Stu

https://help.habito.com/en/articles/5016566-habito-one-interest-rates
 
Decent long term rates that you can port with NO ERC! 

3 Graces returned home today, thanks again to the forum and COTR.

3 Graces returned home today, thanks again to the forum and COTR.

3 Graces returned home today, thanks again to the forum and COTR.

3 Graces returned home today, thanks again to the forum and COTR.

3 Graces returned home today, thanks again to the forum and COTR.

3 Graces returned home today, thanks again to the forum and COTR.

3 Graces returned home today, thanks again to the forum and COTR.

3 Graces returned home today, thanks again to the forum and COTR.

I’ve not spoken to a broker but checking on comparisons sites, I don’t think it makes much if any difference on rate if wanting to borrow 60% or less.
I’m in a similar position, probably have smaller loan but looking to break out of a 5 year deal remaining  (10 year initially) as rates are so low currently. I don’t see rates staying this low for. Much longer. Certainly not in next couple of years. I think it’s a reasonable hedge to lock in a great low, long term rate and take the calculated hit on ERC if it’s in your favour or circumstances dictates.
Something else I am considering which I thought I never would is to mortgage interest only also. I should have enough lump sum when accessing my SIPP to pay principle. In the meantime I get the tax relief uplift compounded and a few hundred more each month to add to SIPP. .
 

As a black sheep of society, your question gets asked every so often, folk never seem to suggest to investing in "YOURSELF " 
and is always the best answer in my opinion
* Get that next skill, take that next course, a more skilful YOU makes YOU stand out from the crowd & be more more valuable to other employers
* Invest in a gym membership or personal trainer to improve YOUR health.  If you are able to live & work an extra x10+ years due to better lifestyle will earn you £100,000s+
* Invest in YOURSELF learning how to cook. learn batch cooking. learn how to cook great food for less.  learn how to cook the food that is good for you. your family & extended social circle will thank you for it. learn to not have to rely on fast food or processed food 
* Invest in YOURSELF with private health tests and food allergy tests to check you are not deficient or lacking or you are not eating stuff that is bad for you or affecting your day to day function/performance. Invest in water purification for your home, cleaner water with the extra oogly-booglies removed your body will thank YOU for it every day
* Invest YOUR time better, listening to audiobooks instead of watching football or soaps
* Invest in yourself every day with meditation and positive direction & choices = FREE but how many folk do it
* Invest in a pack of "post it notes" to say what you want from the day, week, month and where you want top be.  Visual affirmations daily make them far more likely to happen/succeed 
* Invest in YOUR business - Purchase the better camera to take better shots, Get the higher PSI pressure washer for your business, to do dirtier jobs easier and faster, invest in learning niche marketing or FB ads
* Invest in marketing YOURSELF further with a bigger social network on LinkedIn. Improve YOUR social circle. Your life will resemble the folk YOU are closest to. Investing your time with losers will result in loser results
* Invest in improving YOUR house to lower utility bills & costs, invest in a ultra efficient boiler to lower your energy costs
* Invest in DOING rather than saying, the path to success is not a straight road and it is the mistakes you make along that road that make you succeed when you choose to learn from them 
* Invest in the highest speed internet so YOU can do YOUR job faster
* Invest in YOUSELF by becoming a "people pleaser", don't be a money ££ chaser leach.  Seek greatness/ By being a people pleaser, solving peoples needs & problems, make something or service that is faster/easier/tastier/smaller/better/nicer/softer/cheaper/shinier than your competitor(s).  By being a "people pleaser", money will naturally gravitate to you & happily THROW money at you by simply solving peoples needs better than the next
Note every suggestion has YOU in the the content.
No-one is doing this for YOU - YOU are doing it for YOU 
Investing £5,000 in yourself and self-betterment, will brings dividends many multiples of value far higher than having it sat in a 0.00001% bank, in premium bonds or a useless yellow metal  

A 70 for mine also😎, thanks @CoinsOfTheRealmAuctions
there appears a lot coming through, anyone got total numbers to date for 70’s on either grading companies?

NGC update stats every tuesday, so currently its this - last column is 70 grade. almost 1k total graded for the 2oz, market is going to be flooded with flips. Best money may have been on gone on these now as i suspect this will drag the price down a lot.

A 70 for mine also😎, thanks @CoinsOfTheRealmAuctions
there appears a lot coming through, anyone got total numbers to date for 70’s on either grading companies?

