Omega Owners Forum
Chat Area => General Discussion Area => Topic started by: tunnie on 01 September 2011, 17:29:51
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Are they worth it?
From what I can see you can't loose, I'm being offered shares at 20% discount to current value. You choose to pay in anything from £5 to £250 a month for 5 years.
At the end of the 5 years, the money you saved, buys you shares at the rate agreed now.
Even if the shares go down you get your money back plus a little interest, but has the possibly to make a fair bit if the share price goes up.
I think old Rupert will make another bid for Sky in a couple of years, so I think its worth a punt at £50 per month, which would be £3k + any profit from shares :-/
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theres always a risk with shares but as you dont get them for 5 yrs there is no loss i would say and still guaranteed your money back. if you can afford 50 a month its still putting a bit aside and guarenteeing you 3k savings. sounds good to me :y
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Thats what I was thinking, make a nice little fund for the future. :)
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Thats what I was thinking, make a nice little fund for the future. :)
deposit on a nice new bike, or engagement ring for the g/f ;)
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I don't want to sound condascending, many of you are older than me. One thing I've learnt is the old cliche is true, nothing is guaranteed except death and taxes. There's too many deceiptful people and companies out there ready to take your money, and if if looks too good to be true it probably is. Id say check the small print very carefully
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Thats what I was thinking, make a nice little fund for the future. :)
deposit on a nice new bike, or engagement ring for the g/f ;)
theyve been seeing each other for a while now richie,i wouldnt be surprised if he hasnt bought geoff a ring already :y
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The share scheme where I work is nowhere near that advantageous, but I'm still putting in ~£550 a month..
In our case the purchase period is every 6 months, at a 15% discount from the lowest of either the opening or closing price of the 6 month period. Of course you do pay income tax on the profit made at the point of purchase, which hurts a little (as it comes out of the paycheque immediately after purchase, whether you've sold the shares or not!).. e.g. if I buy at $68/share but the market value is $80 then I pay income tax (at 40%) on $12 per share.
Not too bad at the moment (the share price is low) but when we bought at $80 and the share price was $140, it stung a bit!
Right now I'm treating them as short term investments - as it seems you would be - and selling them as soon as I get them (the NASDAQ is going up & down like the proverbial whores drawers) so there is very little risk involved at all, financially. Unless the stock market implodes in the ~3 days it takes for the shares to vest and become sellable, of course..
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Thats what I was thinking, make a nice little fund for the future. :)
deposit on a nice new bike, or engagement ring for the gb/f ;)
;D
Fixed that for you
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I don't want to sound condascending, many of you are older than me. One thing I've learnt is the old cliche is true, nothing is guaranteed except death and taxes. There's too many deceiptful people and companies out there ready to take your money, and if if looks too good to be true it probably is. Id say check the small print very carefully
Its a staff scheme at Sky, many of my colleagues have done it and done very well out of it.
Cheers Aaron, useful information there :y
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Thats what I was thinking, make a nice little fund for the future. :)
deposit on a nice new bike, or engagement ring for the g/f ;)
theyve been seeing each other for a while now richie,i wouldnt be surprised if he hasnt bought geoff a ring already :y
i was unaware there was a forum romance going on, just hope they can make a go of it then. :y
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I have experience of these schemes - they are excellent. Put in the maximum you can afford for 5 years and then pay a big wack off your mortgage.
Make sure you understand any capital gains issues - but even so it's an excellent form of saving with no downside as you can opt out @ the end & get all your money back - i.e. you dont HAVE to but the shares @ the end of it.
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working for agencies i usually get money stopped from my wages for a third party to do my wages, have to pay liability insurance even though i have that myself, and qualify for holiday pay under govt law which i never get as they lay you off usually a week before the qualifying time then re contract you after.
never any perks or bonuses. most of the time have to pay my own digs money working away, its a great life being self employed. :y
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I have experience of these schemes - they are excellent. Put in the maximum you can afford for 5 years and then pay a big wack off your mortgage.
Make sure you understand any capital gains issues - but even so it's an excellent form of saving with no downside as you can opt out @ the end & get all your money back - i.e. you dont HAVE to but the shares @ the end of it.
Cheers, I'm going to go for it. Although I could actually afford what Aaron puts in now, i won't be able to later on, so I think £50 is a nice amount as who knows whats going to happen in a couple of years.
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Make sure you understand any capital gains issues - but even so it's an excellent form of saving with no downside as you can opt out @ the end & get all your money back - i.e. you dont HAVE to but the shares @ the end of it.
Oh yes, forgot about capital gains! Largely because I've not made big enough gains to fall into it, but Tunnie might over a long period like that..
As I understand it (for my scheme, sounds like yours would be similar, Tunnie):
I pay income tax on the 'profit' made when the shares are bought and given to me - e.g. the difference between $68 and $80/share as I mentioned earlier.
