Live chat with Alvin Hall, Thursday July 3rd 1-2pm

[carriemumsnet]

Hi all

Just to let you know that Alvin Hall, independent money saving expert, is coming along on Thursday to answer your questions about all things financial. A well respected author and presenter, Alvin advised the nation on BBC2's Your Money or Your Life and has written several books on the subject.

One of the reasons Alvin has agreed to join us is that he has recently worked with OMSCo, the Organic Milk Suppliers Co-operative, to compile Cheap Changes, a pocket guide full of money saving tips to help you to beat the 'credit crunch' without compromising your lifestyle. This is available as a pdf for Mumsnetters to download here

If you can't make it on the day, please post your questions in advance here. Otherwise - see you on Thursday.

MNHQ

[AlvinHall]

Sophable:
It's always good to have a cash cushion equal to 3-6 months of living expenses just in case of an emergency. Because I'm essentially a freelancer, I keep 1-year's expenses in the bank as cash. Once you have your safety net in place, then pay off the mortgage. Many people in recent years have used the equity in their homes as a safety net. But what happens if the bank decided not to lend against it or decides to lend less, which could happen during this credit crunch. (Look at the number of people whose credit cards have been revoked or turned down for mortgages.) Cash as an asset class has been underated. In times like this it can be your best friend.

[Bundle]

hi Alvin

My husband (main breadwinner) went freelance about a year ago. So far our income is fairly steady. Our mortgage agreement ran out so we're paying a bit over the odds with our lender on their "normal" rate.

If we switch should we go for a fixed/tracker/variable? We may move in the next two years so don't want to be locked in for too long or suffer massive penalties if we up the loan.

[RTKangaMummy]

Thanks for the reply Alvin

That explains why we haven't found what we are looking for cos it doesn't exist!

Thanks for info

I think we will put it in the highest interest Building Soc we can find for him then, I deffo don't want to loose this money

[AlvinHall]

Q - How do you teach children the meaning of money?

I see many a young adult getting charges on their accounts with bounced cheques over the years. I do try to talk to some of them about it (and end up sounding like their mum!) but it's like they don't understand that they have to have the money to spend it.

Is there a best time to talk to a child about avoiding debt?

What is the best way to encourage children to save?

Bossykate & Margo?s Been Playing with my NooNoo
One of the best ways to teach children to save as well as the value of money is give them pocket money and set clear, firm rules about what they can use it for. When they want something that is more than the money they have, establish an agreement that they must save their pocket money up to a specific amount and only then will you give them the remainder to buy the desired object. Also don?t be reticent about getting your kids involved in things like shopping for food at the supermarket. Set a specific limit (in cash) that you plan to spend and then let the child keep a running total of the money being spent. If you go over, include the child in the decision about what must be removed from the basket. You may be surprised at how quickly your child absorbs information about the value of things. This is also a good time to talk to your child about spending only the money they have available and avoid going over. Don't be surprised if your child starts to question you about your spending limits.

[MegReally]

yes where are the older questions? I don't want to repeat myself and bore the lovely nice man who has come to help us

[Cathpot]

Thank you for your answer, slightly surreal to have been discussing this with DH this morning and gently dithering about a decision as we dont know enough about it and now when he comes home I can tell him I asked Alvin!

[theinsider]

Hi Alvin,

I have several accounts (mainly current accounts)with Barclays (fairly small sums)and have two questions:

Firstly is Barclays as safe as any other bank at the moment, in the sense that if there are problems my money is guaranteed? Do I need to think about changing for that reason?

Secondly I am aware Barclays is not at all competetive with it's interest rates and am thinking of changing anyway (my account is almost always in credit). I've put off changing banks in the past due to worry about dd tranfers etc going wrong. Is it as easy and stressfree to change as they lke to advertise? Do you have any other advice about changing banks?

Many thanks.

[AlvinHall]

Bundle,
There is no easy answer to your situation. If you are planning to move in two years, will you be saving enough by changing your mortgage to justify the work involved. Or, let me be honest here, are you letting outside pressures influence you. I'm of the keep it simple school. If you're not losing lots of money and you can handle the mortgages, why chase the small changes. On the other hand if the saving will be substantial over the two year period then it makes sense to change.

[TigerFeet]

Hi Alvin

I would be very interested in your views on pensions. DH and I have both had (final salary) pensions in the past but don't currently. Both our employers offer stakeholder pensions - my company pay some contributions I believe (shockingly I don't know the details) but DH's company are shockingly bad in this respect and I don't believe they contribute at all.

