At the time of writing there is just over a month to the end of the 2019/20 ISA season. That is all the time you have left to make use of this year’s allowance of £20,000 before it is gone forever.
If you haven’t already used your allowance – and you have money available to invest, of course – it is therefore essential to take action now. Investing via an ISA means that any profits you make will be free of UK Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax. And you won’t even have to declare it on your tax return, which if you’re anything like me will be a welcome simplification…
You can of course put your money into a cash ISA, but the rates of return on such accounts are currently derisory, and basic rate taxpayers now have a £1000 tax-free savings allowance anyway. The argument for investing in a cash ISA is therefore weak for most people, although if you think interest rates are likely to rise significantly in future there might still be a case for using one. Count me out, though 🙂
That leaves stocks and shares ISAs (and the relatively new Innovative Finance ISAs for P2P lending). For most people this is likely to be the favoured choice at the moment. So in this post I wanted to reveal a way you can get a cash boost of up to £250 if you plan to invest in one of these.
The method in question is to use a cashback platform such as Top Cashback or Quidco. I wrote about cashback platforms in this blog post a while ago. Basically, the platforms rebate the commission they receive from ‘introducing’ you to a company if you click via a link on the platform. Obviously, you need to sign up for an account with the cashback platform itself before doing this. I highly recommend signing up with both Quidco and Top Cashback, even if you aren’t planning to invest in an ISA currently.
So What’s On Offer Right Now?
On Top Cashback one of the best offers comes from Fidelity. If you put £5000 or more into their Stocks and Shares ISA, you can get £105 cashback. You have to be a new customer and remain invested for a minimum of three months to get the cashback.
If you invest in a Shepherds Friendly Stocks and Shares ISA, an even more generous £126 cashback is on offer for a minimum £5000 investment. And you can earn as much as £210 if you set up monthly deposits instead, though to get the full amount you must put in £900 a month or more. Again, you must remain invested for a minimum of three months to receive the cashback.
Another offer on Top Cashback that’s well worth a look comes from the investment platform Nutmeg. They are currently offering a generous £150 cashback to anyone investing a lump sum of £5000 or more or an initial investment of £500 and monthly payments of at least £100. You will need to move rapidly on this, though, as this offer ends today. I expect there will still be an offer available tomorrow but it probably won’t be as generous. I am, incidentally, a big fan of Nutmeg myself – you can read my review of Nutmeg here.
Over on Quidco there are also some great offers. With Scottish Friendly you can get up to £215 cashback when you invest in their My Moneybuilder ISA. To get the maximum you have to invest at least £1000 a month, though.
Nutmeg are also on Quidco. Their current offering is £150 with the same conditions as Top Cashback (see above). At present, then, Top Cashback offers slightly more cashback on Nutmeg than Quidco, but this can change by the day, so it’s important to check and compare both.
Finally, Shepherds Friendly are on Quidco too. Currently £150 cashback is on offer there for a minimum £5000 investment. And you can earn up to a chart-topping £250 if you set up monthly deposits, although to get the full amount you must invest £900 a month or more.
Obviously you shouldn’t invest in an ISA purely for the cashback on offer, but if you are thinking of doing so anyway it makes sense to do it through a cashback site and get the benefit of the extra money available.
Good luck, and if you have any comments or queries, please do leave them below.
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Today I’m featuring an opportunity that won’t make you rich, but can certainly generate a useful sideline or even full-time income, and provide a lot of fun into the bargain.
As an extra, you’ll make some money, get a chance to see how movies and TV shows are made, and even become immortalized on screen.
This is something I have personal experience of. At one time I belonged to an amateur theatre company, and through that got the chance to take part in various productions, including a fire safety video for British Gas (I played the good guy who got up and left his desk the moment the alarm went off). I also had a small role in a cult horror film. I was in two scenes, and in the second met a gory end at the hands of a deranged gardener!
In principle, almost anyone can become an extra, and that clearly includes older people as well as young. It will help if you live near a film or TV studio, or a popular location for filming. Many gigs are for a single day, but occasionally they can go on for a week or longer. Some extras in long-running TV serials continue to work on the show over a period of years.
You don’t need to have gone to stage school to be an extra, and you definitely don’t have to be ultra-attractive. Indeed, that can be a drawback. Extras are generally required for crowd scenes or to provide background, e.g. as the main actors hold a conversation in a bar. In most cases extras are expected to look average and normal (for whatever may be the setting), so they won’t distract viewers from the stars.
Depending on their appearance, extras may also be asked to stand in for the main actors, e.g. in long shots or (conversely) in certain close-ups. This type of work pays better than simply appearing in crowd scenes.
One thing you do need as an extra is stamina. The work can involve a lot of waiting around, sometimes in cramped, uncomfortable conditions, or in the open air exposed to the weather. You may be required to stand, sit, or repeat some motion for hours on end, until the director is finally satisfied with the shot. A typical working day is 10–12 hours, and on a music video it can be even longer.
Table of Contents
How To Get Work
It’s possible to get work applying directly to TV and film production companies, but most people get into this business by joining a casting agency such as Universal Extras.
In common with other agencies, Universal Extras charges a registration fee, but this is quite modest. The cost in their case is £25.00 plus VAT for two years, or £30.00 plus VAT for four years. Full-time students can join for free, however.
Although anyone can register as a would-be extra, there are certain minimum requirements you must fulfil. Clearly you will need to have free time available during the week, so this opportunity is not suitable for those in full-time work. You will also need to be punctual and reliable. Flexibility is important too, as shoots can start very early and finish late. And you will need to be courteous and considerate to everyone involved in the production. Leading actors and actresses can get away with being prima donnas, extras can’t!
