As per Rich Dad Poor Dad, your assets are your employees. They are working for you

I was forced to employ a Pension specialist when I transferred my company pension. They would only offer me an annuity I wanted a draw down pension. The reason they forced me to employ a specialist was simple they were covering themselves from future legal action. The specialist cost me a couple of thousand and basically said annuity rates are poor the draw down option is better. If it had gone wrong my company would have pointed to the report.

Good luck but I think you will not be able to avoid this.

One more point

It really is hairy area for the IFA market at present and is heavily under the FCA spotlight. Additional, specialist qualifications are required to give this type of advice, and many of those who have the qualification are scared to touch this type of business currently.

When pension freedoms were introduced in 2015, there were a lot of advisers who recommended transfers away from Final Salary pensions. Upon FCA compliance checks, it was deemed that a large percentage of these transfers were unsuitable. Complaints flew in from clients who regretted transferring, which lead to an upsurge in insurance payouts.

This is why the insurance costs are so high and why fees are expensive. It also means it's increasingly difficult for an Adviser to recommend that a transfer.

Whilst I hold the specialist qualification, our company has temporarily pulled out of the market due to PI costs and high risk nature. It's less risk and cost for us to refer this to a third party.

There seems to be a little bit of pressure on the FCA to look at the current PI cost problems as it crippling the DB transfer market.

My hope is that the FCA will relax their stance over the next couple of years, because it's currently not helpful for clients.

What's your thoughts on overpaying mortgages if you think there is still another move in you at a later date?

I think I can overpay something like 10% of outstanding balance per year. My savings accounts are pulling in such pathetic rates at the moment that it could make more sense paying off a chunk, but then if I plan on moving within the next 5-10 years, is it worth it if I am only going to have to re-mortgage and potentially borrow more?

I already max out my ISA allowance every year so can't throw anymore into that and the best rates at the moment are about 1.16% for easy access or 1.5% fixed.

I have no debt other than the mortgage so I'm not really sure what's the best thing to do at the moment. I did read the BoE were even considering the option of negative interest rates.

I would think it will depend on how much interest you are saving by paying it and how long you have left on your mortgage.it is unknown territory atm and after this who knows what's going to happen. The government could increase isa interest rates and amounts you can have just to get some dough through the door. Maybe just pay a little extra each month for now as even that can help. 5-10 years is a long way off and it's pretty guaranteed your drum will have increased by then even coming back from any drop this bug may cause.

Hi John, my apologies, I wasn’t aware that you were already invested.

Crystal balls are cheating and would make it far too easy, I’m afraid.

With stock market investing you can never be sure about the climate as you don’t know what will happen tomorrow. There could a coronavirus cure announced this week for all know. That’s why you need to take a long-term view. If you are genuinely worried about investing new money, your mortgage interest rate of 1.8% is higher than the interest on your cash of 1.16%, so it would make sense to pay it off.

I’m of the opinion that cash is never king, unless its for short term savings or for day to day liquidity. Others will have a different view to this.

Judging by the fact you’re maxing out your ISA, I’m assuming you are at least a higher rate tax payer.

If you do still want to invest further, there are other options available….

1. Invest via a General Investment Account, separate to your ISA. You are still entitled to the £2,000 dividend allowance (assuming you don’t already receive dividends from elsewhere), i.e. your first £2,000 of dividends are tax free. Each individual has a £12,300 CGT allowance, so if your profit on sale is below this, its tax free. Any profit over £12,300 is taxed at 20% for a HR taxpayer. This can be managed by selling your investments once per tax year when they get close to £12,300 profit.

2. If you’re married, use your wife’s £20,000 ISA allowance.

The next two are more exotic and not for the faint hearted, but possibly attractive for those paying higher taxes:

3. Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) – These are tax relief schemes created by government to encourage investment into start-up businesses. Like a fund, it’s managed by a professional across a portfolio of business. Charges are higher, as is the risk. Potential for big gains and big losses. New investments qualify for 30% income tax relief, e.g. if, you made a £10,000 investment, you would qualify a 30% (£3,000) income tax rebate. However, the investment must be held for 3 years or this is withdrawn. Additionally, if held for 3 years, any gains made on sale are exempt from CGT. Less of a bonus for someone younger, but after 2 years, assets are outside of your estate for IHT purposes on death.

4. Venture Capital Trusts (VCT). Similar to the EIS concept of investing in small businesses, via a professional manager with generous tax benefits. Still get 30% income tax reduction on new investment, although this is withdrawn if investment is not held for at least 5 years. Sales are CGT exempt with no minimum holding period.