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@@jonnycavell thank you! Yes I know, this is a lot easier for me to say right now of course. Hopefully if I am blessed in the future with children they won't eat into my savings too much!

@@atristram54316 I agree. It can be infuriating to see sometimes, I always try and remember that the government has two key priorities. 1. Being voted back in. 2. Running/growing the economy. Unfortunately in both cases this usually means just making sure they're spending money. Without really looking into the details of if it's a truly wise investment. I could make multiple videos on my political views 😅 but I want to try and focus on the bits that individuals can actually do to help themselves. Thanks for watching and for sharing your thoughts.

@@zerotree1310 3 months free is not to be underappreciated. All these little savings add up by the end of the year. Plus an upfront payment frees up cashflow throughout the rest of the year! Never a bad thing

@@tlsimpsonenterprises thanks bro. Yes this was peak summer, so flights are always inflated around then. Capitalism at its finest. Given your new situation you'll be able to avoid these costs now though 🙏

unfortunately yes! When i first visited Plovdiv in September 2019, flights + a large airbnb near the city centre for a week was easily less than £200. November 2022 we paid £400 for the airbnb alone, a shoebox! It’s tricky these days but at least holidaying here is much better value than a lot of other parts of Europe 🤔👊🏽

@@tlsimpsonenterprises thank you! Glad you enjoyed it. You're certainly in for a treat when you go, anywhere along the coast in Bulgaria is phenomenal. The castle here was definitely unique and a good experience. It's also part of a larger waterpark - I am yet to go to the waterpark so if you visit make sure you let me know how good it is 👊

@@CourtneyJonesFinancial most certainly will! 👊🏽🇧🇬

@@user-tu4zb1fg9d 31 👍

@@doitallez6518 it's always harder overpaying when you first get your house as that's when you're most stretched. Best thing to do is not dwell on 'what could have been' too much and just focus on what you can start doing today. Sounds like you've put yourself in a strong position though 😊

@@doitallez6518 if only we were able to see into the future! 1.38% sounds like a dream... At least you're on the ladder and can continue paying it down 👍 Haha indeed! I'm glad I got that mistake out the way early.

@@thereality9784 no this isn't. Once I chartered my salary went to around £37k. I worked in the role for around 2 years before moving up to a £55k role. I believe this is similar for most qualifications (ACCA/CIMA/ACA). This is outside of London and I didn't work for the Big4 either. Both of those factors may command a larger salary sooner 👍

@@CourtneyJonesFinancial I see thanks alot☺

@@paxobiker1 glad you liked the video. I agree, it's quite a niche bike. It gets a decent amount of attention due to its rarity and I think the looks still hold up. A much more relaxed style of riding compared to a sport bike. Personally I would recommend but if you're on the fence see if you can test ride one first 👍

I would not say compromise, apart from Buell it offers a genuine big V-twin with a 50-year-old heritage which you can find on V-Star 1100 on a more dynamic frame, pretty unique character....

This cost me about £2000. With the upgraded exhausts and heated grips this took it up closer to £3000. Running costs. Fuel costs me about £30 to fill up the tank which is about 180-200 miles. In the UK, Insurance is about £250 a year. Road tax in the UK is about £300 a year. Annual service parts come on at around £120 a year.

Glad you enjoyed the video. I'd absolutely recommend it. A great all round bike. Enjoy it when you get one👌

Thanks for the feedback! Glad you enjoyed it. That is the hope. Looking back I always wished I had some guidance on personal finance, so even if these videos help one more person that's enough for me 😊 Very good question. I agree somewhat, this is a simplistic way to value a pension, but given no one really knows where the markets and values will be at the point of withdrawal it's the easiest way to add up into a net worth calculation. My personal focus is to have all my debts cleared well before retirement (mortgage included) so that I can buy an annuity which will provide guaranteed income to death. I can then hopefully afford to retire earlier with a smaller annuity per year at the max of 20%. So with that, my value of the pot doesn't matter too much as it will be traded for an annuity at the point I use it. The main benefit I find of looking at it in cash value is the 25% tax free lump sum (max of £1M so £250k). This is the genuine cash value at that point. Of course providing the government doesn't change this! 😅 Perhaps another video to explain my exact retirement plan, rather than a comment box. Again, I appreciate the questions. My planning and approaches will develop overtime so I always welcome these comments 😊

You make a great point here, and it's a good question to ask. My house was £160k exactly. This was back in November 2019 on a 5 year fixed rate mortgage at 2.4%. (10% deposit) Yes it is a two bed, my house now is worth around £205k (roughly) based mostly on the increases we saw during the COVID years. I'll put out a house tour in an upcoming video so you can get a better idea of house. Back in 2019 comparable properties were roughly £15k - £25k more than what I paid, as mine did need a lot of work which I did myself during the first few months. So you can save a little bit here. I am due to re-mortgage in October, so I will cover this in more detail as I know for a fact I will be paying considerably more at this point than I am now. I feel your pain, looking back when I was buying on a much smaller salary I didn't think I would be able to save to buy a place. But I just cut back where I could and saved as much as possible. It's worth it when you get there!

@@CourtneyJonesFinancialhow long did it tke to save if h dnt mind me asking kudos to u 👍🏿

​@@kwameopoku3576 don't mind you asking at all. It took me roughly 18 months. I started saving around £700 a month. But this was too slow. So I got rid of my finance car and this enabled me to up my savings to around £1100-£1200 a month. (Explained in my worst financial mistakes video). During the last 12 months I was also renting a room for £250 (very cheap) so this helped.

You are welcome! Glad you enjoyed it 😊

Glad you enjoyed it 🙂 This is a great question and one that I do often think about. There are many different factors to consider, which means this can change over time. Before explaining I must say that this is all based on my views, and not intended to be financial advice. The main points I think about when making this choice are: 1. The Upper rate tax limit of £50,270. I always look to come in under this. The reason being is that there are little to no investments on the market that can really compete with an immediate 40% tax saving. So you're already off to a good start if you can save here. 2. Additional contributions made below this. So the additional £5,270 to get down to £45k would only be saving the 20% amount. This is still a great return. But when it comes to personal pensions there is the downside that, in most cases, 55 is the earliest they can be accessed without incurring penalties (sometimes this can be even later). 3. This is fine if working to 55 is on the agenda, but as earlier retirement is the goal I will always look at other options. For me this is where overpayments on my mortgage come in to play. Personally, I will try my best to put my money where I think it will have an ensured return, and a mortgage overpayment is one of these. Not only can it bring down the term, but also save on interest. With this option I always make sure I am under the overpayment amount (these differ per product but can be something like a 10% limit of the outstanding balance per year). Beyond this I look at where else I can put my money to maximise return. So high interest savings, instant access ISAs (these are great to avoid paying tax savings). Thank you for your support. Indeed, look out for part 2! All the best, Courtney 🙂

Thank you, this is incredibly helpful and has given me much to consider! 😊

Glad to hear you found it useful! I couldn't agree more. I've been saying for years I wish personal finance was more openly discussed. Hopefully these videos will help spark more conversations 😊 thank you for the support 🙏