If all that sounds like you, you can fill in an application on the agency’s website. You will be asked to complete a profile questionnaire, including basic information such as height and weight and contact details. You will also be asked about any special skills or experience you may have, from horse-riding to fencing, piano-playing to juggling. Clearly if you have any such talents they may lead to additional work, but don’t claim skills you don’t have, as you WILL get found out!
The other thing you will be expected to provide is photos. As a minimum you will be asked for head-and-shoulders and full body shots. These are clearly very important, as they will be used by casting directors when choosing extras for their productions. It is therefore important that the quality is as high as possible, so it’s best to use a high-quality DSLR camera. Some agencies will not accept photos taken on mobile phones. And they definitely don’t want selfies!
Once you are registered with an agency they will keep your details (and photos) on file, and contact you when an opportunity matching your description comes in. You will then receive a call sheet from the production office and told when and where to report.
Universal Extras, mentioned above, is one of the best-known UK agencies, but there are of course others you can apply to as well. Three other possibilities are Studio Extras, Film Extras , and Star Now.
If you’re outside the UK, your best bet is to search online for “film extras” plus the name of your country and/or nearest big city. In the US, by far the best-known agency is Central Casting, which has offices in New York, New Orleans and Los Angeles. You can find out more (and apply) via their website at CentralCasting.com.
On the Day
Your call sheet will tell you what time to arrive on the shoot and whom you should report to (on a film set this will typically be the 2nd Assistant Director or extras captain). On day shoots a 7 am start is not unusual.
When you arrive you will meet your contact and be given your “chit” or “salary voucher”. You will be required to fill this in and keep it with you at all times, to ensure you are paid everything that is due to you.
Before filming begins, you will be shown to the rest area where you’ll stay when you’re not on set. This is a good place to relax, read a book and meet other extras before your shoot. A runner or Assistant Director (AD) will come and collect you when you are needed for a scene.
According to the type of production you are taking part in (fantasy, sci-fi, contemporary, period drama, etc.) you may be required to visit various departments before filming starts, such as costume, make-up and/or weaponry.
Once on set for your scene you will normally be directed by an AD. They’ll tell you what they expect and give you an opportunity to rehearse before filming starts. Once they’re happy that you and your fellow extras are capable of doing what they want, rehearsing will stop and the main actors will be brought on.
Once everyone is on set and in place the AD will usually shout “Background Action!” This means that you start doing exactly what you have been rehearsing. “Action!” will then be shouted to give the main actors their cue to start.
At the end of the scene the director will call “Cut!” or just “Thanks, everyone!” to let you know that the scene and filming has ended. Don’t stop acting until you hear these words. More often than not the scene will be repeated several times until the director is happy with the outcome.
Here are a few more things to avoid while on set…
Rushing up and talking to the actors
Asking anyone for an autograph
Taking photos (cameras and mobile phones are normally banned on set)
Staring at the main actors
Staring into the camera
Remember that the actors are there to do a job, like you, so they need to avoid distractions.
At the end of filming a scene, you will be taken back to the rest area until you are needed again. You may be asked to take part in many shots such as close-ups, long shots and mid-shots.
At the end of the day do not leave until you have been signed out and completed the necessary paperwork to ensure you get paid. And don’t forget to return all props and costumes given to you!
What Does It Pay?
Rates of pay vary depending on the type of work, but they are governed by nationally negotiated agreements.
The Film Artistes Association (FAA), for example, stipulates a daily basic rate for extras of £84 for a nine-hour working day including an hour for lunch. That is clearly not a fortune, but the basic rate may be supplemented in various ways.
For example, if your role requires a change of clothes or a haircut, you will be entitled to an extra £12.50. If you get wet in a scene involving mock rain, there is a £19 additional payment. And if you have to fire a gun or say a word such as “Hi!” that entitles you to an extra £25 in your pay cheque.
You will be paid even if, for one reason or another, your services are not required on the day. In addition, cooked meals are normally provided free of charge, including breakfast for early calls. A common source of conversation among extras is the quality of the catering!
Earnings can also be boosted in some cases by a “buyout”. This is a one-off lump sum paid to extras in lieu of royalties. In a few cases royalties may still be paid, which means you get a further fee every time the film, TV show or advertisement is aired. Royalty deals for extras are not nearly as common as they used to be, however.
You will normally receive payment four to six weeks after the shoot. Extras are regarded as self-employed, so no deductions are made for tax and National Insurance. Assuming you are hired via an agency they will take their cut, however. This is typically 15 percent of earnings, and there may be VAT to pay on this as well.
Closing Thoughts
If you have never considered being a film or TV extra before, I hope in this post to have whetted your appetite. As I said at the start, you are unlikely to make a fortune this way, but you can get a lot of fun and satisfaction from it.
In my view this is also an excellent sideline for home-based entrepreneurs, who often lead a rather solitary life. Being an extra will not only boost your income, in my experience it is great for meeting new and interesting people, and getting away from the computer for a while!
A few extras have been “discovered” this way and gone on to become genuine stars in their own right, but the great majority simply enjoy the work and the extra money it brings in. You will also have the fun of seeing yourself in films or TV shows, and pointing out the scenes you are in to your awestruck (or not) family and friends.
Pounds and Sense aims to cover financial matters from an over 60s perspective. So today I thought I’d talk about one of my favourite moneymaking sidelines (or side hustles in the modern parlance) matched betting, and why I believe it is ideally suited to people in our age group.
I spoke about matched betting in this post a few weeks ago. To recap, it is a way of making risk-free cash by taking advantage of bookmaker special offers and promotions.
I have been matched betting on and off since last September and my total earnings to date stand at around £2000. I know for a fact that there are people making this amount every month using this method!
Here then are 12 reasons why I believe matched betting is something anyone in our age group should at least look into…
1. Older people typically have some time available during the day (as well as evenings and weekends). This is ideal for matched betting, as to take advantage of some opportunities you need to be around during the daytime.
