Back to the advice bit. She said out of the £100k,£20k has been put into 2 kick out ISA’s. Those are new to me. The rest is in a low risk fund,but she doesn’t know anything else about it. The ongoing charges are about 1.5% ,she thinks.She seems convinced that the investments will gross 3% to 10% per annum.
Not getting into personal details but her son and daughter don’t really play much of a part in her life.As she doesn’t drive,and we are not on a bus route,it was up to neighbours to take her everywhere after her husband died.

She spoke to me yesterday but I got the impression that she doesn’t really know what she is signing.She wasn’t offered any alternative investment options.
I gave my opinion,which some people on here share,but she has no real grasp of anything financial.Her manner is that she doesn’t want to talk about it as it’s too confusing.Her late husband dealt with absolutely everything and my wife and neighbours had to organise her moving house as she was totally lost with the process.

She is in her 70’s and wants the £100k to eventually go to her son and daughter.
I don’t think the adviser is really spreading the risk. He is putting it into one company whose fund manager may underperform the general market.Even this companies high risk funds only averaged around 5% gross.
I’m with IHN and would be spending it.

LV for my 2 cars. Easy to deal with and the price for the 2 was only slightly more than I was paying for the bigger car. The European breakdown cover is cheap as well.

My neighbour has a pallet business. Runs 4 wagons,has a yard in Newcastle,and an internet site.Seems to be doing well as him and his son have just got brand new Merc coupes and he’s bought a 20 plate Swift motorhome.

Brexit may possibly change the present rules.
If you are not of retirement age then opting for residencia means you will have to become a part of the Spanish system if you intend to be there for more than 6 months.Everybody ignores the 3 month rule where you turn up at a designated centre with your private health insurance,bank statements to support yourself,etc.
For the residencia you will need a Spanish address that you own or a lease agreement on a let.
I have had residencia in the past but seeing as I never do more than 6 months I let it lapse. I have found over many years that Spanish bureaucracy is frustrating,time consuming and can be costly.

As yet no details of the final deal have been released so it’s just second guessing about prices rising or falling.

I think prices at the moment are quite high for cheaper tourers. The Elddis I have just sold after 3 years use made a small profit of £200 above the buying price.
Depending on your confidence,buying privately normally saves you money and you might get a load of gear thrown in.Buying a quality awning,waste/water containers,hitchlock,etc,can soon add up.If it’s been recently independently serviced with a damp report then that’s more or less what you’d get at a dealer. Take a damp meter along and be wary of dealers damp reports.
As somebody mentioned,the Caravan and Motorhome Club and Caravan and Camping club offer seasonal pitches and some sites have storage facilities.

Just pointed some flags up this week. Neighbour, who’s into DIY,said use a dryish sharp sand / cement mix.Should have ignored him as the flags pulled all the moisture out of the mortar leaving the joints just full of powder.
Next time normal consistency and watered along the joints with a watering can before I started.As the mortar started to go off I sponged it with clean water to smooth it and clean the edges up.
A squirt of washing up liquid into the mortar makes it a bit smoother.

I had the same problem with these hubs but on road wheels. Brand new and the wheel would barely turn. Thinking it was the bearings I ordered some new ones and knocked out the old.
The old ones were smooth so I pressed them back in. Badly notchy.
I presumed the hub bearing diameter had been machined too small so crushing the bearing.Plenty of time with some wet and dry and pressing and removing the bearings until I removed most of the notchiness.Then I fitted the new bearings.Not a good recommendation for expensive hubs.

Around my way the white pick up fraternity buy a small piece of farmland.First off there’s a shed and some horses.Next its a touring caravan,followed shortly after by their friends caravans. Then a bigger shed.The touring van goes and is replaced by a static . Planning permission goes in for a detached house.Seems to work and you’ve got yourself a cheap building plot.North east by the way .

Rita,Sue and Bob too . The costumer designer actually came into our clothes shop for advice about the sort of clothes for the actors. I don’t think trackie bottoms were as popular then.

This thread really is designed for remoaners to vent their spleens.Again.
How many of you will be booking your ferry or flights when lockdown is over to head off to your vision of utopia ?

