Picket Fence

He is wrong. It is a vibrant place in its own right. But - there are more people than there are jobs so plenty of people have to commute to London, Crawley or wherever. So he is right to some extent.

Not true. If you die before retirement it's possible that your fund will pay a pension to the surviving spouse or pay a pension to any dependant children until they become adults. If you die a day after retirement you may lose the lot - depends if you have opted for spouse pension or not.

A typical final salary scheme needs pension contributions of about 20% of a person's salary - usually paid for mostly by the employer. A typical defined contribution scheme involves an employer paying in a few percent with the employee doing the same - often less than 10% combined. In closing final salary schemes employers have got rid of the risk. With their smaller contributions to defined contribution schemes they have also got rid of much of the cost. A win-win for them. Many people today who think they are saving towards a decent pension face a shock when they retire and find out how low their pension will actually be - me included probably. It's not all bad though. We can all go and work in the public sector - Gordon is probably looking to expand it isn't he? He'll surely look after us won't he?

Most people have plenty of unnecessary expenditure they could reduce if they really wanted to - and still lead a reasonable life. See impatient mug's post above for examples.

Good point Quoth. I have managed to knock 2 years off my mortgage by regularly overpaying - two years after taking out the mortgage the original 25 year term is now only 21. Now switching to an offset so it should reduce even faster. I'm lucky - or sensible. Didn't overstretch myself. I suppose many on here will argue that buying the house in the first place wasn't sensible but that's another matter. Many people struggle to meet an interest only payment let only any capital or overpayments.

For every £1 borrowed on a 25 year mortgage you will pay back more than £2. This obviously increases the higher the interest rate is. If you can afford overpayments in the early years of a mortgage then you can hugely reduce the total amount of interest paid back. Of course, the early years tend to be the hardest financially which makes overpayments difficult for most people. Cutting back on other unnecessary costs in order to overpay makes sense to me.

If you pay £150k off your mortgage, the bank can't claim it back. If you saved the £150k you should consider spreading it between various banks as only £35k of savings per bank is protected.

Im in a very similar position - just without the inheritance! Enjoy life. Enjoy being a parent. Enjoy your sudden vastly improved financial position. I don't mean fritter it away - use it to slash your mortgage. Sell and rent? Do you want the instability of that? Could be financially sensible I suppose but is it too late? You could be waiting a while for a sale in the current market. The great unknown is how much your current house value will fall. I know we didn't enter the housing market at the best time (May 06) but with a young son myself I greatly value the stability our house provides. You could of course buy a few flash cars. Or a nice city centre flat to rent out. Hmm.

You didn't overlook it. First Direct stopped taking applications at about 5pm. They were bound to be inundated as so many other lenders have recently increased rates. First Direct may reappear once they've dealt with the backlog - with higher rates of course.

So your problem is that the mortgage balances are below the minimum for a fixed rate? That's not a bad problem to have. I wonder if you could consolidate the remaining balances into one mortgage. Probably more hassle than it's worth with those remaining balances.

Don't worry - you're bound to get heaps of sympathy on here. Did the bank give a reason?

Who said anything about keeping the market alive? Wasn't the point simply that fixed rate deals (even if they are more suitable for remortgages) are still available at significantly under 8%?

Did you just wander in and negotiate a decent rate? Below advertised rates? I'm in a similar position. Long history of banking with the Nationwide and decent history of mortgage overpayments. At advertised rates though I'll take my business elsewhere.

The Argus reported a couple of weeks ago that my council tax bill would be increasing at a below inflation rate this year. Got the bill yesterday - they weren't lying - it's only gone up by 4.1%

£4 sounds pretty unfair to me. If you invest in shares you can make big gains - or big losses. If you don't accept this risk then you shouldn't be investing. It seems to me that NR is worth approximately nothing.

Do you trust him? If he advises 5 years then it mean he gets no commission for 5 years. If he advises 2 years then you may go back to him in 2 years time, thereby earning him commission again. Do you need the security of a 5 year fix?

I did exactly that. Bought a house about 2 years ago after much consideration and then avoided this site until recently. My advice would be to go and bury your head in a bucket of pebbles. Good luck with the house.

I actually think she found herself a rather fine husband. And I think my son has himself a pretty good dad. I hope I provide them both with a great deal more than just financial support.

I have a 14 month old son. My wife hasn't worked since his birth. She was paid 6 months of maternity pay (courtesy of Laurejon's taxes - thanks mate) and we have funded ourselves fully since then - she gave up the job. It's a struggle and a huge change from how things were but I don't regret it for a second. She is soon to start a new part-time job - probably 3 days per week. No grandparents nearby to provide free childcare so we'll have to pay for it. I hope my son gains something from it - he should learn some social skills and will have experiences he wouldn't get at home. At the same time we feel uncertain about what is the right thing to do. Should we continue to give him 100% parental care or should we seek to improve the overall family finances? It's a delicate balance for any new parents. I'm not sure from this thread whether I should feel guilty or not. Are we neglecting the little man by putting him into a nursery? I will claim everything I can - tax credits, nursery vouchers etc. And part of the reason for returning to work is so she's entitled to maternity pay again should a second baby come along - you get 9 months maternity pay now Laurejon so keep those taxes coming in - ta.

Nothing wrong with them at all as far as I know. They're owned by the Spanish. As safe as houses then I reckon. Spanish house prices probably only ever increase too.

In order to operate in the UK, all banks have to comply with FSA rules and regulations - including the compensation scheme. It doesn't matter who owns them. I might withdraw all my money and stash it under the mattress though - just in case.

In my expreience Australia uses pin numbers for debit cards but not credit cards which you still have to sign for. Surely machines in shops should be able to detect foreign cards and use whatever system is appropriate. Cash machine detect foreign cards. I was recently in Switzerland. Mostly signed but once chip and pinned.

Can anyone provide a link to this document or tell me where I can find it? I've looked but can't see it. Thanks.