bigfoot12
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Post by bigfoot12 on Apr 18, 2017 11:10:14 GMT
So, these things do require adequate forethought. I had in fact considered getting a flexible mortgage before finishing work for just that reason, but I'd have needed a portable one like I used to have years ago because I knew I was going to have to move to the other end of the country some time shortly afterwards - I found that at the time these no longer existed. Don't know if that's still the case. You can still get self-certification mortgages from overseas lenders, but the FCA has warned against this as you lose many consumer protections. I don't think I'd want to go down that route, but it might suit some.
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ramblin rose
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“Some people grumble that roses have thorns; I am grateful that thorns have roses.” — Alphonse Karr
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Post by ramblin rose on Apr 18, 2017 12:40:52 GMT
However, I can confirm that you become a total persona non grata in any of the situations that require you to prove your income if you are savvy enough to keep most of it tax-free and therefore not declarable on a tax form. In the enforced house move I had last year it was the source of a deal of the stress I mentioned. No mortgage company will consider your investment income and therefore it's impossible to get a mortgage so if you can't, or don't wish to, put all your cash into a house purchase, you can't make one. (One mortgage broker a year or so ago told me that there's nothing to stop me spending the investments, so none of the mortgagors will accept their income. The fact that a working person can lose their job tomorrow doesn't seem to rank as such a risk. With a charge over a property, I'm quite frankly baffled by it, but it is how it is - and if anyone knows different then I'd like to know about it.) The problem there is, of course, that "self-certified" mortgages, where the lender simply takes your word for your income, were one of the factors that led to 2008's shenanigans. And, since you don't have any paperwork to prove your income... I CAN prove my income using statements from my various investment accounts, but as it's from investments and not employment it is discounted. The fact that income does not appear on a tax form does not make it unprovable. Even on a tax form the mortgagors would discount it, but SOME rental referencing agencies accept it. I have never expected anybody to 'simply take my word for my income'.
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ramblin rose
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“Some people grumble that roses have thorns; I am grateful that thorns have roses.” — Alphonse Karr
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Post by ramblin rose on Apr 18, 2017 12:47:41 GMT
So, these things do require adequate forethought. I had in fact considered getting a flexible mortgage before finishing work for just that reason, but I'd have needed a portable one like I used to have years ago because I knew I was going to have to move to the other end of the country some time shortly afterwards - I found that at the time these no longer existed. Don't know if that's still the case. You can still get self-certification mortgages from overseas lenders, but the FCA has warned against this as you lose many consumer protections. I don't think I'd want to go down that route, but it might suit some. Yes, I came across one such and tried to contact them when I was struggling with the rentals last year but I did not hear back. It actually could have suited me on the basis that I didn't have many options. I'm very happily installed in my rather nice rental now, but should I feel the desire to buy at any point I might contact you for your suggestions on that. It'll probably be quite a while though and the world will have moved on again by then
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Post by mrclondon on May 8, 2017 19:53:03 GMT
A thought provoking article in today's Guardian The meaning of life in a world without workIt's a plug for someone's recently published book, but never the less is a worthwhile read. A taster: Economically redundant people might spend increasing amounts of time within 3D virtual reality worlds, which would provide them with far more excitement and emotional engagement than the “real world” outside. This, in fact, is a very old solution. For thousands of years, billions of people have found meaning in playing virtual reality games. In the past, we have called these virtual reality games “religions”. Certainly the view of some of my ex-colleagues is that our p2p world is a 3D virtual reality !
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scc
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Post by scc on May 11, 2017 7:08:00 GMT
In answer to the OP's original question.
Currently mid 40s and could now retire. Very conflicted about doing so as I've more than a decade at current place and it's generally a good place to work (even has something of do good in the world mission). But the last year has been pretty awful - various backstabbing, lots of leavers etc - and it looks this coming year will be another one of transition before the good stuff happens. Struggling to decide whether to ride it out, go part-time or get out.
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scc
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Post by scc on May 12, 2017 13:47:01 GMT
I think when deciding whether to stay or go that it's better to have positive reasons to 'start' retirement (or another way of working) rather than having negative reasons making you want to stop because if you find yourself with little to do you may find yourself missing the activity. That's a very good point, Paul. I have plenty of hobbies etc, but possibly not quite enough to fully occupy my time. I'd probably much rather a gradual transition than an abrupt one.
