the fire place

Does running a business make FIRE easier as the tools and skills are transferable? Or does it make it harder as businesses take up so much of your time? For this episode we're talking to Anne-Marie and David who own and manage two businesses.

We talk about how they first heard about FIRE and what their future goals are, along with managing a healthy work/life balance including managing employees. We also cover the parallels between running a business and managing your family finances and the differences between saving for retirement as an employee and as a company director.

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This is a follow-up to episode 17 where we discussed forthcoming changes to inheritance tax with John. In this episode we discuss what practical measures you can take now, such as setting up pension drawdown to ensure more of your estate gets passed on to your dependents.

We go into more detail on the different approaches to gifting and how these can help avoid inheritance tax later on, along with other areas to consider if you want to avoid losing some of your estate to inheritance tax.

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For this episode we're joined by John to discuss inheritance tax. Coming changes to tax law mean that many more people will have to deal with inheritance tax and we discuss ways to maximise how much of your inheritance gets passed on to your dependents.

What is changing in April 2027 and how does it affect inheritance tax? What can I do to minimise the effects?

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This episode is a follow-up to episode #12 where we discussed How Pensions Work. This time we look at the practicalities of drawing down an income from a self-invested personal pension (SIPP).

The SIPP has been chosen for simplicity although many occupation defined contribution pensions will behave in a very similar way. We again cover the difference between flexi-access drawdown (FAD) and uncrystallised funds pension lump sums (UFPLS) and how these relate to the 25% tax-free allowance.

[Correction: the podcast mentions Origo as a provider or back-end software for investment platforms. They do provide transfer services between pension platforms but the actual backend software provider for Vanguard and Interactive Investor is FNZ.]

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Can you reach financial independence by your 30s if you start early enough? We chat to Lucy and Kieran who are still in their twenties with a house and family but expect to reach Coast FI - where their investments are established and they can work fewer hours to meet their spending - in their early 30s.

They talk about both having a frugal mindset from an early age and meeting up with shared goals of making money fit their lifestyle and not the other way around. We cover how they manage their money and how they explain what they are doing to friends and family.

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In the News section we cover the introduction of SIPPs by the Trading 212 platform and the new platform Prosper which offers a free SIPP and a global tracker fund with no fees.

In the main section we chat to William about looking at FIRE in your 30s. We deal with the challenges of accommodation, balancing pension and ISA investments and dealing with job uncertainty.

Is FIRE easier for younger people with the widespread availability of tools and apps to help you get there? Or do the constant demands on your attention span and tempting offers make it harder?

More information on investment platforms

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This episode is a live Q&A special at our recent FIRE in the Forest event where over 50 members met at Center Parcs in the beautiful surroundings of the English Lake District: people hung out together, went on hikes and enjoyed the facilities while chatting about their FIRE plans.

Our panel included a few members as well as Andy and Mike and we had a wide variety of questions covering topics such as choosing funds, inheritance tax and using partners' allowances. As it was recorded live, the sound quality may be a bit variable.

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In this episode we first cover the difference between defined contribution and defined benefit pensions and then we look out the the principles of a defined contribution pension such as a workplace pension or a self-invested personal pension (SIPP) .

We discuss how to take advantage of the 25% tax-free portion and explain the difference between flexi-access drawdown (FAD) and uncrystallised funds pension lump sums (UFPLS) and how to use these to access your pension assets.

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In this episode we talk to Chris about 'Coast FI' - when you're financially independent or nearly there and decide to prioritise quality of life over work.

We chat about his background and when he became aware of the financial independence on retiring early (FIRE) movement. Along the way we cover the career choices he has made and using unpaid parental leave to get more time with his family.

How do you balance the need to save for retirement with a young family? What options are there for employees? How do you use pensions, ISAs and general investment accounts (GIAs) to fund your retirement?

Chris details his FI journey on his blog here: dadonfire blog

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We talk often on the show about 'bridging', which is how you build a pot of assets to provide you with an income until you can get access to another source like a pension.

A good example is retiring before pension access - the bridge fund would then need to be big enough to pay for your outgoings until you reach the age when you can access the pension.

We also talk about bridging the gap until access defined benefit pensions, which often are only accessible later than private occupational or self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs).

When you should you start thinking about bridging? And what proportion should go in your pension compared to the bridge fund?

We also talk about what sort of assets you should have in your bridging fund and how this might change depending on the length of your bridge.

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