If I then hold on to those shares for (say) two years and they rise to $140 a share, I'm now liable for capital gains tax on the additional profit - the difference between $80 and $140/share.
There's a capital gains allowance though - http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/rates/cgt.htm#1 - currently £10,100 of profit per year (not the sale price, but the profit between $80 and $140 - remember I've already paid income tax on the profit between $68 and $80 at source).
Complicated much? ;D
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actually, shockingly I do understand most of it :o
Mate did very, very well out of it. He bought lot of shares at just £2.80, sold them at the peak of the Rupert bid for £7.20!
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I do it at work, you don't have to sell them at the end if they aren't at a good return as well :y
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Yup - I know folks at work who've also held on to shares for a long time.. some were bought (back when I joined, 6 years ago) at ~$20 a share, and at their peak were $140 - that's a tidy profit!
'course they're down to $80 again now, and some folks are sitting on shares bought at $100.. you win some, you lose some!
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Try here Tunnie, it looks like a sure-fire deal to me:
www.nigeriansharecon.com :y
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Tunnie,
This sounds like a very similar scheme to the one I am in that has just matured. You can't lose, if the shares fall below the option price, you take the money. You shouldn't have to pay income tax on the profit, but you will have to pay Capital Gains, although there is a reasonably high threshold before that kicks in.
Put in the maximum you can afford, you will soon adjust to the revised level of take home pay and it could turn into a nice amount in 5 years that could pay for something significant.
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You might have to pay income tax actualy, its dependent on the share save scheme and how the company have set it up.
The scheme I was in at Ericsson was very good, they gave me 2 shares for every 1 I bought but, you paid income tax on the value of extra gain and dd not get shares until you had been in the scheme for 3 years.
Needless to say, when I sold 4 years worth I got a big wedge of cash!
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Tunnie. Invest the fullest amount you can each month. From memory there is a maximum you can save in these schemes of 250 a month. So if you put in 100 now at a fixed share price of say 11$ and then they have another scheme next year you could save another 150 a month at a fixed buy price of say 11.80$. When they have anymore schemes you won't be able to put anymore in till your first scheme matures and you have either bought the shares OR had your money back if they have plumetted in value to say 3$.
There are issues like capital gains but the way to deal with that is to have them a longer time before selling or sell your capital gains allowance worth each year OR dare I say sell them and neglect to tell the taxman.
If your shares have gone up to say 30$ each from the purchase price of 11$ then you are in a very fortunate position of having to manage your tax situation. Don't forget too that once you have the shares those you don't have to sell will revieve annual dividends of around 4% (very approx) You can often opt to have that paid out in more shares (at whatever the shares were at the date the dividend was paid out) or you can just have the cash.
In the small print it will say something about what happens if you leave the company before the excercise of your option date. Something to think about if you are thinking of moving on in say four years time.
My advice would be to invest as much each month as you can't afford. (Maybe Mother and Father Tunnie have spare cash....................) :y
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Thanks for everyones input, most appreciated :y
I've done some digging and spoken to my boss who has been at Sky since the beginning. He said he has never paid tax on the money earned from the scheme :o
Although I could afford a lot more for next 6 months, I cannot sustain £200 a month for 5 years. So played it safe and taken a punt at £50/m on the 5 year scheme.
Apparently I can have as many as I want, up to a total value of £250, so next year I might take out another £50, or depending how funds go, bump it up to £100!
Thanks again all :)
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Y'know.. I wish I was half as sensible as you are with money, tunnie ;)
Still.. you only live once and I shall exit the world in a blaze of insolvency! ;D
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Y'know.. I wish I was half as sensible as you are with money, tunnie ;)
Still.. you only live once and I shall exit the world in a blaze of insolvency! ;D
I'm building a very healthy 4 figure sum for next year, I'm calling it my 'fun' pot. ;D
I treated myself this month to a nice pair of Bose headphones, so not always that careful! ;D
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See, what I need to do is save up for the fun stuff, so that I can buy it and still have savings left..
But I usually just end up burning through my savings ;D Off to look at kit cars on Saturday and may come back £4k lighter for a set of throttle bodies :-[ ;D
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See, what I need to do is save up for the fun stuff, so that I can buy it and still have savings left..
But I usually just end up burning through my savings ;D Off to look at kit cars on Saturday and may come back £4k lighter for a set of throttle bodies :-[ ;D
:o :o :o :o :o
If I had that burning a whole in my pocket I would do:
BMW Motorbike Off Road Training Levels 1,2 & 3 (they are £500 a pop)
I'd spend £750 on a road trip in the bike to Europe
£500 on Snowboarding in French Alps for a week
Buy that mint 3.0 MV6 off Daz and get everything fixed and a damn good over-haul. Still have some left for a few beers! ;D
My plan next year is, Snowboarding, another trip to Europe in Feb, Motorbike road trip to Scotland, Summer holiday with the mrs, summer holiday with the lads!