Best financial decision

Owning our home outright, always spending less than we earned and saving for saving’s sake has meant that I slept easy financially. Mr Micawber had it right!

I opted out of pension scheme...would have only been £150 a month. I was living in rented accommodation. I added some of it to my savings and bought my boat and I was left with very good savings for a cushion. Not everyone's idea of heaven but it meant I own the roof over my head...I live it. I have refitted it to suit me and found peace on the river where I live. I still work and add to my savings.

Went to university in my 40s resulting in changing 'job' for 'career'. This resulted in a small private pension and modest lump sum on retirement which I wouldn't otherwise have had.

When I got my pension at 60 I carried on working and could live modestly off my pay so I spent my pension on replacing everything which was wearing out, knowing that when I retired I’d never again be able to buy a new mattress, cooker, dish washer etc. I’ve never regretted doing that.

Best financial decision we ever made was when my mother died and left me a nice little nest egg, our mortgage was already paid so we split it between our four boys with instructions to enjoy it. Each one paid it off their respective mortgage which gave us a self satisfied feeling that we'd brought them up with good money management skills!

If the truth be known, by learning from our mistakes.

I have made 3 best decisions. No.1 was, after 2nd husband left me with £85K of debt, that I would always have my own bank account and never a joint one. No.2 was that I knew I would would never work for a large enough company to have a good pension so I kept trading up properties then when I could afford was overpaying the mortgage by the maximum amount allowed each month. No.3. Deciding to retire abroad and buying a house for 25% of the amount I sold my English property for giving me a nice lump sum in savings so I can live comfortably.

Yes you can have a company pension as well as buy into a private one

Only the future will tell if it was a good investment but I paid 20% of my Small income into a voluntary pension fund for ove 15 years so that I could subsidise my pension when I retire. However, I was warned and advised at the time to enjoy life and spend it as by the time I get to pension age, the government will subtract my voluntary pension from my state pension because there won’t be enough to go round.

Switching from an endowment to a repayment mortgage many years ago. Then using my husbands redundancy money to pay off the remaining mortgage 5 years ago.
Paying into an occupational pension scheme for 40 years!

When I sold my house years ago the new build one wasn't finished, so I put the money from the sale into a 1 month bond paying high interest ….. (building society probably put it on overnight trading and made a lot more than me !) but the interest rate was really good back then and paid enough for me to build another garage on the new house and then buy it mortgage free

Good for you Saggi. I am good with money and control it all as good at it.He is t bad either.

My ex and I bought a house in 1979 and an endowment mortgage was the only mortgage on offer to us. When we parted company in 1988, I sold that house and bought a smaller one I was able to get an ordinary mortgage although the interest rate was nearly 8% and rose to 15%. I paid off the mortgage with my retirement lump sum.

Paying off the mortgage at 40 has meant I was able to finish work when my health wasn’t great.Was advised by everyone not to pay it off but definitely the best decision I ever made.

Seems most people appreciate being able to pay off their mortgages, despite being advised not to for tax reasons. I had forgotten about endowment mortgages, my ex hubby and I were not tempted to get one in the 1980s which was another fantastic decision made!

I have also had excellent support for a financial adviser, yes, I have to pay for his services, but he moved a small pension I had from my divorce to a different company which then increased in value significantly.

Our best decision was not to take out a private pension - the company we considered later went bust and we would have had nothing. We invested the money in property instead, and are now quite comfortable.

I'm so glad that my Dad made me start paying into the NHS pension scheme when I was in my 20s. I also bought 'past added years' to make up for part time working while the children were small. A FSAVC too. All this meant that I could retire at 60 despite being a 'WASPI' woman and suddenly having to wait 6 extra years for state pension. Thanks Dad!

Money not mother.....could never control her!

The best financial decision I’ve made was taking control of my own wages and pension just 7 years ago....why husband was useless with money...and I’d always handed over every penny I’d earned...then had to. ask for money to buy essentials. I hated his control of my life. But now , despite the fact that by controlling my mother ey I’ve managed to replace both kitchen and bathroom at a cost of £17000 he still won’t admit I’m ‘good’ with finances. He hates he can’t control me anymore....I love it! Best decision I’ve ever made and only 40 years too late!

Gillybob,
A lot of farmers in our area rent out their redundant buildings. It may not be practical for you to move ( I have no idea what business you are in) but could it be s possibility?

Having my own bank accounts and not having joint ones. I am quite good at saving and not being a spendthrift my other half is not quite the same and this could have led to many problems i feel.

Selling our flat in Copenhagen and moving to the other end of the country, where houses and everything else are cheaper.

Buying the council house that we shared with my in-laws,as they had been council tenants for over 30 years we got the full 50% discount so got our house for £12,500 ( bought at 1979 prices) sadly father in law died 4 years later but mother in law lived until 2006. We still live in the same house which husband was born in

It didn't cross my mind when I went for the interview, but getting a job in the bank where my mortgage was. I enjoyed the job even more when I qualified for a staff rate of interest. This became even more important after my divorce, when I took on the mortgage by myself and pennies were tight.

gillybob Can you appeal against this rent increase? Is it even legal?
Our council does this and it is so short-sighted because in the end businesses have folded here and there is no income at all from rent, from council tax, people paying income tax and shopping locally.

Instead of buying a car every few years we bought a better one with the aim of keeping it until we could no longer drive. It is now 20 years old, but still reliable, safe, and looking good. Not as economical as modern cars but very happy with my choice. And of course, it has has some repairs.

Our other good decision was to put as much as we could into our home and pensions by decorating ourselves, making own curtains, buying second hand and sprucing up, and so on. A decent pension took care of retirement.

There wasn't as much to spend money on while we were doing this, so no temptation to buy phones at £1000. No coffee shops, made own packed lunch, etc.