premium bonds.

[Horse]

A home is only an investment if you intend to sell it and cash in the money, if you intend to live in it until you die then it's a liability to you, it's an asset to whomever you leave it to.

Intentions are one thing, practicalities are not. My mother is determined to stay in her home (bought only after they both retired, they'd rented until then). But my father didn't have much choice.

Re what's left over. Well, yes. But what's the alternative? Presumably, spend it all then throw yourself onto the State?

I don't anticipate being here until I die (not that I have total control over when that is). There needs to be enough in it to at least fund some care if needed for me and/or Filly.

And I'm still not happy about comparing a non-essential luxury item like a fancy watch, to a family home that is essential to a decent stable family life.

What would you be happy with? As I said, that comparison was because you post about buying them and their appreciating value. At least rented property would be some use along the way.

It could be argued that some homes are luxury items. (Ours isn't It's nice, comfortable, we use all of it, but not luxurious).

[Dodgy69]

Nowt this month. ☹

[KungFooBob]

Nothing here either.

So that's a total of £50 for the year

[Mr. Dazzle]

I made 60p interest on my savings account

[Pirahna]

Nothing here too for wifey and myself. Might be time to move the money.

[Count Steer]

I made 60p interest on my savings account

60p! You must have £0.25M in it!

[v8-powered]

£50 for the missus, £25 for me.....

[Taipan]

2 x £25 for moi!

[Dodgy69]

£25

[KungFooBob]

Nuffink.

[Dodgy69]

Positive thinking doesn't work.

[v8-powered]

£25 again.....

[Pirahna]

£25 for me and £25 for wifey.

[v8-powered]

Our plan is to empty both NS&I accounts now and pay off one of rhe mortgages, leaving us with the pittance mortgage on the house we live in.

[KungFooBob]

Our plan is to empty both NS&I accounts now and pay off one of rhe mortgages, leaving us with the pittance mortgage on the house we live in.

Same here. We're about £20k short of paying it off today, but it'll be gone in three years time.

[v8-powered]

Our plan is to empty both NS&I accounts now and pay off one of rhe mortgages, leaving us with the pittance mortgage on the house we live in.

I'm not a super-dooper financial soothsayer, if I was then I'd pack in work and trade shorts, but I do reckon there is an absolute bastard of a financial crunch coming in about 12-18 months (if everything stays on the same vector) and if you can head into that with no debt and with a few bob in the bank then you'll be better positioned than many. A debt free balance sheet has to be the way to go, as long as you can get your hands on a bit of liquidity and you don't tie it all up in assets.

It's a perfect storm, very simplistically 'they' either bump up interest rates and risk a crash like the one in 2009, or carry on as they are with kicking it down the road and risk an even worse one with inflation. It's like they were gambling on the latter not happening and then the gods threw covid in to swing it right in their faces.

My missus is Director of an IFA business and that's her view. Cash in the bank is currently worthless and better off clearing the little debt we do have (2 mortgages - 1 BTL that we owe circa £150k and a pittance on the house we live in)
We'll still have a few bob in the bank and the income from the BTL should things go rear-shaped, plus my on-going contract doesn't look like it's ending anytime soon and her on-going fee income will keep our heads above water.

Never know, I still may make my retirement at 55!

[weeksy]

Cash in the bank is currently worthless...

It's worse than that, it becomes more worthless every month, if you have £100k in a bank account today then this time next year it will be worth £96.5k.

I watched a Youtube video the other day by some city wizzkid who was talking about where the smart money is, I had high hopes because it had about a million views and he's a self-made millionaire, I thought he was going to tell me something I didn't know. I had to laugh because he took about fifteen minutes to slowly reveal his secrets - keep a decent bit of fall-back liquidity in the bank, buy a house outright and then invest the rest in watches and fancy cars

Count yourself lucky.... my £12.46 is worth £11

[slowsider]

Count yourself lucky.... my £12.46 is worth £11

On a positive note though, if you only have £12.46 to lose then you won't be losing sleep over it.

I read a book years ago by a bloke than won the Pools, he said he still had as many worries as he always had, but now instead of worrying about having no money he now worried that he might lose it all.

Dickens:
“Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.”

[Taipan]

Another £25 for moi! I used the prize checker app which alerts normally but hadn't this time? NS&I alert emails are always much later than the prize draw?

[v8-powered]

Missus just messaged me to say she'd got a £50 win on her account, so we are at £75 for this month.