We lived and worked in Southern Spain for about 17 years.Made the move purely because we wanted a change from what we were doing in the UK.
Spain was different then to what it is today.Now it’s shopping centres,Ikea,McDonalds,etc.People want the big German cars to impress and all the consumerist stuff that’s been fed to us.Now,it’s not really much different to any other Western European country.
Other Brits I know out there moved because of problems in the UK,relationship,financial.The problems were actually made worse by the move.They blamed being in the UK for this when it was actually poor decisions by themselves.I still see these people on social media taking any opportunity they can to vociferously criticise any aspect of UK life.They are still embittered.
Not initially speaking the language or knowing the systems caused enormous problems.
As we still have a house there we split our time but more of it will be spent in the UK.
Most of our friends out there , Spanish and British,are older,and the healthcare system in our region,Murcia,really concerns us.
When you are younger its new and exciting and that’s great,but down the line other considerations come into play.People miss family and friends,especially if things are not going well.
I’d say go for it,but don’t cut off ties to the UK.

U

Personally,i don’t like personal pensions.Yes,the Government adds to it but potentially gains more back in tax if the fund grows.If the poster is looking for a largish lump sum down the line then a pension won’t do that.
Follow the old saying , “its not timing the market its time in the market “.
You need to decide just how much risk you are prepared to accept and how active you want to be.
Do you want to be regularly checking the performance and switching funds,or just leave it and hope the fund managers do their job in the long term.
I have had better results from the specialist invest companies than ones that do pet,house,car insurance,etc.Banks have been particularly poor with a limited range of investments spewed out of the computer depending on your criteria.
Some years ago i was talking to a man who had his own investment company for the seriously wealthy.A client asked him how he could make him a million and his reply was ” give me 2 million to start with “.

We ditched our landline after years of excuses from Openreach.”Oh,its rained and the box is flooded “.”A farmers driven over your cable “.Eventually an engineer admitted that we had a rotten underground cable that Openreach will never spend money on to replace.Our neighbours broadband works fine so we give them a few quid every month to use the connection.

If you have the time and the inclination just about everything is available on the internet. Hargreaves Landsdown would be investment advice only.Don’t use a banks adviser as they are rebadged salespeople.Speak to a few IFA’s face to face and go with a gut feeling.You may find its less complicated than you think.

I drive over to Spain every year to spend 6 months there over winter.
Never driven through France as i don’t fancy the length of the drive and by the time you look at tolls and fuel then Portsmouth – Bilbao/Santander there’s not much in it.
On the routes, Brittany Ferries,there is an economie ferry available which might save a few quid.Not as many shops or eating places as the bigger ferry but not a problem for me.
Looking on the Govt website with regard to IDP’s then even with a no deal Spain does not require one unless you are staying over 6 months. Obviously travelling through France it might be best to get one.
I wouldn’t use the hotels at the sides of the motorways for an overnight.Much better to get off the Autovia and find a place in a small village or town.Plenty on Booking.com.
A really overlooked place for mtb’ing is the Sierra Espuna in the Murcia Region. The small Spanish village of El Berro has a cracking campsite, bars,2 bakers and a shop.Epic TV has a short film on it.I’m a bit biased as i have a house there and will be setting off on Tuesday until mid March.

No matter how bad the present government or its leader is,Labour doesn’t believe it could win a general election. This is a reflection on how most of the political class are viewed by the public.The only good thing that may come out of this debacle is that there is a complete overhaul of politics in this country.

Suzuki Swift.5k will get you a 2015 with low miles.No turbo,decent mpg,but wheel off for a bike in the back.Relative bought one from new and now has over 100k on it with just routine servicing and consumables.

My wife has had two new knees and a hip replacement,with the first knee being in her 40’s.
She didn’t follow the regime for her first knee and paid for it as her recovery took over 2 years. Swimming was easily the best recovery tool.

I assume if you confess up to the DVLA that you’ve been the owner for the last 3 years,and not taxed it for 2,then they’ll fine you for not taxing it or putting it on sorn.

I have a house in a small Spanish village and the residents association set up a small walled area next to the recycling bins specifically for things like fridges,old furniture,etc.
Every couple of weeks a guy arrives with a big trailer and takes the stuff away.He’s on contract from the council and makes a bonus by being able to keep any money from the scrap value of the stuff.

Not sure if your budget allows it but i like the areas around Pickering,Helmsley,etc.You’ve got the N Yorks moors on your doorstep but the coast a short drive down the road if thats your thing.Overall,if thinking of Yorkshire, its got to be North Yorks.