2. Matched betting is tax-free, as it is regarded as a form of gambling (although done properly it isn’t). It won’t therefore generate any additional tax liability for you, or affect your eligibility for means-tested benefits.
3. Matched betting income cannot be taken into account by banks or building societies if you are applying for a mortgage. That can be a problem for younger people, but it won’t typically worry older folk.
4. Most older people are careful with their money and avoid taking needless risks with it. Other things being equal, they are less likely to be tempted from matched betting into gambling. Of course, if you have ever had a gambling problem in the past, it is probably best to avoid this particular activity.
5. Most older people have at least some savings. That is important, as you do need a small amount of capital to start matched betting. This money is not actually at risk, but it is needed to do the offers, and you can withdraw it at any time. If you have no savings at all, however, matched betting will be difficult for you.
6. Online bookmakers typically perform credit checks before allowing you to open an account. As an older person you are likely to have a long credit record, which will reassure them. Younger people sometimes find themselves being asked to jump through various additional hoops before they can open an account.
7. Also, my experience is that bookmakers tend to be less suspicious of older punters. If you are over 60 you will probably not fit the normal profile for someone doing this. That means you are less likely to have your account restricted (or gubbed, as we say) if they suspect you are matched betting. Matched betting is not illegal, incidentally, but bookmakers don’t really like it. They much prefer ‘mug punters’ who bet recreationally and lose money steadily to them!
8. Hopefully as an older person you will have a degree of financial security. That means you won’t be totally stressed out over potentially losing a pound or two if you make a mistake. That’s important, as you need to be focused and relaxed when matched betting. It’s not rocket science, but it does require care and concentration.
9. And likewise, if you will excuse a further generalization, as an older person you will likely be punctilious about following the instructions from matched betting services (if you belong to one). And neither are you likely to be tempted to go ‘off piste’, at least until you have gained more experience.
10. As an older person, you will probably be accustomed to keeping financial records. This again is essential for a matched bettor, to keep track of your profits and where they currently are.
11. You don’t have to do matched betting every day. If you have family commitments, part-time or temporary jobs, holidays, medical procedures or just want to take a break from it for a while, it’s very easy to put it on hold and come back later.
12. And finally, matched betting is a great (and enjoyable) way of keeping your brain active, with the bonus that you are making money as well 🙂
Getting Started
So how do you get started as a matched bettor? Unless you are already an experienced punter with a good understanding of the mathematics involved, I highly recommend joining a matched betting advisory service. They set out everything you need to know with step-by-step instructions, and also provide software tools with advice on how to use them. You can sign up and use these services even if you have never placed a bet in your life before.
The service I use myself and recommend for beginners is Profit Accumulator. This is a dedicated matched betting advisory service. You can join free initially and they will provide details of two offers you can take advantage of straight away. These should make you around £45 in net profit. If you wish to proceed further, you can then pay to become a Platinum member and get access to their full range of offers and services.
A further advantage of joining Profit Accumulator is that you get access to the members-only forum, where you can get any questions you may have answered by more experienced members and/or the team behind PA.
I will be covering other aspects of matched betting in future posts, so please do sign up in the right-hand column to be notified when the blog is updated (you can also follow PAS on social media and Bloglovin). And if you think matched betting may be for you, do click through to the Profit Accumulator website to see what they offer and sign up for the free trial.
As ever, if you have any questions or comments about matched betting or Profit Accumulator, please do post them below.
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Today I’m discussing an opportunity with the potential to generate a lot of money for little effort. As you will gather, that is allowing your home to be used as a location for film, TV or still photography.
Of course, this opportunity won’t be suitable for everyone. You need to live somewhere with characteristics or features that might be in demand by a production company. But, as I’ll be explaining, you definitely don’t need to live in a stately home. A huge range of properties is required, so wherever you live there’s a chance it could be the perfect location for an upcoming project.
I’ll put my cards on the table and admit that I haven’t any direct experience of doing this myself. Some friends who live in a perfectly normal suburban semi did, though. Their house was chosen for filming a toilet roll commercial. As well as a generous fee for two days’ filming, they received several large boxes of premium toilet rolls for their trouble!
What Homes Are Required?
All sorts of properties may be of interest, although those meeting the following criteria are in most demand…
Good accessibility and parking – film-makers in particular may have trucks and lorries that need to be parked near-by.
Large rooms and through lounges – around a dozen crew members plus their equipment are likely to be in the house at any time, so there must be enough space for them as well as the actors.
Unusual features – traditional stone fireplaces, spiral staircases, farmhouse-style kitchens, extra-large bathrooms, and so on.
Not too many narrow stairs and hallways, and not too close to main roads, busy railway lines or aircraft flight-paths.
Homes with a particular “look” – a typical English country cottage, for example, or a 1970s-style bachelor pad!
In addition, homes within the M25 are likely to generate more interest, as most production companies are based in and around London.
Earnings can range from a few hundred pounds for an ordinary house or flat, up to £5,000 or more for an unusual (e.g. ultra-modern/architect-designed) home. Other things being equal, film-makers tend to pay better than TV companies.
As mentioned above, there is also a demand for properties for still photography (typically featuring the latest designs or fashions). For this type of opportunity, it helps to have a larger house, ideally with attractive gardens as well.
How to Apply
The Location Partnership is one agency that is always keen to hear from people willing to offer their homes for filming. It is free to register with them, and all they ask initially is that you take some photos of your property (interior and exterior) and send them with a completed registration form.
If your property is used, The Location Partnership will negotiate the fee for you and provide a contract and any other advice you might need to ensure a successful shoot. They charge a 20 percent commission (+VAT) of the final fee paid to you by the production company.
Can You Offer Up Your Home with Equity Release for a TV or Film Location?
According to equity release terms and conditions, there’s no indication that homeowners can’t rent their property as a film or television location. Most equity release lenders allow borrowers to take lodgers on their property as long as it remains their primary residence. Therefore, the same principle would apply to advertising your home as a production location. It’s always wise to discuss your intentions with your financial adviser during the planning process to avoid running into trouble at a later stage.
