Poker Pensions

[byronkincaid]

I was planning on having a mattress full of fifties. bad idea?

yeah because of inflation, some people seem to think we are headed for a period of deflation which would mean that your 50's actually increase in value, but I thinks that's a load of bollox tbh, if the pound has dropped 30% or whatever then imports are going to cost 30% more and we import pretty much everything in this country so once we have sold out of the stuff currently on sale then prices are going to go up imo.

even if I'm wrong Crash Gordon is printing money for fun atm which history tells us is very inflationary. So in 10 years time you 50's might only be worth a tenner or even less if he really cocks it up and we get hyperinflation. And the good thing supposedly about inflation is that it reduces debt so your mortgage will be a lot less, but the other thing you get with inflation is high interest rates so it may turn out to be not so awesome for those of us with mortgages. It will be great for the government tho because I think most of their borrowing is on fixed rate gilts? plz correct me if I'm wrong.

the way to beat inflation is to buy assets- shares, houses, gold etc

[AndrewT]

the way to beat inflation is to buy assets- shares, houses, gold etc

It isn't if the value of the shares, houses, gold etc drops over time.

[byronkincaid]

the way to beat inflation is to buy assets- shares, houses, gold etc

It isn't if the value of the shares, houses, gold etc drops over time.

so it would be a better idea to?

[EvilPie]

the way to beat inflation is to buy assets- shares, houses, gold etc

It isn't if the value of the shares, houses, gold etc drops over time.

so it would be a better idea to?

I would say if you want to be a safe investor then a house is the way to go. At least then no matter what happens you've still got somewhere to live.

The truth is that nobody really knows and they never will.

Investment companies will tell you to do things and some will get it right, others will get it wrong. The ones that get it right will advertise the fact and get more business. The ones that get it wrong will go bust and the employees will start up another company making a living out of guesswork and gambling your money on the outcome with very little risk to themselves.

Or am I just being paranoid?

[AndrewT]

the way to beat inflation is to buy assets- shares, houses, gold etc

It isn't if the value of the shares, houses, gold etc drops over time.

so it would be a better idea to?

I'm not saying that investing in those things may not turn out to be a good idea, but they're not guaranteed to beat inflation, or even hold their value. Many of the current economic problems have been caused by people thinking there are 'sure things' that are guaranteed to increase in value.

[Ironside]

I was planning on having a mattress full of fifties. bad idea?

yeah because of inflation, some people seem to think we are headed for a period of deflation which would mean that your 50's actually increase in value, but I thinks that's a load of bollox tbh, if the pound has dropped 30% or whatever then imports are going to cost 30% more and we import pretty much everything in this country so once we have sold out of the stuff currently on sale then prices are going to go up imo.

even if I'm wrong Crash Gordon is printing money for fun atm which history tells us is very inflationary. So in 10 years time you 50's might only be worth a tenner or even less if he really cocks it up and we get hyperinflation. And the good thing supposedly about inflation is that it reduces debt so your mortgage will be a lot less, but the other thing you get with inflation is high interest rates so it may turn out to be not so awesome for those of us with mortgages. It will be great for the government tho because I think most of their borrowing is on fixed rate gilts? plz correct me if I'm wrong.

the way to beat inflation is to buy assets- shares, houses, gold etc

you have to remember this is alex martin we are talking about the only fiftys he will have to hide under his mattress is 50pences. have you not seen him play poker?

mind you by the time he reaches pensionable age the metal used in the coins might be worth something

[Div]

I was planning on having a mattress full of fifties. bad idea?

yeah because of inflation, some people seem to think we are headed for a period of deflation which would mean that your 50's actually increase in value, but I thinks that's a load of bollox tbh, if the pound has dropped 30% or whatever then imports are going to cost 30% more and we import pretty much everything in this country so once we have sold out of the stuff currently on sale then prices are going to go up imo.

even if I'm wrong Crash Gordon is printing money for fun atm which history tells us is very inflationary. So in 10 years time you 50's might only be worth a tenner or even less if he really cocks it up and we get hyperinflation. And the good thing supposedly about inflation is that it reduces debt so your mortgage will be a lot less, but the other thing you get with inflation is high interest rates so it may turn out to be not so awesome for those of us with mortgages. It will be great for the government tho because I think most of their borrowing is on fixed rate gilts? plz correct me if I'm wrong.

the way to beat inflation is to buy assets- shares, houses, gold etc

I'm of the thought that we are heading for a very short (months) period of extremely low inflation (maybe deflation) after which I reckon there's a good chance inflation will come back big time. Like you say there is a lot of money being pumped into the US and UK economies in particular. Added to that, a few years of high inflation would handily reduce the real cost of the massive government borrowings that are being undertaken right now.