Sheer speculation imho. I think these coins will hold a decent value for the “first” series. Provided the royal mint don’t kick the asrse out of it with ever more weights/ metal types/ grading etc.
After the first series, if they ever end this, I see prices falling off a Cliff. If they keep going in perpetuity with additional series, which is also a dumb possibility, then likewise I see prices nose diving. The mint need to keep serious collectors sweet, something I’m not sure they are capable of. I think they will take the short term view unfortunately. 
Incidentally, I am more a stacker at heart and think collectors deserve more of a chance. The mint really need to offer small time collectors a fair crack of the whip. I think I have said before, but with today’s technology and the sums being asked for at retail. The mint could laser sime sort of code to each coin and impose some sort of forfeit to ongoing sakes if a coin is sold on within say 5 years of purchase. There must be some way of managing this. 

Hi everyone
A very very exciting day for me. I am a new member, and today I purchased my first Gold Coin. 

A 2021 Sovereign.
So so happy. Paid £319 for it.

 
Goldtion

Yeah, I think once some folks have made an initial bid on an auction item, they have some commitment and at times go above what they were initially prepared to pay in the end. Likewise a “high” starting price can stop initial offers at times. 

Yeah, I think once some folks have made an initial bid on an auction item, they have some commitment and at times go above what they were initially prepared to pay in the end. Likewise a “high” starting price can stop initial offers at times. 

Yeah, I think once some folks have made an initial bid on an auction item, they have some commitment and at times go above what they were initially prepared to pay in the end. Likewise a “high” starting price can stop initial offers at times. 

Rhodium is close to $30,000 now.  What a crazy ride in this precious metal.  Where will it end up?

Just heard back and I have a PF70 UC

...............or couldn't possibly be used for nefarious / market rigging / extra profit purposes £££ heaven forbid 
Already expensive issue price items, access to divert/allocate stock, access to speedy/faster 1st in queue grading in bulk, auction route selling under guise of another business 
hhmmmmmmmmmmmmm - as if printing your own money wasn't greedy enough lol ! 
rant over 

First of all - lovely to see a picture of an 1893 quintuple sovereign.
The most important point about this coin in my opinion is to be as sure as you can that it's actually a genuine coin.  So I would be buying the seller, rather than the coin.  Are they are a private individual or a reputable coin or bullion dealer?  Are they selling it as guaranteed genuine, and would therefore give you a full refund if the coin was actually a fake (even if it was 22ct gold and full weight)?
In terms of the actual coin - well it looks genuine in my opinion, but it is in relatively low numismatic grade for one of these. I would put at VF at best (UK grading) so I certainly wouldn't be paying top collector-style money for it.
It is definitely a collector coin as opposed to a stacker coin, so if you wanted to buy 5 sovereigns' worth of gold there are much cheaper ways of doing it - a 1990s/2000s non-proof quintuple sovereign in the same George & Dragon design is probably the cheapest way in.
Value wise for the 1893 - I'm not too sure.  To a sovereign collector, this is a rare and desirable coin that certainly would command a strong numismatic premium over bullion value in any grade from VF and above, but there won't be many quintuple sovereign collectors/buyers when and if you come to sell.  'Normal' buyers wouldn't look to pay high numismatic premiums for it so your market is limited.  The 1893 is rarer than the 1887 and 1902 quintuples but a collector would probably buy an 1887 or 1902 before looking for an 1893, so your market is even more limited.
Basically I'm saying buy it if you trust or know that it's genuine and only if you're buying it for its numismatic pleasure.  It's a lovely thing but I would buy many, many other gold coins in preference to it unless it was VERY well priced.  If you can buy it well, fill your boots.

I think a lot of us are guilty of chasing the magical “pf/pr70” grades. These grading companies have collectors by the balls in many respects.
Easier said than done, but if price is an issue perhaps buy the raw coin you like for a decent price and forget the idea of grading it all together. 
Save the disappointment of it not coming back as a 70 and enjoy the coin for what it is.
The grading process is subjective and many people will tell you they’ve had 70s come back as 69s and lesser coins come back as 70s. Sometimes it seems it depends on which way the wind is blowing as to what grade a coin achieves. It’s a gamble. If you must have a 70 I personally would just suck it up and pay for an already graded 70.
(full disclosure: I can’t practice what I preach and I’m as guilty as any for chasing 70s).