At the age of 61 I just got my first Senior Railcard.
I must admit I hadn’t realised I was even eligible for a Senior Railcard – I assumed you had to be over 65 for this and/or receiving a pension. That’s definitely not the case, though. As long as you are 60 or above, that’s all that’s necessary.
I already saved most of the cost of my card within a month visiting a friend who was in hospital in Birmingham (now safely home, I’m glad to say). So in this post I thought I’d say a bit about Senior Railcards and railcards more generally. If you ever travel by train, they can generate big savings for you over the course of a year.
Senior Railcard
The Senior Railcard (which I now have) costs £30 a year, or you can save yourself £20 by paying £70 for three years.
Once you have your card, you can save a third on most types of ticket, including standard and off-peak, single and return. One thing you can’t do, though, is use them to get a discount on season tickets. You are also barred from using them between two stations in London and the South-East during morning peak time. A full list showing when you can and can’t use your Senior Railcard can be found here.
If you really feel like travelling in style, you can also use your railcard to get a third off a first class ticket. That would almost certainly cover the cost of the card in one trip!
For travelling from Lichfield City (my nearest station) to University (the station for Birmingham University and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital), using my railcard cut the cost of a day return from about £9 to £6. Obviously, for longer journeys the savings would be even greater.
To use the card, you have to present it at the ticket office when buying your ticket. It is also available as an option on automatic ticket machines and when buying a ticket from websites (where this is possible). One important thing to remember is that you must have your Senior Railcard with you when travelling, as a ticket inspector may want to see it.
You can buy a Senior Railcard at any staffed railway station, or on the Senior Railcard website. I did the latter, and my card duly arrived by post two days later. Note that in order to buy a Senior Railcard online, you will need to enter your driving licence or passport number to prove your eligibility.
One other thing to note is that Senior Railcard holders are eligible for certain additional benefits as well, such as discounts on Warner Leisure Hotels and Haven Holidays. More information about this can be found here.
Other Railcards
If you aren’t over 60, there are still other railcards you may be eligible for. They are listed in the table below. In most cases holders of these cards get 1/3 off the normal fare. There may be some restrictions, e.g. you may not be allowed to use them in the morning rush hour (in London and the South-East especially).
Railcards
Name of Card
Price/year
Terms
Notes
Apply online?
Senior Railcard
£30
Age 60 or over
Yes
Two Together
£30
Two adults of any age
Must travel after 09.30 on weekdays
Yes
16-25 Railcard
£30
Age 16-25 or full-time mature student of any age
Yes
Family & Friends
£30
Up to 4 adults and 4 children
Gives 1/3 off adult fares and 60% off children's fares
Yes
Network Railcard
£30
16 and over
Valid anywhere in the London and South-East region
Yes
Disabled Persons
£20
Must have a disability and/or receive a disabled person's benefit
Also valid for an accompanying adult
No
HM Forces
£17
Must be a serving member of UK armed forces or reservist, or spouse/partner of one, or a dependant
I mentioned then that Free Postcode Lottery was one of my favourite such sites, and that applies even more now. Last week I logged in as usual and saw my postcode staring back at me as the winner of the main draw 😮
I honestly thought for a moment that I was dreaming, but quickly realised that I wasn’t. I looked for and found the claim button (it wasn’t quite as prominent as I expected) and clicked on it. And that was it – I had just won the Free Postcode Lottery!
The prize fund that day was £1200 and FPL said there was one other registered player in my postcode area. I must admit that I was slightly disappointed when, a few hours later, that person put in their claim as well, meaning I would have to split the £1200 with them. Still, I’m really not complaining, as an extra £600 (tax-free) has come in very handy indeed as the winter bills pour in.
And if you’re wondering, the other £14.53 is my loyalty bonus. I accrued this through introducing other players and signing up for offers on the FPL site. When you win FPL, your loyalty bonus is added to your winnings. I only wish I’d signed up for a few more offers now 😀
More About Free Postcode Lottery
I’d been meaning to write a special post about FPL anyway, so I shall say a bit more about it now.
As mentioned, this is a free lottery site. There is nothing to pay and all prizes are funded by advertising. It is not to be confused with The People’s Postcode Lottery, which is advertised on TV and you have to pay for.
To be eligible for prizes on FPL, all you have to do is sign up on the website, including your postcode, email address and PayPal account details (any winnings are paid into this). You then have to return to the site every day to check whether your postcode has come up. If a prize isn’t claimed the fund rolls over to the next day. With the Main Draw, it currently goes up by £400 a day. The prize can easily rise to over £1000 if a few days go by without anyone claiming.
One thing I really like about FPL is that there are multiple draws, greatly boosting your chances of winning. As well as the Main Draw (which I was lucky enough to win) there is also a Survey Draw (where you may have to complete a survey to see the winning postcode) and a Video Draw (where you have to watch a music video). There are also Stackpot and Bonus Draws, with smaller prizes. And finally, there is a £50 gift card to be won every week by courtesy of the price comparison website Quidco. All six draws can be accessed via the tabs at the top of the page, as shown in the screen capture below.
It only takes a few moments to check all the draws. Personally I use the Tab Alarm add-on in Firefox to open up FPL and all the other free lotteries I am registered with at the same time every day. That means they can all then be checked in five minutes or so. It also ensures that I don’t forget on the day my number comes up!
Good luck, and if you have any comments or questions about Free Postcode Lottery, please do post them below.
UPDATE MAY 2018: Free Postcode Lottery is now called Pick My Postcode, after they were threatened with legal action by the company behind the paid-for Postcode Lottery. The URL is now https://pickmypostcode.com.
