Argh! Temptation.

Trouble is, that Subaru is a bit of an oddball car. I'm trying to be optimistic about the Passat because they have the right image and are fairly easy to flog.

I know the feeling. I was going to flog the 75 in the summer, but no-one wanted it.

I blame 'Yes!' car credit.

Yeah, but it was once a desireable one - jacked up, almost SUV. Horsey types love'em and there's a lot around. Outbacks are pretty common up here though :/

I blame then anyway. For everything.

Richard

Jesus, =A3300 per month to a pension? What if you die aged 66, the money vanishes. Pensions are such a state sponsored ripoff. Invest less in the pension and more in stuff you can cash in properly, for cash not some bollocks annuity that vanishes as soon as you're dead. Yeah yeah I know about the taxfree lump sum (which you can use to pay off an interest free mortgage) but you'll probably NEVER see the other 75% of your cash, or very litle of it.

And if the fund takes a nosedive your =A3300 per month ends up being worth less! And I know there's tax breaks and your employer puts money in but you will never see it. Best to bargain a payrise over a big pension (then you can invest the extra money yourself for hard cash when you want it) or failing that some other benefit like extra holiday allowance etc.

Thing is, when the company is matching your contributions, plus you get them tax-free, it's a no-brainer of a decision. Property is a very bad investment at the moment, unless we were to pump it all into a property abroad with all the associated hassles and risks.

Not possible when you work for a large national company, I'm afraid. Everyone works to the same terms and conditions.

The Stakeholder pensions seem to be a pretty solid investment, you just have to be a little flexible over your retirement age to ensure you cash in at the top of the market - I'm planning on anywhere between 55 and 65 as my retirement date, according to market forces.

I've come to my senses.

What *was* I thinking.

I need to acknowledge my typo where I wrote interest free mortgage when I meant interest only. Interest free would be very nice!

SteveH:

So you get over 200% of your tangible contribution, say 220%-240% of your tangible contribution taking into account the tax breaks

When you retire you get 25% of whatever the 220%-240% has grown to tax free (so you might just get 100% back - and that'll be worth less thanks to inflation)

Then you get an annuity (which is subject to income tax!) and if you die shortly after your retirement it vanishes!

No matter how big the fund gets, it's unlikely you'll ever see all of it, doesn't matter how much your company pays in and it's not counted as part of your estate or anything, it just vanishes.

The one upside to pensions is that they are unaffected by bankruptcy. But then they'll probably change that soon.

Oh, and I wasn't suggesting property as an investment, just anything with decent growth where you can get 100% of the value back in cash whenever you like rather than some pointless annuity and a fund value that doesn't even count towards your estate.

It's a tough one to call, given the tax breaks - that's instantly worth an extra 40% straight away. Stakeholder pensions look pretty good for returns - I really can't see many other ways of making a decently secured investment myself.

I've been thinking long and hard about this one, but am at a loss to find a better way of investing in my retirement.

Die early. You won't have to worry about the costs then.

-- Tell me your birthday!

There was some suspicion of a leaking head gasket (external water leak), but no coolant has been lost since the last service back in.. May? I think. Spooked my dad who bought the A-Class and I've been trying to sell the Subaru ever since.

Richard

What sort of engine's in this Outback? Does it work?

Douglas