u/MoonMoon_Moon

Hello!

Trying to help my partner sort out their finances - they have a Cash ISA and want to move to a S&S ISA, and want to consolidate several small pensions dotted over a number of companies into one. I'm trying to work out what the best value place for set and forget investments for both. (It'll probably be something like VWRP, but not necessarily exactly that.)

Looking at this: https://www.pensionbible.co.uk/providers - It's pretty clear that what's 'best' depends on how much money you have. They've around 52k in pension, 10k in a cash ISA. They're doing regular payments to both, but we're hoping to increase them a bit in the next couple of years because those sums are... not great. (They're sub 40, but not by a ton.)

They'll be paying in monthly, so I guess doing 12 trades a year (just buying more of the same thing), or 24 if it's for both? But ideally automated.

If you take both the things they want separately, then logic seems to dictate going for places that do 0%, 0 fees - Trading 212, InvestEngine.
Vanguard looks more expensive than ii from here with their pension amount: https://moneytothemasses.com/saving-for-your-future/investing/interactive-investor-vs-vanguard - but maybe I'm missing something, as I see it recommended a bunch more than ii.

If you are setting up both, does that change the calculation? (I have both a S&S ISA and a SIPP with ii, and I'm quite a bit over the 100k, so the £180 for both a year works out better than most % based fees, though not better than 'free', though I've not factored in the 1 free trade to that calculation.)

There's the 'friends and family' ii option - where they use my account to open a S&SISA free, and then get a pension elsewhere that has 0 fees?

Thank you!

(After the advice of someone here, I'm reading the Smarter Investing book and it's really good though I'm not the world's fastest reader, but I swear we should not have to be qualified accountants to work out how to be allowed to retire at some point before 90!)

I have searched for this before, and found partial answers, but am still a bit confused.

My husband and I own our company 50/50, different shares so I can take dividends while he doesn't. (One or the other of us always seems to be employed while the other freelances.)

Currently I pay myself £12,570 salary, £37,700 dividends. ( Husband is just taking the tax free dividend allowance each year, while employed elsewhere. Not currently relevant, I think. We generally pay 19-20% corp tax.)

I've been paying into my pension directly after paying myself, getting the 20% relief, but apparently it's better to pay it via the company, and it's here I'm starting to get a bit confused.

1. My first question was about how it was better value to pay via the company than directly, as the company doesn't get the 20% relief. I found an answer here: https://www.reddit.com/r/UKPersonalFinance/comments/koaq0p/comment/ghpjput/ - just sharing in case it helps others. The step missing from that comment is, even if you then add the 20% back, you still end up with less than if you'd paid the amount directly.

But then I got stuck here:

2. I still need to make sure I get my national insurance credits. Does that mean I have to pay myself the £12,570 salary while also making payments into my pension?

Or could I pay my pension the £12,570, only take £37,700 in dividends, and *still get my NIC*?

I don't want to take huge amounts out of the company as my future income is unknown (I figure I can keep enough in it to pay me a salary for a year or two and keep my NICs going if I don't get more work)... In such a case should I be reducing my dividends below the £37,700 by the amount paid into my pension?

Or am I being stupid planning to try to keep paying my salary/getting nics that way if work dries up? (I'm in a profession that AI companies believe will be done away with by AI.)

Bonus fun: All my aviva pensions say that contributions must be eligible for tax relief, so I guess I'll have to move provider if I want to contribute via my company? Or is there a hidden option for this?

Perhaps this isn't the right place, as none of the flairs seem quite right for the post... But I'd be grateful for any advice/help.

After someone (thanks :-| ) made a comment about my skin looking like I don't wear sunblock I've become hyper aware of my age spots. I wear sunblock now and have for years, but tanned in my teens and early 20s a lot, and am getting my punishment now (40).

I want to try to remove some of the age spots on my forehead and side of face, and ideally just make it look... fresher. I'm not as bothered about wrinkles, but I'd rather hold them off a bunch longer if that might combine with reducing the age spots.

I'm trying to work out:

1. What kind of professional I should see?
2. Who/where to go for this person.

I have ADHD and am bad with multi-step routines that take ages to work, so am considering jumping straight to something like laser if I can afford it.

But how do you know who is decent to go to, who'd check none of the marks are anything more serious than age spots, who'd not upsell you something you didn't need...? how do you know where to go?

London (where I am) appears to have millions of places that do this kind of thing at prices ranging from hundreds to many thousands - but I don't know how to choose between them. There's even a beauty clinic nearby that does some anti-ageing stuff, but they also advertise something that claims to be better than '30,000 bicep curls' which sounds like nonsense, which makes me distrust everything else.

I'm a bit confused, because I was brought up with the UK attitude of 'dermatologists are for skin conditions, not appearance' and so even considering going to one means wrestling with some weird internalised shame over being seen as vain...

Current routine:
Morning:
The Ordinary, Squalane Cleanser
CeraVe Hydrating Hyaluronic Acid Serum
CeraVe AM Facial Moisturiser SPF50
P20 50+ sunblock

Evening:
The Ordinary, Squalane Cleanser
(Sometimes) The Ordinary, retinol 0.5% in squalane
Then whatever rich moisturiser I'm not bored of, currently Superdrug night cream.

I don't wear makeup as no matter what it makes my skin feel tight and I feel tired.

https://preview.redd.it/pg7tgpfq3c3h1.jpg?width=1405&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c3b1e9db1e1d3656e0c687dcfcbd225143a6a94e

https://preview.redd.it/dyp9kues3c3h1.jpg?width=1087&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=673d69673fcf56dd2e6330577e808629a492463c

We desperately need more freezer space (we just have a couple of freezer draws attached to our fridge), but don't really have anywhere to put it, as there's underfloor heating in every room (except the bathroom, but I'd rather not put a freezer in next to the toilet!).

Is it ok to raise a freezer off the ground? Or put it on insulating rubber? That would mean we could tuck it in a corner of our living room.

And with that in mind, does anyone have any recommendations for a freezer that could be raised or happy on a rubber mat? Not looking for something huge - 70-90litres would be enough, as it would more than double what we have.

Thank you!!