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In late 2014 I invested £30,000 from an inheritance on premium bonds. I liked the idea of making a tax-free income this way, with the (admittedly slim) chance every month of winning a life-changing sum.
Initially anyway it went fairly well, though all I ever won were £25 prizes. Then in June 2016 the interest rate and hence the prize fund was reduced, and almost immediately I saw a big drop in the number of prizes I was receiving. For comparison purposes, here are the prizes I got from November 2014 (the first month my bonds were eligible for the monthly draws) to May 2016…
Month/Year
Number of Prizes won
Total Prize Value £s
11/14
1
25
12/14
2
50
1/15
1
25
2/15
1
25
3/15
0
0
4/15
2
50
5/15
2
50
6/15
2
50
7/15
0
0
8/15
0
0
9/15
0
0
10/15
1
25
11/15
1
25
12/15
0
0
1/16
3
75
2/16
1
25
3/16
4
100
4/16
3
75
5/16
0
0
TOTAL
23
600
In contrast, here are my winnings after the change was made in June 2016.
Month/year
Number of Prizes won
Total Prize Value £s
6/16
0
0
7/16
2
50
8/16
1
25
9/16
0
0
10/16
0
0
11/16
2
50
12/16
1
25
1/17
0
0
2/17
0
0
TOTAL
6
150
So in the period November 2014 to May 2016 I won 23 prizes totaling £600 in value, and from June 2016 to February 2017 I won 7 prizes totaling £150 in value.
Obviously we aren’t comparing like with like here, as the first period is 16 months and the second period just nine months. So here are the pro rata figures for the returns both pre- and post-June 2016.
Pre-June 2016 – 600 x 12/16 = £450 per year
June 2016 onward – 150 x 12/9 = £200 per year
So, in effect, my rate of return has more than halved since the June 2016 changes. When you calculate this as a percentage return on my £30,000 investment it looks even worse.
Pre-June 2016 – 450/30000 x 100 = 1.5%
June 2016 onwards – 200/30000 x 100 = 0.67%
By current standards, a tax-free return of 1.5% per year isn’t too shabby – it compares pretty well with cash ISAs, for example, even though the return with the latter is guaranteed (until the rate changes anyway).
On the other hand, 0.67% is clearly disappointing. I would have made more keeping the money in my Santander 123 current account which pays 1.5% (3% pre-November 2016), even though they only pay this on the first £20,000 in your account.
It’s hard to quantify what the chance of winning a big prize is worth. On the one hand you probably won’t – but on the other hand, somebody has to!
So What Action Am I Taking?
After nine months under the current premium bond terms I have decided enough is enough.
I withdrew £25,000 of my £30,000 today and plan to put this in a variety of equity-based investments. Obviously these are not guaranteed either, but by a conservative assessment they should generate an annual return of around 5%, or about eight times what I am getting from premium bonds currently.
I am going to keep £5,000 in premium bonds for the time being. At least it gives me a bit of excitement at the start of every month. And I am never going to lose this money, although obviously in time its value will be eroded by inflation.
So that’s my view of premium bonds, but what do you think? Are they still a worthwhile investment or are they now a mug’s game? Please leave any comments below as usual!
Today – February 4 2017 – is World Cancer Day, so to mark this I am doing a special post on the subject of cancer and specifically my experiences with it.
I say experiences, as cancer has touched my life in various ways. My father died from cancer of the neck and my partner Jayne passed away three years ago from breast cancer. These were clearly horrible and distressing periods in my life, but in this post I want to focus on my own personal experience.
In my case, the lottery of life gave me prostate cancer. This is of course a very common cancer among men, but due to its nature it is not widely discussed. I hope talking about it here, and being as open and honest as I can, may help other men who have this condition or are worried they might.
So here’s my story. I was 58 and living on my own after my partner had passed away a year or so earlier. I had been diagnosed with an enlarged prostate some years earlier, but I started getting additional symptoms that concerned me (largely aches and pains in that region). One thing you often hear about prostate cancer is that an early symptom can be having to get up several times in the night to pee, but with an enlarged prostate that was old news to me, and I didn’t notice any particular changes anyway where that was concerned.
So I asked my doctor for a PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) test. Although by no means 100% reliable as a test for prostate cancer, this can indicate when further investigation may be needed. When the day after my test I got a phone call from my doctor asking me to come and see him directly after afternoon surgery, I was pretty sure it wasn’t going to be good news.
Anyway, he told me my test result was 8.0. That’s not massively high but above the normal maximum of 4.0, so he wanted to perform a physical (rectal) examination. Initially at least he was quite reassuring, saying that my raised reading could be due to something as simple as sitting down for a long period, but he wanted to rule out anything more serious. A rectal examination is not the pleasantest of experiences, as any man who has had one will tell you, but as the prostate is situated directly beside the rectum this is the only way to access it physically.
Anyway, after doing this my doctor’s demeanour changed noticeably. I guess he felt a lump or something else that didn’t feel right. He didn’t say anything but immediately started writing out a referral form to the hospital. I could see the word ‘cancer’ at the top and that sent a bit of a shiver down my spine, although I had of course suspected it.
So off I went to see a urologist at Stafford Hospital, and he repeated the examination and referred me for more tests. One of these was an MRI scan, which was straightforward enough. Another was a bone scan. This likewise was no big deal, apart from the fact that it involved being injected with a small amount of radioactive isotope. It was therefore done in the bowels of the hospital behind various scary-looking warning signs.
The other diagnostic test, however, was the dreaded transrectal biopsy. I’ll say a bit more about that here, as I know it’s the one thing many men fear more than any other, and I’ve also seen a lot of misinformation about it in the media.
Table of Contents
My Prostate Biopsy
A biopsy involves taking samples of tissue from your prostate. It is really the only way they can be certain that you have prostate cancer, and also gives an indication of how aggressive it is.
