The Lemon Fool

If you do feel fortunate, then there's also the option of making a capital gain, and then donating 40% of it to charity. For each extra £1000 gain, you pay £100 CGT, donate £400, and the charity can claim back £100 from the taxman as Gift Aid. This increases your higher rate threshold by the gross £500 donation, so you can, if you want, make a surprisingly large capital gain and donation without entering the higher rate band. You only personally get half of the gain, but if there are charities you like, it works well.

You have to pay in combined income tax and CGT the amount the charities reclaim, and I'm not sure how the Irish withholding tax/reclaim from HMRC work with that.

EthicsGradient wrote:If you do feel fortunate, then there's also the option of making a capital gain, and then donating 40% of it to charity. For each extra £1000 gain, you pay £100 CGT, donate £400, and the charity can claim back £100 from the taxman as Gift Aid. This increases your higher rate threshold by the gross £500 donation, so you can, if you want, make a surprisingly large capital gain and donation without entering the higher rate band. You only personally get half of the gain, but if there are charities you like, it works well.

You have to pay in combined income tax and CGT the amount the charities reclaim, and I'm not sure how the Irish withholding tax/reclaim from HMRC work with that.

Another, similar option is to give some of the shares you have to charity. No CGT is charged on the disposal and you get income tax relief on the value of the shares. Depending on one's personal circumstances and the capital gain, this can be more tax efficient than the Gift Aid route. It is more procedurally complicated and not supported by all charities, although you can get round that and simplify the process, by using a Charities Aid Foundation charity account. This costs a little more than dealing directly with a charity though.

Concentration risk with CGT when realised I would deal with by hedging that specific long with a short. (And unwind gradually over time using allowance and any offsetting losses).

Dod101 wrote:

Adamski wrote:I'd start selling the Accenture in stages. Starting in this tax year. Given your position I'd see a financial adviser. And think about inheritance planning too.

I'm semi retired, but on a budget. Just set amount spend each month. But in your position I'd set another figure for travel. New house, new cars, frequent travel plans and regular gifting. Before Rachel Reeves gets her mits on it.

Certainly IHT planning but otherwise a financial adviser? How to spend it is a separate issue.

Dod

We're finding it harder to accept that we should be spending it, rather than what to actually spend it on.

The issue with retiring in your 50s is that whilst logically you know there is enough, there is always that nagging concern at the back of your mind that if you accumulated that much in 30 years, will it all have gone in another 30?

Paul

Slightly existential problem
Classically having a large portion in one share is very dangerous
If you can live with it all disappearing tomorrow then you can keep it and nibble away as much as possible using tax free methods
Probably you would better accepting that you have been very fortunate in your investment and bite the bullet-take the tax hit and get that money into safer waters asap-a 60/40 portfolio?
Pensioners need to play for keeps -failure is not an option or you have to go back to work/eat cat food
You could compromise by selling large tranches over time but you still remain very exposed to a possible disaster
Retiring is a major change of state and investors have to act accordingly
xxd09

DrFfybes wrote:

Dod101 wrote:
Certainly IHT planning but otherwise a financial adviser? How to spend it is a separate issue.

Dod

We're finding it harder to accept that we should be spending it, rather than what to actually spend it on.

The issue with retiring in your 50s is that whilst logically you know there is enough, there is always that nagging concern at the back of your mind that if you accumulated that much in 30 years, will it all have gone in another 30?

Paul

I have always managed to live day to day within my dividend income ( more or less anyway) I took the tax free25% out of my SIPP for upgrading the house I now live in but otherwise as I have no pension except the SP, I have always been fairly cautious. I retired at age 52 with a good package mostly in cash. Now I have surplus dividend income.

Dod

Having lost money in 3 company share schemes (not loads of) and only yesterday got an update on a claim against one of the bankrupt companies, 14 years after the event, I would be reluctant not to cash in my chips. Added to that, a reasonable prediction of a change of government which will be less tolerant of unearned wealth, lends weight to acting promptly.