₦airaland Forum

Madeu:
Well, I calculated the risks and benefits. I am to retire after 37 years of service. Removing myself From the pension scheme for two years and contributing to the pot for 35 years doesn't make any significant difference.
Money will be used to get into the property ladder and have a lodger who will pay rent monthly to me.
In the long term, I will still gain a lot from increases in the value of the house and money from rent.

You didn't highlight that you plan to get back into the pension contribution scheme, so your initial response encouraging someone to opt out was actually mis-leading.

Fraih:
Hello fam. Pls what do you think of opting out of pension plans in the workplace here?

Perish this thought, it won't make you way richer because the employer contribution will not be paid to you and your own contribution will be taxed before you get it.

Is there anything you want to do now that you are not able to do because of the pension money that is not entering your account monthly?

jedisco:
Hehe.. You've taken it upon yourself at each point to expose the generosity of the UK immigration system. Its like telling apartheid SA to accept the generosity because indigenous groups elsewhere saw worse. In a race to the bottom, there are no shortage of nations who treat migrants worse to compare with.

Also remember the better nations. I from the comfort of my home in the UK applied for and was given a Canadian PR - same thing that took me 5 years of good behaviour and taxation to achieve in the UK. What's strinking is that CAN is a wealthier nation per head with better growth potential. Ultimately, migration is a game of need, not generosity

The question is why didn't you go straight to Canada from Nigeria?

Just like a fresh graduate that was finding it hard to land a first job, a company saw his potentials, gave him a job and built his skills for five years, only for other companies to start giving him opportunity afterwards.

UK saw your potentials and gave you opportunity to develop it. Five years later and Canada is just seeing the skills. Your gratitude should be to UK, not Canada.

Zahra29:
Lol...the lady in Green.

Fully agree that Labour will try to clamp down even further on IR35 and any remaining tax loopholes/discounts of the creative nature.

Stamp duty for 1st time buyers is also going up from early next year as they've said they will not renew the current relief (from £300k - 425k)

But first time buyers do not pay stamp duty, do they?

missjekyll:
I ,an adult cis woman,have never suffered any effect ,bad or good, from the existence of Trans women. Why are you looking at people in the restroom? I literally don't care. How have they affected your life personally? Not hearsay o, personally from encountering one

When evil comes knocking on your neighbour's door, if you do not speak up, when it's done, it will move to your door.

There are issues you don't need to be personally affected before you speak up for or against especially societal issues.

I can tell you for free that those fighting for increased minimum wage in Nigeria do not currently earn minimum wage and may never earn it in their lifetime.

I'm not calling anything evil here, this is an analogy. Trans is a societal issue, there are solid points for or against it and should not be based on personal encounter. After all, personal encounter (good or bad) shouldn't represent the general trans community. Just like one person commit crime and you accuse the entire tribe.

UnconventionalT:
I need help guys. Is it absolutely safe to keep money in my revolut bank? I have over 4k pounds in it, my BRP is expiring by end of next week and I have moved out of UK. I fear an update or whatever will require me to verify my identity with a UK card which I won't be having very soon.

I don't have a direct answer to your question, but in your shoes, I will open a pounds mutual fund account in Nigeria with Stanbic IBTC asset management and dump the pounds there. The pounds will retain it's value as pounds and will grow with the mutual fund interest rate which is higher than normal bank rate. Revolut will not even give you interest.

UrFears:
Good morning Seniors, please i need some advice

Currently, I only have one bank account, which is Revolut, it is also the account I use to receive my salary and make any expenses, I don't have their physical card yet, I only use the digital card.

(1). I want to open a new account majorly for savings, and maybe building my credit score. Which bank would you suggest I open an account with.

(2). Is it okay to continue using Revolut as my main/salary account, or after opening the new acc, I should use it as my main account.

(3). I'm looking to buy a new iPhone (or refurbished), where is the best place to get a good deal/price. Is back market good?


Thanks bosses

Revolut is not a bank, it is a wallet just like Lemfi, piggyvest etc. I don't think your money is protected by FSCS.

Open a high street bank (TSB, Lloyds, Barclays, HSBC, Latest etc) as you main and salary account. Open a challenger bank (Monzo etc) as your expense account. Use Revolut as virtual account.

Is it normal to give landlord BRP while renting?
Landlord is asking for BRP, I thought share code would be enough

Zahra29:
It's a dicey one, not much room for legal manoeuvre as there is no right of appeal or admin review.

There is however a chance that given the news being picked up by the BBC and Guardian, the university will relent on those who have paid up outstanding fees and re-enrol them.