The procedure is performed by an ultrasound expert using a special piece of equipment. It is actually not as painful as you might think, partly because a local anaesthetic is used, and partly because (I was told) there are no pain receptors in the rectum itself. Nonetheless, it is uncomfortable and does hurt for a few hours afterwards. If you need to have a transrectal biopsy, definitely get someone else to drive you home and be sure to take some paracetamol with you.
In my case I was fortunate to have my lovely sister Annie to accompany me and drive me to the hospital and back (a 40-minute journey). I didn’t bring any paracetamol with me, though, and found I couldn’t buy any at the hospital, so I had to get her to stop at Superdrug on the way back. Don’t make my mistake!
There is a risk of going down with an infection after any biopsy, especially (for obvious reasons) in the rectal area, but I have seen some ridiculous claims about this. You are given a shot of antibiotics directly before the procedure and have a short course of oral antibiotics to take before and after as well. The reality is that only a small proportion of people (about 3 percent) contract an infection, but the medics do like you to have someone in the house with you for at least one night afterwards just in case it happens. Again, my sister Annie stepped up to the plate. And no, I didn’t get an infection myself.
My Treatment
To no surprise, the biopsy and scans confirmed that I had prostate cancer. After discussing the options with a urologist (surgery would have been a possibility but he didn’t recommend it in my case) I was referred to a radiotherapy oncologist.
She (I was quite pleased it was a woman) told me I would need a standard treatment regime of hormone therapy combined with 37 sessions of radiotherapy. More about the latter shortly; I’ll talk about the hormone therapy first.
Hormone therapy for men involves taking a drug or drugs that stop your body producing testosterone. This doesn’t kill the cancer on its own, but as prostate cancer feeds on testosterone (that’s not a scientific way of expressing it but I think sums it up), it starves the cancer and shrinks it. She wanted me to go on hormone therapy for about six months before radiotherapy, in order to shrink the cancer first.
I started off on tablets then switched to three-monthly injections of a hormone therapy drug called Prostap. As mentioned, this effectively shuts down your body’s production of testosterone. As you might expect, this has side effects 🙁
One very common result is that you get hot flushes. Somewhat surprisingly I have never had this, although talking to other patients I consider myself fortunate in that regard. I did though find that it made me tire more easily and reduced my stamina, and I also put on some weight around the midriff especially. The most noticeable effect, however, was that it effectively switched off my libido.
I don’t want to go into too much detail about this here, as I’m sure you’ll understand, but I will say that there are various things you can do or take if this is a concern for you. Drugs like Viagra and Cialis will assist with the physical aspects, but won’t do anything about your sex drive. There are also various other options, including injections into the penis and a vacuum pump device. Suffice to say, some of these options are less appealing than others. Even if you are not currently in a relationship, though, it is still important to pay some attention to this bodily function. ‘Use it or lose it’ is an apt expression here. And that is all I will say on this subject!
Radiotherapy
After six months I started my radiotherapy at the Royal Stoke University Hospital Cancer Centre (pictured). As mentioned earlier, this involved 37 sessions, with only weekends off. In effect, it became my day job for two months in the summer of 2015. Every day I had an hour’s drive to the hospital, including at least 20 minutes on the M6.
I had to arrive about three hours before my appointment time to complete what is euphemistically referred to as ‘prep’. This involves various preparatory tasks including drinking a lot of water to ensure your bladder is full and taking a self-administered enema. This all helps improve the targeting of the beam and ensure that other tissues are affected as little as possible, but of course it doesn’t make it a very joyous experience.
That summer was clearly a test of endurance, and I am forever indebted to various friends and relatives who willingly gave up their time to give me lifts, either part or all of the way, depending on where they lived. It was also great to have their company. Most weeks there were at least two days when I had someone with me. On the odd week when I didn’t, it definitely felt more of a grind. On the right you will see a picture of me and my sister Annie taken in the small garden within the treatment centre. As you can see, she is a lot more photogenic than I am!
Radiotherapy itself is non-invasive and painless (although I did get mild radiation burns towards the end of the treatment period). I did get tired and fed up, though, and the worst period was about a fortnight in, when I contracted some sort of virus. I didn’t want to stop my treatment, but I felt wretched for a week or so. I got over that eventually, however, and after that things went a little better.
I did get some urinary tract symptoms, including difficulty peeing at night, for which I was put on a drug called Tamsulosin. This is very common with radiotherapy patients, as the radiation causes a certain amount of collateral damage. The symptoms do ease gradually after treatment ends, but I still have to take Tamsulosin today and may have to for the rest of my life.
Going through two months of radiotherapy (or radiation therapy as the Americans call it) is an interesting experience, though not one I would wish to repeat. You get to know some of the staff quite well, and your fellow cancer patients even better. When you are finding it a hard slog their support and comradeship is very much appreciated, and of course a certain amount of black humour gets shared. “You only know you’ve been cured of cancer when you die of something else” is one gem somebody came out with…
Thirty-seven sessions seems like an eternity initially, but once you get past the half-way mark it seems to go a lot faster. I should like to place on record here my deepest gratitude to all the staff at the radiotherapy department of the Royal Stoke University Hospital for their kindness and consideration, and to my oncologist, Dr Bhana, for whose support and and professional expertise I owe more than words can say.
So Where Am I Now?
It is now around 18 months since I finished radiotherapy. I am still on hormone therapy as a precautionary measure to try to reduce the chances of a recurrence, but that will hopefully end this summer, or failing that (and it is partly my decision) summer 2018.
I have regular PSA tests every few months to monitor my health, and with these tests the general rule is the lower the figure, the better. Thankfully all my results so far have been very low indeed. Fingers crossed, that will continue to be the case.
