IMO this is terrible advice - house prices are being kept artificially inflated by the current ultra low interest rates and other help being afforded to mortgage holders atm.



If/when the Euro pops there will be another huge financial crisis which should see huge falls in house prices as people default on mortgages and get their homes reposessed.



Personally I'd be looking to buy PHYSICAL Gold or Silver if I had any savings. However you then have the problem of where to store it safely. It's a tough question in the current economic climate.

Problem is gold and silver are very volatile price-wise. They will at some point drop suddenly and dramatically. If you think we are heading for financial Armageddon the best investment (probably the only investment) to make would be farmland (plus a gun to protect you / it with).

If you pay into your pension via salary sacrifice you can get £120 added to your pension for every £60 reduction in your net pay (the additional £60 comes from income tax + employers NI). It's roughly similar for basic rate tax payers: income tax + employees NI contributions + employers NI contributions add up to around the same amount.

Whatever you do don't bother to pay anyone to actively manage a portfolio of equities for you - more or less total waste of money unless you can afford to pay for the best (which if you're having to ask on here we can safely assume you can't).



I'm more or less the same age as you and my retirement planning will consist largely of emigrating to a poor yet beautiful country.