Who wants to be a Retirement Millionaire?

Who wants to be a Retirement Millionaire?

Although (hopefully) readers here will be aware that they don’t need an enormous pension pot to retire; reaching a cool million still remains the goal for many others. What better feeling than hitting that 7 figures? However there are several things to consider before you get knocked over with a huge tax bill at the end. As the pension freedoms were introduced back in April, there also came a controversial announcement of a reduction in the lifetime allowance – from…

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Saving money with a Staycation

Saving money with a Staycation

I’ve never been a big fan of holidays. I mean; I’ve spent a tonne of money on purchasing a lovely house.. filling it with all my worldly possessions and have picked a location that has everything I need/want nearby. Why then would I want to endure the time, effort and cost of going away on some extravagant foreign holiday? I don’t know what it is about the stressing to ensure everything is packed, stressing about missing the plane, stressing about…

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Retirement investments you may not have thought of

Retirement investments you may not have thought of

Following on from being asked to feature in my first ever article last month on key actions required to retire early, I asked Ryan to contribute towards an article here and he provided one looking at some of the alternative investment options you might consider for retirement. Obviously everyone should do their own research and if in doubt; speak with an independent financial advisor, however it is interesting to hear about some of the other possibilities beyond the typical shares/bonds/BTL….

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Ways to save money by NOT doing something

Ways to save money by NOT doing something

Any time I talk with people who speak about their money problems I keep hearing the same old excuse repeated: It’s too difficult to save money, I cant be bothered to save money, It’s too much effort to save money And really; who could blame them? In a modern world where we are constantly bombarded with advertisements and marketing aimed at getting us to spring into action and spend our hard earned money. Companies who make it as difficult as…

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Thoughts on remortgaging and credit scores

Thoughts on remortgaging and credit scores

Since purchasing our first home back at the start of 2014 we’ve always aimed to have it paid off as soon as possible. With interest rates at an all time low and the stock markets recovering nicely; some have started to question the value of over-paying a mortgage instead of investing to be ‘mortgage neutral’. Aside from the obvious psychological benefit of being mortgage free at a quicker date, one of the main reasons why I’ve tended to focus on…

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May 2015 Income/Expenses

May 2015 Income/Expenses

It was payday yesterday which means time for this month’s Income/Expenses! I think it’s important to keep track of your income/expenses every month as it allows you to spot trends and areas for improvement. I find it really useful to track the spending changes each month, and really motivating to see the networth improvements. Sometimes it can seem like financial independence is so far away, but by watching your networth steadily increasing you’ll know you will reach that point eventually….

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Common replies to the Financial Independence closet exit

Common replies to the Financial Independence closet exit

I was recently reading though an interview conducted by TheFireStarter who was speaking with the often hillarious Financial Zombie when he mentioned a term which really stuck in my head: Are you in or out of the FI closet with friends and family? I think it’s a great term for the situation we find ourselves in as from what I’ve read on fellow blogs; many really do think of themselves firmly trapped in a financial independence plan closet. It’s odd…

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Can you afford NOT to save?

Can you afford NOT to save?

I first saw this photo a few months ago on a finance forum in a thread about starting a pension fund. The thread starter was roughly my age and asking whether he should begin saving into the company pension scheme. The details were roughly that the company would double his own contributions at 4% salary sacrifice.. however like most young people there was the constant draw of nights out and flashy gadgets all battling for a slice of his income…

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Retirement & Wealth – Where do the parties stand

Retirement & Wealth – Where do the parties stand

As if it were possible for any UK readers to be unaware.. there is an election coming up. I’ve previously spoke a bit on some of my thoughts on certain policies such as a taxation on wealth (Which, no surprise; I’m against) and inheritance tax. It seems most of the current debate unsurprisingly centres around the economy, healthcare and immigration. Unfortunately there hasn’t been much information in the media about the various pledges regarding the state pension and taxation on…

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April 2015 Income/Expenses

April 2015 Income/Expenses

It’s payday today which means time for this month’s Income/Expenses! I think it’s important to keep track of your income/expenses every month as it allows you to spot trends and areas for improvement. I find it really useful to track the spending changes each month, and really motivating to see the networth improvements. Sometimes it can seem like financial independence is so far away, but by watching your networth steadily increasing you’ll know you will reach that point eventually. A…

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