Final Thoughts and Advice
Having been through the prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment process myself, I thought I would close by sharing some thoughts on it for anyone else who may be in the position I was…
If you are at all concerned about prostate-related symptoms, ask your doctor for a PSA test. Prostate cancer is much easier to treat if it hasn’t spread, so don’t delay. Personally I think every man over 50 should have PSA tests regularly, but I am aware that this is somewhat controversial. Better to be safe than sorry, though.
Don’t be put off by scare stories in the media. I have been staggered to read some of the ‘facts’ about prostate cancer promulgated in national newspapers. Prostate cancer CAN be treated and cured if caught early enough, so take action at the earliest opportunity, and take all the tests and treatments that are recommended for you.
In particular, don’t be put off by scare stories about the biopsy. It is unpleasant and somewhat painful, but entirely endurable. And as long as you take your antibiotics as directed it is unlikely you will go down with an infection afterwards.
Enlist as much support as you can from friends and family – both practical and emotional – to help get you through the treatment process. It really does make a massive difference.
Don’t be put off talking about your condition. There is nothing shameful about getting prostate cancer (or any other cancer for that matter). It is not your fault, and has no bearing on who you are as a person.
Don’t assume that a prostate cancer diagnosis is a death sentence. The plain fact is that most men who are diagnosed with this condition don’t die from it. But I can’t emphasise enough the importance of having it diagnosed and treated early.
More World Cancer Day Blog Posts
Please check out also these articles by my blogging colleagues on other types of cancer.
Updated November 2018: Crowdfunding and crowdlending are opportunities I particularly wanted to discuss on Pounds and Sense, so I thought I would kick off by looking at the investment possibilities offered by property crowdfunding.
As ever, I have to start with a disclaimer that I am not a qualified financial adviser. I am simply talking about this topic as an interested individual who has invested this way himself. You should do your own ‘due diligence’ before investing, and never risk money you cannot afford to lose in a worst-case scenario.
Why Property Crowdfunding?
Investing in bricks and mortar has long been a favourite strategy of the wealthy. Property owners get a double benefit: rent from tenants for as long as they own the property, and – in most cases – a profit if they choose to sell.
Of course, property doesn’t come cheap. And even if you can stretch to buying a modest house or flat for investment purposes, you are taking the risk of putting all your eggs in one basket. As a result, many people of more modest means have concluded that property investment is not for them.
Crowdfunding is changing all that, however. A growing number of platforms now exist that allow ordinary folk the chance to buy a share in an investment property for as little as £50. Investors then receive a proportion of the rental income generated, and also get a share of the profit when and if the property is sold.
I now have investments via three different property crowdfunding platforms – a block of flats in Torquay in which I own a small share is pictured above – but in this post I want to focus on one platform in particular, the UK-based Property Partner. This was only launched in January 2015, and has swiftly become the UK’s largest property crowdfunding website. They have over 9,060 investors, who between them have invested over £44 million in properties across the UK. Non-UK investors are welcome to join Property Partner too, so long as the legal system in their country permits it. Unfortunately, US residents are not able to invest this way at the moment.
One big attraction of Property Partner is that they have an active secondary market. That means investors can offer part or all of their portfolio for sale at any time.
Obviously, to sell your shares in a property you will need a buyer, but Property Partner say that so long as they are priced reasonably (i.e. at or below the current official price) shares normally sell within 72 hours. By contrast, other property crowdfunding platforms such as The House Crowd and CrowdLords do not run formal secondary markets, though they say they will always help would-be sellers find a buyer if required.
Another attraction of Property Partner is that dividends are paid monthly, unlike other platforms which typically pay annually. Money from dividends builds up in your account, and you can either withdraw it or reinvest it in other properties. When you add that you can get started on Property Partner for as little as £50, it is not all that surprising to me that they have enjoyed such success.
Understanding the Risks
With all property crowdfunding platforms, it is important to understand that there is an element of risk. Clearly, your returns may be affected if occupancy falls or there is a major issue affecting the property (e.g. a fire). Your money is not as safe as with a UK bank savings account (although of course the potential returns are much better).
It is therefore important not to put all your eggs in one basket. As mentioned, I have investments with three different property crowdfunding platforms, and within each platform I am invested in several different properties as well. I have only had one investment fail – a highly speculative development venture – and fortunately I only had the minimum amount invested in that.
On the positive side, I have made several thousand pounds profit from my property crowdfunding investments to date, and have been pleased with the net rate of return. With Property Partner alone I have around £5000 invested and made £500 profit in the last year or about a 10% return (allowing for both rental income and capital appreciation).
Clearly, I’m not saying that everyone should invest in Property Partner – that depends on your personal circumstances and investment goals, and you should always take professional advice if you have any doubts before investing. But if you are looking for a property crowdfunding platform to invest with, in my view they should definitely be at or near the top of your list.
Up to £750 Sign-up Bonus!
As an existing Property Partner investor, I can offer a special bonus for anyone joining via my link. If you click through this special invitation link, sign up and invest a minimum of £2,000 within 60 days, you will receive an extra bonus as follows (and so will I):
Not only that, once you are an investor with Property Partner, even if you only start with £250, you will be able to offer the same bonus to your friends and relatives and earn commission yourself. There is no limit to the number of people you can introduce through this scheme.
Obviously, this is a generous promotional offer by Property Partner and I assume it won’t be available forever. If you want to take advantage, therefore, don’t wait too long. I will remove this information if/when I hear the offer is no longer valid.
I do hope you have found this post on property crowdfunding of interest. As I mentioned earlier, this subject (and crowdfunding/lending in general) is one I intend to return to on Pounds and Sense regularly in future.
For various reasons in the last few months (including being diagnosed prediabetic) I decided I needed to start eating more healthily.
Not that I had been on an especially unhealthy diet, but when you live on your own (as I do now) it’s easy to get into the habit of buying ready-made meals (probably full of salt, sugar and other unhealthy additives) and sticking them in the microwave.
