The Money Thread...

[Oblomov Boblomov]

Thanks GD – claim submitted! It was even quicker and easier than the first time.

[Grumpy David]

The WFH tax code change has been extended into the 21-22 tax year.

https://blog.moneysavingexpert.com/2020/04/martin-lewis--working-from-home-due-to-coronavirus--claim-p6-wk-/

Very easy to sort out too.

I think it only work out around £64 to your advantage but definitely worth the time to put through anyway for all it takes.

£1.20 per week if a BR tax payer or £2.40 per week if a HRT payer. That's 2 and a half months gym membership paid for with 1 minute of life admin.

[Jenuall]

What's the general view in terms of how diversified you should be in terms of pension investments these days?

I've got mine spread across a handful of different funds, all of which are then themselves spread across different places themselves - some US based, others more heavily into Europe and a few in "emerging markets". Despite all of this they all seem to largely fluctuate in line with each other any way!

[Kanbei]

What's the general view in terms of how diversified you should be in terms of pension investments these days?

I've got mine spread across a handful of different funds, all of which are then themselves spread across different places themselves - some US based, others more heavily into Europe and a few in "emerging markets". Despite all of this they all seem to largely fluctuate in line with each other any way!

I have funds and indexes all over the place. At last count I have 3 worldwide funds (each with differing objectives), 1 American fund, 1 UK fund and 1 Japanese fund. I also have the Vanguard S&P 500 and FTSE All Global Cap on the go as well (these are the two I am building up at the moment).

Don't think you can have too much diversification.

[Jenuall]

What's the general view in terms of how diversified you should be in terms of pension investments these days?

I've got mine spread across a handful of different funds, all of which are then themselves spread across different places themselves - some US based, others more heavily into Europe and a few in "emerging markets". Despite all of this they all seem to largely fluctuate in line with each other any way!

I have funds and indexes all over the place. At last count I have 3 worldwide funds (each with differing objectives), 1 American fund, 1 UK fund and 1 Japanese fund. I also have the Vanguard S&P 500 and FTSE All Global Cap on the go as well (these are the two I am building up at the moment).

Don't think you can have too much diversification.

Yeah that seems to be the prevailing view. I shall continue to spread my money far and wide!

[Grumpy David]

What's the general view in terms of how diversified you should be in terms of pension investments these days?

I've got mine spread across a handful of different funds, all of which are then themselves spread across different places themselves - some US based, others more heavily into Europe and a few in "emerging markets". Despite all of this they all seem to largely fluctuate in line with each other any way!

I have funds and indexes all over the place. At last count I have 3 worldwide funds (each with differing objectives), 1 American fund, 1 UK fund and 1 Japanese fund. I also have the Vanguard S&P 500 and FTSE All Global Cap on the go as well (these are the two I am building up at the moment).

Don't think you can have too much diversification.

You're actually less diversified by being overweight in the USA, UK and Japan funds in addition to holding FTSE Global All Cap (which is already 55% USA stocks) + S&P500 which is just high cap USA stocks (and very much dominated by 6 or 7 especially large companies).

Admittedly those 6 or 7 companies are truly global companies and highly diversified with sales coming from across the world and are near monopolies or duopolies but it's certainly over-exposed in tech and USA overall.

My own Pension portfolio is:

100% equities
0% bonds

And held in the FTSE Global All Cap.

Whilst bonds* reduce volatility due to negatively correlating with equities, the returns are too low and my timeline can ride out the peaks and troughs given my state pension age is almost 4 decades away. The absence of diversification of asset classes wouldn't be something the default workplace pension fund would do but when I get closer to retirement I'll shift towards something like 60/40 as a split.

Long duration treasury bonds from the USA and long dated gilts. Couldn't pay me enough to take bonds in higher yield bonds like Argentina offers or in emerging market index bonds!