I think some dealers are becoming too greedy. We were looking at trading in my wifes Suzuki. Forecourt prices for her car at main dealers were £4000/£4500 and we were offered £2000 in part ex for it. When i asked about the big mark up i was told the car would go to auction. Why when you’ve got the same vehicles on your forecourt ? The salesman said people can’t be bothered selling privately and making an extra grand or so.

3 metre by 4 metre roof cost me £1200.Extra insulation,new boards and covered in the rubberised stuff.No problems 3 years on.

All of the teams i’ve watched do seem to have a problem with accurate passing and it does have you on the edge of your seat at times.USA did look pretty average against Spain and won the game solely on the penalties.If it was a choice between France and USA in the semi’s then i’d prefer USA rather than France in front of their home crowd.

I use Portsmouth/Santander twice a year.By the time you pay for a ferry to France,fuel,tolls and possibly a night in a hotel I don’t think there’s much difference in pricing.Normally,one way,2 people,dog,pet friendly cabin,about £350 on the economie ferry.The pet friendly cabin increases the cost and it would be more expensive using the non economie ferry. I have to drive down to Southern Spain so this route gives me a long rest,about 28hrs,before I set off again.

Not business but local govt. I was selling a caravan in Spain,and because it was over 750kg it had its own registration plate.We had a solicitor type of person to handle the sale because its not as straightforward as here. She asked me for proof that i’d paid the road tax to the local council before the sale goes through.I said caravans don’t have road tax.which she knew,but insisted i get proof that i hadn’t paid anything.
So it was off to the local council offices where a bill was printed out in my name with the amount zero on it.

If you are buying ” Cheap ” from a dealer then there’s very little warranty.Treat any dealers damp meter reports with a healthy dose of scepticism.
Buy private if you’re confident and try to find a van where someones packing in touring.This way you’re more likely to get all the gear thrown in,awning,waste/water containers,electric hook up lead,etc. Look at the age of the tyres and not just the tread.Theres a code on the sidewall.My caravan came with a tyre that was seventeen years old.
Damp can be a problem but don’t write a caravan off because there is say a leak around a window.I’ve looked at a caravan at a dealers where i could push my hand through the inside board and pull out a handful of wet,rotten wood.Thats too much work.
Avondales,now out of business,did have a reputation of being leaky vans.
Look at a ‘van when its hooked up to the electric.Try all the electrics but especially the fridge.Just because its on doesn’t mean its working and feel in the freezer compartment.These are very expensive to replace and would be a deal breaker for me.
Remember to look at the weights as well compared to your towcar.Lunar tend to to make caravans that size for size are usually a bit lighter than the competition.

For Fundsmith go direct. You will pay more commission through H&L.

How do you square the circle of continuing growth in vehicle production and the issues with the environment ? I can’t see these two things being compatible.

Out in Spain you can buy mot’s for UK registered vehicles to save driving them back.The guy selling them blatantly advertises the service in an ex pat newspaper.They are on the DVLA website.
I know people who have been buying them for years,including for a mini bus to do airport runs.A friend even bought one for a goods vehicle for 400 euros.

Sounds more like engine oil on the manifold.As you said,smell/smoke only lasted 30 seconds so maybe an unsteady hand from a mechanic.

Sold mine last August.Came out of it with a small profit.Didn’t know the ins and outs of the fund but did see the poor performance.

When I have stayed at Pickering it has been at Westgate Carr Farm.It’s a great campsite but they also have a cottage to let.Alpacas,horses ,sheep, chickens,etc.

I like the Pickering area.Close enough for trips to the coast and the North Yorks Moors Railway.Theme park nearby if that’s your thing.Bird of prey centre at Helmsley and a visitors centre with walks at the top of Sutton Bank.

Do you think the mileage is genuine ? 9K miles and a filthy air filter doesn’t sound right.

I think landlords who seek to throw someone out on a “whim” are very rare.
Landlords want continuity.Interruptions can be costly.
When my present tenant leaves,and it will be costly for me,then I am seriously considering leaving the property empty and bearing all the ongoing costs.

I had a similar problem but with a turbo diesel engine in a Mondeo.A sudden hiccup going up an incline when the throttle was pressed.
Gradually got worse until the car started going into limp mode.Ford dealer diagnosed faulty injector.Car had only 30k miles on it. New injector didn’t solve the problem.
Poking about on the internet I found that in the turbo area is some sort of impeller that kicks in when extra boost is required and this can get gummed up causing the hiccup.Never explored it as I got rid of the car.