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r1200gs
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Post by r1200gs on May 13, 2017 12:05:07 GMT
I'd like to think the initial application might bounce and then you'd be asked for further proof.....but it worries me too, specially as I'm about to give up on one of my CCs in disgust. And I fear that although in the past you could probably rely on them doing that, technology is probably so good now that they don't "need" to, so if "computer says no" that's it. The other thing I wondered about was possible future mobile phone contracts - heard something on the radio a couple of years or so ago about some super-rich aristo who was refused one. I lost track of this conversation a while back, so sorry for the late interjection at this point. I haven't tried applying for new credit cards or phone contracts since I started living purely off investment income but in situations requiring me to give my income I just give a reasonable estimate of what the annual income is, as has been suggested by someone, and in most life situation it will work. However, I can confirm that you become a total persona non grata in any of the situations that require you to prove your income if you are savvy enough to keep most of it tax-free and therefore not declarable on a tax form. In the enforced house move I had last year it was the source of a deal of the stress I mentioned. No mortgage company will consider your investment income and therefore it's impossible to get a mortgage so if you can't, or don't wish to, put all your cash into a house purchase, you can't make one. (One mortgage broker a year or so ago told me that there's nothing to stop me spending the investments, so none of the mortgagors will accept their income. The fact that a working person can lose their job tomorrow doesn't seem to rank as such a risk. With a charge over a property, I'm quite frankly baffled by it, but it is how it is - and if anyone knows different then I'd like to know about it.) No problem, I'm happy renting and my previous rental agent used a referencing agency that accepted 'inpedendent means' as a source of income. But, it turns out that many of them now use referencing agencies who don't. Despite me having a faultless record as a tenant over now a great many years, with landlords all happy to confirm I have never been so much as day late with rent and always leave a house cleaner than I found it, I was deemed not trustworthy enough as a tenant, not only by the computer but by the nice person pushing it's buttons too and told I would be turned down and there was nothing she could do. To obtain my current tenancy involved me insisting on talking to the director of the company and not letting him put the phone down until I'd effectively worn him down and bludgeoned him about an hour later into accepting that the various statements of income should be accepted as adequate proof. A no-brainer to me, but I've long accepted that being non-standard makes you suspect to standard people. So, these things do require adequate forethought. I had in fact considered getting a flexible mortgage before finishing work for just that reason, but I'd have needed a portable one like I used to have years ago because I knew I was going to have to move to the other end of the country some time shortly afterwards - I found that at the time these no longer existed. Don't know if that's still the case. Oh boy, do I know all about this one! I just moved back to the UK after 20 years abroad. My income is rental income, investment income and I have three years to come where I will receive stock options. All in all, it amounts to at least £50,000 a year at the moment without doing a stroke of work, and I have significant capital to the point that I don't know what to do with it. However, no job. On my return to the UK, I spent a month trying to find somewhere to rent. Estate agents were not interested in any amount of income if it were not from a job. No amount of cash on account made a difference to them. Some demand a minimum annual salary for the rent demanded, a salary that you could lose the next day while a million on account was not sufficient to satisfy them that I could pay rent. £15,000 a year job that you can lose tomorrow and some references, here's your house. £1 million in cash but no job and no references that they were prepared to take up, sling your hook. As I was staying in hotels, one agency refused to register me and insisted that I was "of no fixed abode" which may well have been technically correct, but it's also extremely insulting as we all know what the connotations are. The one that suggested I was "of no fixed abode" obviously reluctantly made a an appointment for me to view and then texted me an hour later to say it was cancelled and they would make a new one. Still waiting for it months later. Another could barely hide her impatience to get another "pointless" viewing with me out of the way. I can't get credit of any kind, no car finance, no credit card, no mobile phone contract, nothing. This bothers me not because I really need credit, but virtually every major purchase you make these days has credit priced in to it yet I have to pay cash up front when as we all know, savvy investing makes it cheaper for us to take the credit and use the cash elsewhere. No can do, computer says no. ""A no-brainer to me, but I've long accepted that being non-standard makes you suspect to standard people."" Exactly! Try being an unemployed bloke from abroad with no references that anybody is prepared to take up, no credit history that anybody is prepared to look at, not on the electoral role, nothing standard at all. The ridiculous thing is that all these concerns could have been addressed, but if there is no line to input on the computer to do that, it's doesn't get done and you are shown the door. It's been very frustrating and frankly, humiliating. Thankfully, I got past the estate agents and on to a very nice small scale landlord who could not have been happier to have me as a tenant. End of the month gets me on the electoral role and things should look up from there. As to a mortgage, I'll have to wait and see. Hopefully I'll have a job by that point anyway.