They have started re-enrolling them and restating their visas.

I understand times are hard now, but humans generally obey instructions when there are consequences. Those that didn't have money to pay, where did they see the money after their visas were curtailed? Did they just rush many hours of work or people pitied and gave them?

Thank you all for all your comments.

I believe money is her constraint that's why I want to get a place and pay. I feel It shouldn't matter if it's in my house or another house as long as she has accommodation.

Instead of quoting one by one, let me just answer here.

She's a student.
Actually shifts have not been forth coming so it looks like she's trying to save for the next fees for fear of the unknown.

I'm willing to pay the 6 months contract I will sign. I was hoping there'll be another approach beside this alternative rent and dialogue (which I have exhausted).

wallg123:
My apologies. Since she is family the only way around it is dialogue. If dialogue fails you can change the locks and put her stuff outside ( this might sound extreme but sometimes extreme measures sends clear message)… why would a sister want to put you in this situation. Don’t even think about renting a house or room for her cuz na you go still be guarantor and you know what that implies.

The bolded captures it all.

I'm thinking of calling family meeting whether they can talk to her. The initial complain was the deposit, I offered to pay the deposit, I later offered both the deposit and first month rent.

Her last excuse was the place she saw does not have fridge. Na talk be that? I made a mistake, I would have bought the fridge.

wallg123:
Oga Virus hope this no be case of romantic relationship gone sore .
You can’t leave the house to her because you are legally responsible for whatever happens to the house until your tenancy agreement expires.
It’s unfortunate some people sabi abuse privilege. I’ll suggest you start informing landlord or estate agents that you don’t intend renewing your tenancy at the expiration. Look for another accommodation while you wait. No point paying rent for 2 places. Alternatively na to get locksmith to change the locks whenever your friend leaves the house. Final option na to rekindle the romance or whatever relationship una get and all shall be well again

She's my sister.

I and my wife didn't expect her to stay this long and without any intentions of leaving yet.

I'm on mortgage.

For those that have successfully sent guest that refused to leave their house packing, how did you do it peacefully. I have plead and plead. Looks like my next option now is to rent the house and give her the keys with the hope that when the tenure expire she will be forced to look for apartment. But an average room is £400 and I may have to sign 6 months contract. Where will I see £400 to pay for 6 months

aragbaboy:
According to her she opened the door thinking it was a delivery guy, he introduced himself and said he has the right to come in and inspect the property. The lady in question was new in the country about 2 months then and was not aware and familiar with a lot of things.

If she was about 2 months in the country, how long has she been in that property or did she move into the property straight from her country?

When I moved into my current place, I saw many letters inside asking 'the occupier' to register for TV licence. It's possible that those letters could have been addressed to the previous occupant. She may be able to appeal on the basis that she just moved in before the visit and didn't get such warnings (evidence needed). But again 4 months later she hasn't still registered.

Watching TV is different from watching live TV. If she does not watch live TV, she can appeal, if she does watch live TV just pay the fine.

meowvinn:
Pls good evening all, is there something like a piggyvest kind of app here in the Uk where you can save loose cash and lock it up without touching it? Something appropriate for a someone on a student visa. Thnx

Moneybox got you covered. They have different packages depending on how long you want to lock the money for and your plan for the money.

Download the app, register and go through the account types.

Ticha:
You should always over pay on your home mortgage anyway even if it is £50 a month. Just ensure you don't pay over the allowable over payment.

BTL - that's where the JV suggestion comes in. To raise a deposit and needed funds for an £80k purchase, you'd be looking at a minimum of £30k of your own funds to get off the ground so a JV then means you start off with half and build on to grow your portfolio faster.
You'll also need to start in a company structure unless you know you won't ever earn upto £50k pa. All rents received is classed as income so will bump up your income tax and put you in a higher tax band which means you'll end up paying tax on money you haven't earned.

Thank you for this enlightenment

Ticha:
You could look in JVs (joint ventures) but choose your partner with absolute care and do the utmost due diligence including financial, moral and ethics cos the property world is full of scammers.

Thank you for this suggestion. The risks you highlighted are my worries also.

Any opinions on the other two ideas (overpay current mortgage or save for BTL instead)?

Opinions needed

Which is a better approach to financial freedom

1) Paying excess mortgage with 'spare' money to reduce the mortgage tenure
2) Save the 'spare' money instead and buy a BTL property

Also are there any other ideas to use 'spare' money for in the housing sector apart from the two mentioned above?

adeolaspecial:
Good morning everyone. I got a message from my friend that the 15hours free childcare is now opened and that we can apply. I tried to get the code while applying, but it says i am not eligible as i have no recourse to public fund. I thought this was supposed to be free to all working parents. Or is there a way to go about it.

