Financial Freedom

[Chugnut]

my spreadie tells me I need £300k in the bank, in order to maintain my current standard of living.

I am over half way there

With more than one bank I hope EO.

[Jog On]

my spreadie tells me I need £300k in the bank, in order to maintain my current standard of living.

I am over half way there

That's the kind of answer I'm looking for.

[Bagpuss]

I wasn't that far off being able to live off the interest until GB started giving free money to the banks. After tomorrow, I'll be lucky to find an account paying 3% gross. Maybe I should start heavily borrowing, spending it and defaulting like everyone else

[DimPrawn]

I wasn't that far off being able to live off the interest until GB started giving free money to the banks. After tomorrow, I'll be lucky to find an account paying 3% gross. Maybe I should start heavily borrowing, spending it and defaulting like everyone else

That's what the New Lie want you to do.

Best thing to do now is to buy a small business with your capital, at a huge discount. Plan b.

http://www.businessesforsale.com/telegraph/

[Stan.goodvibes]

Given the amount of grumbling about the UK on this site, AND the fact that as contractors you guys must enjoy change, have you considered 'retiring' away from the UK? And I don't mean the eurozone.

There are plenty of wonderful cheap places in the world to live. New Zealand for one. Costa Rica is another, and it has the MAJOR bonus of not charging you any tax on income earnt outside the country.

Put your investments into a bank in a country that pays high interest rates. in NZ for example, your money is safer than in the UK (no nationalised banks here), AND you can get 7-10% on average.

So, if you have say 350k sterling, thats 1 million $NZ. Every year you'd get around 70-80k NZ$, which is enough to live on here quite comfortably, and there are loads of places in the world where the sun shines (Thailand, South America etc) where that is a fortune (tax-free).

[EternalOptimist]

I wasn't that far off being able to live off the interest until GB started giving free money to the banks. After tomorrow, I'll be lucky to find an account paying 3% gross. Maybe I should start heavily borrowing, spending it and defaulting like everyone else

sh1t.
my thinking worked yesterday, maybe not today.


Must start lateral thinking.
Must start lateral thinking.
Must start lateral thinking.
Must start lateral thinking.
Must start lateral thinking.
Must start lateral thinking.

[expat]

Given the amount of grumbling about the UK on this site, AND the fact that as contractors you guys must enjoy change, have you considered 'retiring' away from the UK? And I don't mean the eurozone.

There are plenty of wonderful cheap places in the world to live. New Zealand for one. Costa Rica is another, and it has the MAJOR bonus of not charging you any tax on income earnt outside the country.

If you're thinking of retiring to NZ, don't make the mistake of waiting until you're anyting like retiral age before looking at it. There is an age limit for entry.

I would tend, out of caution, to shy away from anywhere that is likely to be high on Americans' lists of where to retire; not because I don't like them but because I'd be likely to have my experience, or costs, swamped by their presence, as I believe has happened in Panama with property prices. Anyway, I am not generally interested in going to live somewhere I'd just feel alien and have no life, just in order to keep expenses down.

[ChimpMaster]

tulip.
my thinking worked yesterday, maybe not today.

Likewise, I had some in high interest accounts at one point yielding 6% - now just 2%. So you can't live off interest income - not that you ever really could because in time the value of your savings would deflate.

Property still yields a good return, even moreso now that interest rates are dire. Just got to watch out for that almightly collapse in prices - but if you're a long termer then just ensure a good yield and don't worry too much about annual fluctuations. You could probably pick up a reasonable BTL next year and yield 7% or thereabouts quite easily.

Having a family increases your financial needs, especially as the kids get older. Family also makes it harder to move to one of those wonderful places mentioned in a previous post above.

Tax is the biggest killer to any motivated person in this country.

But otherwise I think I'm almost there, almost in Financial Freedom.

[Fred Bloggs]

As of 25th January my mortgage will be paid off and I'll have no debt whatsoever. I'm trying to put as much as I can in my SIPP but the drawback to my plans is kids of 17 and 15 who I'll have to fund through university. I have been saving up awhile towards that eventuality though to help. I'm 52 this year, I need to get myself a really well paid job someplace for about 5 or 6 years to try to get enough cash put aside to semi retire/retire at around 60. If things pick up towards 3rd quarter this year when my current local gig finishes I think I'll have to seriously think about working away again for a few years to get hold of the big rates while I can.