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r1200gs
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Post by r1200gs on May 13, 2017 14:21:28 GMT
Oh boy, do I know all about this one! I just moved back to the UK after 20 years abroad. Out of interest (I'm thinking of selling up and walking round the world or something equally stupid) did your historical NI No: or Tax Ref: count for anything? Did they even survive your 20yr absence? National insurance number is still in existence, I think! Well, I have one. I have yet to have the joy of now meshing a foreign tax system with the UK one. All that really mattered to UK estate agents was a verifiable credit history (so previous UK address required) references and a job. There is no credit history that I could find using my previous address from 20 years ago. You could be Saudi prince and they could not have cared less. You are an unemployed with no references that they will take up and no credit history = untouchable. In fact, instead of a solvent returning xpat with numerous glowing references from landlords, bank managers, employers....I would have been better off as a benefits claimant or an asylum seeker when it came to getting housing. What a state of affairs. As Rose has pointed out, dealing with non standard people tends to result in suspicion by standard people who can't quite understand or believe what you are telling them. I'm now expecting similar issues to emerge when I look for a relatively menial part time job, particularly when I am asked for the name of my previous UK employers, and "computer says no" when I suggest writing to one in CZ! So many absurdities arise when businesses such as banks and estate agents put systems in place with zero flexibility. If you don't tick their boxes, don't let the door hit you in the behind on the way out. There I am with enough money to live on for the rest of my life, glowing references from just over the channel, refused rental accommodation unless somebody with a £15000 a year job acts as guarantor? How absurd is that? One of the reasons I'm looking for work is not because I need it, I fully expect "unemployed" to cause other issues in the future, such as refusal of credit cards despite large balances on account. And try travelling with no credit card. Hopefully, with me being on the electoral register at the end of the month, things should improve rapidly from there in. By the way, rather than say I was unemployed, I told a couple of estate agents that I was retired. Made no difference to them.
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macq
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Post by macq on May 13, 2017 16:37:18 GMT
i am starting to feel sorry for the Queen knowing she has these problems.
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2017 18:00:54 GMT
I've had some of these problems, I still find "independantly wealthy" seems to help, because we Brits are taught to not shout about wealth.
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Post by yorkshireman on May 13, 2017 19:27:02 GMT
OK, so you succeed in retiring at 45 then run out of money at 80 and can no longer take care of yourself, the government says there is no nursing home care available for you. So what do you do? You opt for "Medicare Plan G". The plan gives anyone 75 or older a gun (Plan G) and one bullet. You are allowed to shoot one worthless politician. This means you will be sent to prison for the rest of your life where you will receive three meals a day, a roof over your head, central heating and air conditioning, cable TV, a library, and all the health care you need. Need new teeth ? No problem. Need glasses ? That's great. Need a hearing aid, new hip, knees, kidney, lungs, sex change, or heart ? They are all covered !! As an added bonus, your kids can come and visit you at least as often as they do now !! And, who will be paying for all of this ? The same government that just told you they can't afford for you to go into a nursing home and you will get rid of a useless politician while you are at it. And now, because you are a prisoner, you don't have to pay any more income tax! Is this a great country or what ? Now that I've solved your senior financial plan, enjoy the rest of your weekend.
