best decision we made was on our second house move, we opted for shorter Mortgage which was paid off when we were 56. We stuck to the same date on the next house move. The original goal was early retirement at 56 too which Mrs F managed and I missed by 4 years becoming fully retired at 60 having worked part time for the previous year.

All good advise depending on one's personal circumstances and comfort levels. With interest rates being the way they have been and the Markets growth for the last 10 years there has been the ability to make money with money. On retiring seven years ago I sold and downsized my home with the ability to pay in cash from the proceeds. However with interest rates at 2.75% fixed for 10 years with ability to payoff without penalty I refinanced putting the cash into the portfolio which has earned 8%, with 3 years to go even if the market crashes and I payoff I will be ahead. The wealthy don't spend their money but use their money to make money that they live off, they always have and always will.

Looks like the Bank of England is about to loosen mortgage borrowing requirements and some lending institutions are already considering 50 year fixed interest rate mortgages, which will considerably help those first time buyers. With stimulated demand and a larger mortgage potential will come the inevitable house price inflation. Whilst this is good news all round, one has to wonder with this type of house price stimulation is to bolster inheritance, CT and Capital Gains taxes for the Treasury, that is pretty annoyed that hundreds of billions increase house prices is going untaxed at the moment. Some estimated £750bn increase in the average house prices alone over the last 12 months or so.

Bloody good idea if you ask me. Houses should be for people to live in, not investment vehicles to avoid paying taxes. I still fail to see why CGT is at a lower level than income tax - and not even applied to many assets that naturally appreciate but which are only available to those who are already comparatively wealthy.

Work hard, contribute to society and you pay tax. Buy a load of art or watches or classic cars and then sit on your arse doing FA watching them appreciate and you pay sod all when you flog them. Doesn't seem exactly progressive or fair to me. CGT should be on everything and at the same levels as income tax.

CGT is already payable on second and subsequent houses, also on art and watches, indeed most personal possessions other than cars. No CGT on the sale of primary residences but the Government eventually gets that via IHT.