There are two 15hrs.
The first one is universal for 3yrs old and does not require you to apply. Just take the child to the nursery, the nursery will claim from the govt.
The other 15hrs (to make it 30hrs) has criteria such as immigration status and salary threshold to be qualified.

How is mortgage excess paid?

Is it to increase the monthly DD or login to your account and make one off payments?

dupyshoo:
I agree with you.
In my family, we recently got opportunity to relocate to both Canada and Australia with all expenses paid.
We declined the offers after considering the cons and pros. We realised that the move will not necessarily make our lives better. In fact, one of them would even make us financially worse off.

This is not to say that it won't be a better move for another family. It is on a case-by-case basis.

This here sums it up.

That's why you will see people from Benin city, go to school in UNILAG. You will then think it's because UNILAG is better until you see people from Lagos going to UNIBEN.

Jamesclooney:
I have personally spent time in A&E from 2pm to 10pm. Then you’ll either go private or book a flight abroad. Let’s not even talk about dental care. SMH

A&E is not a first come first serve place. Sometimes your cases are better handled by 111 or walk-in center. Fortunately, the HCP after accessing you knows what level of emergency your case is.

I'm not trying to downplay your case, but ask yourself this; when you arrived by 2pm, were you left unattended till 10pm or it was after the initial assessment that you started waiting?

Also stop comparing NHS with other countries' private health sector, compare with their public sector too.

Lexusgs430:
You know the rate of approval, would be very low .......

Would those refused, consider another dingy trip.....

I just read more about the scheme and found out it does not matter whether your asylum application is successful or not, once you are gone, you are gone. No coming back. The difference is if your application is successful, you become a legal immigrant in Rwanda, if it is not successful, you either go to your home country or become an illegal immigrant in Rwanda.

As the Rwanda asylum scheme will soon take effect, asylum seekers when they get to Rwanda should pray and hope that their applications are approved because if the application is denied, they won't come back, they either go to their home country or remain in Rwanda.

Schoolhike:
Didn’t get the email .

My own opinion on the whole saga is owner trying to save face, reported all staffs with less hours to avoid HO getting to know about workers with less hours by themselves, to avoid terminating its licence

I've been wondering myself but this here makes sense. It's also possible he's been hearing rumours about some employees conceiving thoughts of reporting him if they don't get more hours so he just helped them out 😁

dustydee:
Why would anyone buy a galaxy S4?

I meant to type S24. I have modified.

If you have plans to buy Samsung galaxy S24. This is a good time to buy. You get Samsung tab s6 lite for free if you buy before April 30th. The tab is worth £349.

On a different note, how do people bring in nannies from Nigeria. Do they do visiting visas and then the person becomes an overstayer because the only travel route I know is visit, work, study or spousal

Adunnishugar:
Thank you,
She was refused last year, in that application she used an agent that stated she earns 1.5m monthly, which I think is too much, can we reduce the figure for this application? Or must we use the same figures we gave last time?

In this new application we are thinking of reducing her salary to about 800k as it makes more sense since her Account balance is about 3m.
Hope this would not be an issue?
For more context she own a bakery.

No I don’t mind showing my three months payslip, I intend to show three months payslip along with my bank statement.

On an account balance of 3M, I would say salary should be around 250k because if I've been earning 800k for the past 5 years, I think I should have more than 3M in my account.

If she can use her 3 to 6 months bank statement it will be good.

Adunnishugar:
Hello all, please I have a few urgent questions.

I want to invite my mum over as I would be giving birth in a few months, I am the one sponsoring her.
I have been hearing different information on how many months POF is needed
Some just said one month is okay, I was thinking of doing three months. Is that okay?

Secondly how much POF do I need to have in my account, is £5k okay?

Lastly, I’m sponsoring her but she also has a running business (a bakery) that we intend to use has home ties along with my dad and little sister being in Nigeria. Would she need to also show her account statement, if yes, how much should she have?

If you are sponsoring a working class/business owner, the person needs to prove financial independence. She needs her account statement. The balance will depend on how much she states that she earns monthly/annually. It should be reflective.

How do you mean PoF? For bank statement you just need to show the recent balance so it could be one month. For payslips, 3 months is advisable.

Is there any reason why you would not like to present 3 months payslip? We can thrash it.