I am seriously contemplating trading up the housing ladder this year and going for a very long term fixed rate on the basis that's the closest I can get to acting like a government.

also on the ISA thing there's so much contradictory stuff, for example I read this and thought yay, I'll fill up a UK tracker ISA and the year after a US one then maybe something sexier like China or India, this stuff is LOL easy

http://homepage.mac.com/j.norstad/finance/total.html

then read this and think I need to find a good fund manager

http://hedgefund.blogspot.com/2007/06/john-bogle-and-index-funds.html

then think Fk it do some research, do it all myself in a SIPP mmm derivatives are ultra sexy

http://www.zealllc.com/2001/monster.htm

It's each to their own on this one. My own thought is that investment performance is uncertain, fixed fees are a definite. So, when I set up my pension I vetoed most of the financial advisers fancy recommendations and lumped most of my money into tracker funds investing in the major economies, and some into a company bond and a UK Index Linked Gilts fund. The only money I was willing to pay a higher management fee on was the cash I put into a couple of emerging market funds.

[phatomch]

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[ScottMGee]

Mike I suggest you speak to your compliance officer before claiming that being paid by commission is the same as free advice! I think the FSA has a very different view on this!

As for your statement: -

There will be no fee's and ill split any commission I make with the blondes in question

I think the taxman has a real issue with this, as effectively you are taking money out of your pension tax free and before your retirement age. I understand that this could be viewed as an unauthorised payment and result in tax charges of up to 70% on your entire pension fund.

[phatomch]

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[ScottMGee]

Moving a pension does not take any cash out of the plan

I agree that moving the pension does not take any cash out of the pension, but rebating the commission does.

For example you move £100k from ABC to XYZ with 5% level commission and rebate half of this to the client -  net result £95,000 in your pension and £2,500 tax free in your hand. You repeat this exercise until no money in pension and £50k in your hand.

[phatomch]

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[ScottMGee]

We are not saying we will move a pension, we are saying will review the pension for free and if the Blonde in question wishes to and it's best advice, we would offer to move on there behalf.

See this is the problem with the industry, the review is not technically free it is paid for by way of commission.

The financial advice process has several stages: -

factfind, research, advice/recommendation, implemenation (transferring the pension in this case).

If working on a commission basis, then the commission pays for all four stages, hence the advice is not free - it may be fee free but it is not free.

You have also not answered my question about rebating commission from a pension sale/transfer

[Geo the Sarge]

We are not saying we will move a pension, we are saying will review the pension for free and if the Blonde in question wishes to and it's best advice, we would offer to move on there behalf.

See this is the problem with the industry, the review is not technically free it is paid for by way of commission.

The financial advice process has several stages: -

factfind, research, advice/recommendation, implemenation (transferring the pension in this case).

If working on a commission basis, then the commission pays for all four stages, hence the advice is not free - it may be fee free but it is not free.

You have also not answered my question about rebating commission from a pension sale/transfer

In effect your saying steps 1, 2 & 3 are free, however move to step 4 and you will pay commission to cover all 4.

Offering to split commission is totally against the rules. To offer reduced commission rates from what you normally charge is ok.

Anyone with an ounce of sense and willing to do a wee bit legwork can get this all done for free for themselves through the Main life offices.

There are some Pension plans where a scaled commission basis is available. Life office pays the initial commission to the advisor and then claims back from clients policy over a period which could be as much as 5 years.

e.g. - Commission payable is £5k.............clawed back from clients fund over 5 years = £1k per year, paid in monthly payments of £416.67 (rounded)

This benefits the client greatly if market movements are good or if they are invested in a cash type account which is based on Bank of England base rate.

Why anyone elects to pay a large sum on outset of plan is beyond me.

p.s. If any blondes are within a Group PP or Group Stakeholder there are now opportunities to do Direct Offer admin on their policies (in effect not be forced to take advice from an IFA and pay exhorbitant fees) however only advisable to be done by people with a bit of pensions/investments savvy.

I work for a large pensions company, however cannot give advice, I can merely state facts as above.

Geo