Make Money Fast Blog: Listener Questions

Questions Asked

I've just graduated and I'm about to start my first big job! I managed to find your podcast at just the right time, as I'm trying to work out anything about money and how to start on the right foot. This season came out at just the right time, as I was a bit lost until I found you.

My question is that I am about to start earning a lot more than I thought I was as a graduate. I have always been told to ignore my student loans by my parents as it's essentially a tax, but looking at some calculators I would pay it all off in 25 years before it gets cleared and pay more than double the £45,600 in interest. I'm thinking of trying to overpay it off more quickly than that as it seems very big to have especially with 7.3% interest rate. I'm not sure if I should prioritize this, as I could start now, but as I'm starting work I'm still very uncertain of what to save and how I should treat this debt. Or should I not worry about it this early on?

Thank you so much!
Sophie
Thank you so much for a truly excellent podcast. I recommend it to everyone!! 5 stars!

My partner recently traced a pension from an old employer. When he contacted the company they told him the pension was all paid out to him when he left the company, 9 years ago. He was 28 at the time.

Is that possible? I believed it wasn’t possible to access pensions until 10 years before state pension age. The exceptions I’m aware of (certain types of job/illness) aren’t relevant here. I can’t believe this pension would have had particularly special properties. It was while he was working for Experian.

He doesn’t remember receiving a lump sum, and is checking with his bank (it’s too far back to see online). Did the person he spoke to just make a mistake? He is reluctant to go back to them without anything concrete, and it is hard to trust what they say.

Any advice on what to do next?

Thank you,
Ellie
I am a huge fan of the show and have benefitted enormously from your guidance – thank you. Pete for an OBE!

May I put this question forward please for the podcast:

I am a higher rate tax payer and contribute to a SIPP on top of my employer pension (very generous DB scheme) to keep my earnings underneath £100k so that I can benefit from free childcare hours and about the 60% tax trap bracket between £100-£125k. However, I am now breaching the annual £60k pension allowance and so end up paying significant tax on the additional pension contributions in my self assessment. I am so aware that this is a privileged position to be in and want to contribute my fair share of tax but I wondered what other channels I should be exploring to be as tax efficient as possible please (I have never dabbled in VCTs!)

Thank you hugely

Joanne
How do I weigh up the relative value of AVC on my DB pension rather than investing in a LISA or S&S ISA where I retain my capital?

Thanks

James
I have fallen into the 60% tax trap on a number of occasions, to mitigate this I have tried to top up my pension to get my earnings below 100k to reduce my tax bill. Being the main earner and with 2 very expensive teenagers I don’t have enough spare cash to do this easily so have taken the money out of a S+S ISA in the past.

I know this shifts the balance of my assets massively into pensions but it seems worth it to reduce tax. My question being is this a reasonable plan? Is it a good idea to do this or am I better keeping retirement options more flexible with a larger ISA pot?

Kind regards and thanks for all the information, it makes a massive difference

Giles

Send Us Your Listener Question

We’re going to spin out the listener questions into a separate Q&A show which we’ll drop into the feed every 2-3 weeks or so. These will be in addition to the main feed, most likely, but they’re easier for us to produce because they require less writing! Send your questions to hello@meaningfulmoney.tv Subject line: Podcast Question