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macq
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Post by macq on May 13, 2017 19:49:32 GMT
have you seen old people trying to make a decision now you want them to pick just one politician,that's cruel
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skippyonspeed
Some people think I'm a little bit crazy, but I know my mind's not hazy
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Post by skippyonspeed on May 13, 2017 20:35:53 GMT
OK, so you succeed in retiring at 45 then run out of money at 80 and can no longer take care of yourself, the government says there is no nursing home care available for you. So what do you do? You opt for "Medicare Plan G". The plan gives anyone 75 or older a gun (Plan G) and one bullet. You are allowed to shoot one worthless politician. This means you will be sent to prison for the rest of your life where you will receive three meals a day, a roof over your head, central heating and air conditioning, cable TV, a library, and all the health care you need. Need new teeth ? No problem. Need glasses ? That's great. Need a hearing aid, new hip, knees, kidney, lungs, sex change, or heart ? They are all covered !! As an added bonus, your kids can come and visit you at least as often as they do now !! And, who will be paying for all of this ? The same government that just told you they can't afford for you to go into a nursing home and you will get rid of a useless politician while you are at it. And now, because you are a prisoner, you don't have to pay any more income tax! Is this a great country or what ? Now that I've solved your senior financial plan, enjoy the rest of your weekend. But, that's only 650 people covered, I think you'd have to extend the range...... maybe, dodgy bank managers, "financial" advisors, traffic wardens, double glazing salesmen, estate agents spring to mind..........also old people might need two or three shots!!!
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snowmobile
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Post by snowmobile on May 16, 2017 8:54:23 GMT
Out of interest (I'm thinking of selling up and walking round the world or something equally stupid) did your historical NI No: or Tax Ref: count for anything? Did they even survive your 20yr absence? National insurance number is still in existence, I think! Well, I have one. I have yet to have the joy of now meshing a foreign tax system with the UK one. All that really mattered to UK estate agents was a verifiable credit history (so previous UK address required) references and a job. There is no credit history that I could find using my previous address from 20 years ago. You could be Saudi prince and they could not have cared less. You are an unemployed with no references that they will take up and no credit history = untouchable. In fact, instead of a solvent returning xpat with numerous glowing references from landlords, bank managers, employers....I would have been better off as a benefits claimant or an asylum seeker when it came to getting housing. What a state of affairs. As Rose has pointed out, dealing with non standard people tends to result in suspicion by standard people who can't quite understand or believe what you are telling them. I'm now expecting similar issues to emerge when I look for a relatively menial part time job, particularly when I am asked for the name of my previous UK employers, and "computer says no" when I suggest writing to one in CZ! So many absurdities arise when businesses such as banks and estate agents put systems in place with zero flexibility. If you don't tick their boxes, don't let the door hit you in the behind on the way out. There I am with enough money to live on for the rest of my life, glowing references from just over the channel, refused rental accommodation unless somebody with a £15000 a year job acts as guarantor? How absurd is that? One of the reasons I'm looking for work is not because I need it, I fully expect "unemployed" to cause other issues in the future, such as refusal of credit cards despite large balances on account. And try travelling with no credit card. Hopefully, with me being on the electoral register at the end of the month, things should improve rapidly from there in. By the way, rather than say I was unemployed, I told a couple of estate agents that I was retired. Made no difference to them. It shouldn't be necessary to be in work simply to get access to credit, unless you actually want to work The issue is more to do with your lack of credit history, rather than lack of employment. Just a little background, as I'm new to this thread. Since 'retiring' at 46 I have applied for at least 20-30 current accounts, credit cards etc. I state my occupation as retired and income is a very conservative estimate of my investment income. I've only had a couple of rejections and noticed no increase in the cost of insurance. Luckily I've not needed to deal with rental estate agents or apply for a mortgage. You can keep an eye on your credit scores for free, by joining the MSE Credit Club, Clearscore and Noddle. Full details here www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/check-free-credit-report. Those services can also give you an indication of which credit cards you are most likely to be accepted by. I would also suggest approaching the private banking divisions of the major banks. They have people who are used to dealing with non standard situations, and may be able to overrule when the 'computer says no'.
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Post by brianac on Jun 12, 2017 18:02:43 GMT
I'm <trying> to get into early retirement, (but lack of funds is a problem!!) from the savings and pension I've so far got, what is a realistic (%) rate for drawdown? figure used to be <around> 5%, but with interest rates as they are at present, is that optimistic? Plan (hope) is to get just enough into pension to make the tax threshold, and invest the rest via ISA's so that returns are tax exempt Brian
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