I read about the benefits of making your own soup, but decided it sounded too much like hard work. Then, while browsing the internet, I learned about dedicated soup-making machines and how they claim to make soup-making a doddle. I decided this was clearly what I needed in my life.
For the last few weeks I’ve been merrily trying this out. I thought you might be interested to hear about my first five soups, so here we go…
Table of Contents
Soup 1 – Mushroom
This was the first soup I made, using a recipe that came in the booklet with the soup-maker. I can honestly say that it was disgusting. It came out a pale beige colour, and looked, smelled and tasted like waste water from the washing machine. It was also unappetizingly thin. I had one spoonful and all the rest went down the drain. At this point I was seriously thinking I might have made a mistake buying a soup-maker.
I haven’t tried making mushroom soup again, but if I do I will definitely add some other ingredients to improve its flavour and thicken it – cream or creme fraiche, possibly. And I will try using mushrooms with a bit more flavour than Waitrose Essentials. 1/10
Soup 2 – Tomato
I got the recipe for this off the internet. Thankfully it was a lot more successful. It involved chopping up some tomatoes and adding them to the soup maker along with a few other ingredients. The flavour of this one was good. The only problem with it was that there were little bits of tomato skin rolled up like tiny cigars in it. Next time I will skin the tomatoes before making the soup or maybe use tinned toms with their skins removed. 7/10
Soup 3 – French Onion
By this point I decided I needed a recipe book, and so I bought Soup Maker Recipe Book by Liana Green on the basis of the good reviews it had received on Amazon. It contains over 100 soup maker recipes, mainly vegetable but some including meat. As an added bonus the author uses the same soup-making machine as the one I bought.
For this recipe I bought some large, French-looking white onions. It also involved the addition of a large dollop of French mustard and some Parmesan cheese at the end. This was also the first (and so far only) soup I made using the Chunky setting on the machine (all the rest used Smooth).
This soup was pungent from the French mustard. Despite having been chopped and sauteed, however, it was still a bit ‘al dente’ for my palate. I did eat some of it (on two occasions) but got rather bored chewing undercooked onion in mustard. This was another one that mostly went down the drain. If I were to try this recipe again, I would be tempted to use the tinned and partly pre-cooked ‘easy onion’ you can sometimes get in supermarkets (I believe it was recommended by Delia at some point). I think this would make a much nicer soup. In any event, I would saute the onion for longer before starting the soup-making process. I’d be tempted to use the Smooth setting as well, although that’s not really in the spirit of a proper French onion soup, I know. 3/10
Soup 4 – Broccoli and Other Greens
This soup was based around a rather sad looking bag of prepared broccoli, courgettes and curly kale (I think) that I had bought for some other purpose from Morrisons but never used. I adapted a recipe from Liana Green’s book that also included green pesto. It was unexpectedly delicious and I ate it all and froze some for later. It was an eye-opener to discover how a bag of unexciting mixed veg that I bought more from a feeling that it would be “good for me” rather than any real enthusiasm could be turned into something so tasty. 9/10
Soup 5 – Courgette and Spinach
Another recipe from the book. I had a left-over courgette in the fridge and the only other ingredient I had to buy was the spinach (the other ingredients I had already included onion, a potato and a few other odds and ends from the store cupboard). This was very tasty as well, and I have put a photo on the right. That bowl had a couple of croutons in it, but the next time I put a swirl of creme fraiche instead, which was even nicer. 8/10
Lessons Learned So Far
As you may gather, I wasn’t an instant convert to soup-makers. But now I’ve used mine a few times I am definitely a fan and can see I will be using it a lot in future. It’s quick and easy to prepare the ingredients, especially if you have a food processor for chopping up the vegetables. The actual soup-making process takes half an hour or just under, and you can leave the machine alone to do its work during this time.
Here are a few other conclusions I have drawn so far…
I bought a soup-maker with a built-in saute function. Based on what I know now, I don’t know if I would bother with this again. Yes, it simplifies matters a bit to do all the cooking in the soup-maker and there is one less item at the end to wash up. On the other hand, you can’t control the level of heat used in the soup-maker, whereas if you do your saute-ing on the stove you can set any temperature you want. It’s also easier to see what’s going on and stir the ingredients in a pan than in a tall, slim soup-making machine.
Definitely don’t rely on the recipes provided by the manufacturer. You can search for soup-maker recipes online, or even better buy a recipe book such as the one by Liana Green that I bought. You soon get a good general idea of how the process works and can experiment as much as you like.
A soup-maker is great for using up left-over odds and ends that would otherwise probably end up in the bin or the compost. By this means it can also save you quite a bit of money.
And of course it’s healthy as well, and a great way of getting one or two of your ‘five a day’. Plus in home-made soup you don’t need to include all the salt, sugar and other additives that go into many shop-bought soups.
In my opinion anyway most soups need something to thicken them and make them more palatable. That could be something like cream or creme fraiche, a spoonful of plain flour, or even a potato chopped up small.
The minimum quantity you can make in a soup-maker like mine is enough for four quite generous portions. If you live on your own (like me) you can keep some in the fridge for a day or two, or it should freeze without any problem.
The Morphy Richards soup-maker I bought also has a setting for making your own smoothies. I haven’t tried this yet, but probably will in the warmer weather.
After six months I started my radiotherapy at the Royal Stoke University Hospital Cancer Centre (pictured). As mentioned earlier, this involved 37 sessions, with only weekends off. In effect, it became my day job for two months in the summer of 2015. Every day I had an hour’s drive to the hospital, including at least 20 minutes on the M6.
Another recipe from the book. I had a left-over courgette in the fridge and the only other ingredient I had to buy was the spinach (the other ingredients I had already included onion, a potato and a few other odds and ends from the store cupboard). This was very tasty as well, and I have put a photo on the right. That bowl had a couple of croutons in it, but the next time I put a swirl of creme fraiche instead, which was even nicer. 8/10