MoneySaving Archives - Page 25 of 43

I have two wonderful boys. I hope to live a long and happy life with them however because sometimes terrible things happen Roy and I have comprehensive life insurance so that if one or both of us shuffle off in an untimely manner we will do so knowing that the boys are financially sound. Likewise, if either of us leaves the other behind we would do so knowing that the financial burden of raising the boys and looking after everything else would be covered.

What we haven’t put enough thought into however is what will happen should we live to a ripe old age and face a long and leisurely retirement. We know and understand the importance of saving for a rainy day and the boys of course have CTFs (Child Trust Funds) in place however we have no private pensions or investments in place to see us through our golden years as such.

Having done a quick Google on investments for retirement planning and the like I have found a wealth of irrelevant and quite frankly confusing information. Ignoring this I have had a look at the SIPP Centre which has information about tax-efficient investment for retirement and this has opened a few doors in terms of our thinking about what we want to do.

In terms of pensions, it doesn’t bear thinking about what the government pension will be by the time we retire. Roy has access to a work pension however I am self-employed and do not so it is time to join the pro-active retirement planning party and make sure we have enough to keep us in the style we would like to become accustomed to when the time comes. There are other options we are considering, such as bonds, savings options or we might do something a little different and buy draftkings shares. Either way, we are working hard now to ensure that we will be financially sound when it comes to retirement.

My question for you today is this: Have you sorted your retirement out financially speaking yet or like me are you just grasping the bull by the horns now and find the vast amount of information “out there” commercially self-serving and jargon-packed? I’d love to hear we are not the only ones who have until now buried our heads in the sand somewhat!

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Once upon a time in a house not too far from where I live now lived a young girl called Nicki. She shared a big attic bedroom with one of her sisters. Being in the attic meant that Nicki could enjoy lots of light from the two window however her teenage self didn’t necessarily enjoy dragging herself up from her bed or chair to close the VELUX® blinds when the sun moved. (Teenage Nicki could be a lazy little irk at times!).

If Teenage Nicki were a teenager now she would no doubt be begging (whining at in a sullen voice) her parents to visit their money tree to buy some remote control window blinds such as those found in the VELUX webshop instead of having to physically move and open and close them herself.

Teenage Nicki is long gone however the older version (me) no longer lives in the attic bedroom of her parent’s home. I do still love windows though, letting lots of light in and I have a definitely have different interest in VELUX these days, rather than thinking of them simply as a company that makes the window coverings that I once had to open and close manually (perish the thought).

I have a fondness for both interior design and saving money. My particular bugbear at the moment is the amount of money my energy company wants from me and I am looking for long term solutions to this as opposed to short term benefits such as switching tariffs or changing energy provider (or introducing anything that looks hideous and spoils how my home looks).

I have been introduced to some interesting information on the VELUX website regarding sustainable living and how to create a healthy and balanced indoor climate. I have to say that the video on the site is excellent and well worth a watch (may be found here) as it really made me think about my windows in a whole new way. I will be making big changes over the coming year to the way I use energy, heat my home and power things as our energy bills, like most people’s bills have spiralled out of control in recent years.

If you are looking for more info on saving money on your heating bills it may be worth reviewing how well your windows are insulated as well as looking at other ways to reduce your energy usage without having to lay out a huge amount of money first.

If you have any hints and tips for myself or other readers on insulating your home, saving money on heating or simply reducing gas and electricity usage please do leave a comment. I am on an inspiration hunt at the moment and am determined to cut my costs in a family and design friendly way!

*This post has been written and published in collaboration with VELUX

Showing all posts in MoneySaving

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