Should we be paying into these crappy pension schemes or doing something else with our money? We don't have much spare at the end of each month but with careful budgeting I reckon we could spare maybe £100 or so each.

[lulumama]

Alvin, are you able to answer my question? i posted in advance.. here it is again

y lulumama on Tue 01-Jul-08 10:58:29
can i ask why you think the acquisition of money and material goods has become so intertwined with our perceived happiness in the last couple of decades? keeping up with the joneses, having the newest/best/biggest of everything...

how much do you think the media and lifestyle mags are to blame for this type of aspirational living, that people cannot afford and strive so hard for , why are we as a nation sooooo dissatisfied ?

[funnypeculiar]

Alvin

What do you think is the best way of actively managing finances on a day-to-day basis. Dh & I tend to bumble along, and then do a bit of a review every few years/when money is suddenly oddly tight/plentiful/our IFA pokes us

Without being too anal about it, is there a better system that would help us review and monitor our finances?

[MegReally]

Tigerfeet fantastic question

here is my question from below I thought it would be better to post it again rather than have lovely Alvin search up and down the thread [helpful and needy]

I want to know if it is a good idea to throw everything into the mortgage for the next 8-10 years and then throw it into a pension

I say this because dh and I have about £150 between us a month for pensions which is pitiful I know, no company scheme for us either, I wonder if it is a good idea to get rid of the mortgage first to save interest. We could prob pay it off in 10 years if we put everything in to it and that would leave us about £5-600 a month spare altogether

people think that you are always talking huge figures for mortgage and pensions and we aren't, and we don't have anywhere really where we can 'cut down' to save money, except of course if we sell the kids. Then we wouldn't need a car, maybe...

[AlvinHall]

MegReally:
I think you have to work on both fronts: the mortgage and the pension. It sounds like you and your husband are relatively young. So the money you put in your pension will have lots of time to grow. Paying off the mortgage will certainly save you on interest costs, but as long as it isn't a burden right now, start to increase your payments as your income goes up. If you get a windfall or bonus, then use that to increase your mortgage payment. But keep that pension going. It was one of the best decisions I ever made to contribute to my pension regularly when I was your age back in the year --01. I am quite happy with its value now, even in this volatile market.

[MegReally]

god no we are 40

I wish we were young

[MegReally]

but thank you thank you

[hunkermunker]

Hello, Alvin. What's the best way to get independent financial advice? Can you get it without it costing a fortune?

[littleolwinedrinkerme]

Alvin,

Hi hope you can help. We have a Virgin One account that we have held now for about 8 years which has served us well. More recently I have been noticing that the % rate we are paying is far from competitive, and that the 'offset' market has moved on quite considerably since Vone was launched. My ? is - is this a good time to move (to another offset) or are arrangement fees still too high?. Or should we just stick it out for abit longer?.

Thankyou (& understand if you run out of time!).

[AlvinHall]

funnypeculiar:
Here are a few day-to-day tricks that I use. I only withdraw money from the cashpoint once a week--only on Sundays. I then allocate that money over the week, sometimes only carrying that day's allowance in my wallet. I have a weekly limit on how much I charge on my credit card. Because it is a relatively small number, I almost always know where I am relative to it. Control your entertainment costs. On many Friday nights, I go out with my friends for a cocktail. I always know whether I'm going to have one or two which I nurse over the course of the evening, and I don't go over that limit; hence my costs are predictable. Set aside one day each week that you peruse the past week. I do this on Sunday morning when my flat is quiet, just before I go to the cashpoint. Sometimes what I find out causes me to take out less at the bank for the upcoming week.

[WilfSell]

alvin, i heart you.

[carriemumsnet]

My friend is getting a redundancy pay off of around £45k. She has a mortgage of around £175K . She can't afford to use it all to pay of lump of mortgage as will be going freelance and may need to dip into it, but if she puts it into a savings account is there one that pays high enough to make it pay as well as if she'd used it against the mortgage ie over 6ish%
(sorry I know what I mean - hope it makes sense)

[AlvinHall]

Unfortunately I've only got time for two more questions because I'm flying out of Heathrow at 4--cutting it close!

[funnypeculiar]

Great tip - I am (like many of us) hugely reliant on my (debit) card and actually have little idea of day-to-day spending. Thanks

Although hugely envious of your Fri night cocktails

[Soapbox]

LOL Alvin are you jetting off on holiday to spend some of your weekly allowance

[hunkermunker]

Answer mine then, Alvin, you darling man, you

[theinsider]

Alvin, my question is not important. Please answer someone else's.

Many thanks for coming. Have a good flight.