A man has shared his story of how he was able to get some useful cashback when he was setting up a pension fund.
David Reece, 66, is a longtime member of TopCashback and has accrued almost £1,100 in cashback over the past 17 years.
He previously had to arrange a personal pension and so was looking at setting up a SIPP (self-invested personal pension).
He was able to use a deal from TopCashback which offered £100 cashback if a person set up a Fidelity SIPP with an investment of at least £10,000.
Mr Reece told Express.co.uk: “I realised that this amount in Avios would be significant, and this came at a time when I needed to arrange some kind of personal pension rather urgently.
“So I had a good look at the Fidelity SIPP to confirm that it offered more or less what I needed. The cashback was credited promptly which was a win.”
Avios is the reward currency for members of the British Airways Executive Club, which can go towards flight upgrades as well as car hire and accommodation for a trip.
Mr Reece was able to use his Avios accrued through TopCashback to upgrade the return flights for a business trip to India.
He said: “I had large reclining seats in BA Club World and so could get all the sleep I needed, and even get some work done during the flight as well – it was great.”
Mr Reece said he likes using TopCashback as he gets free money on things he would buy anyway.
He said: “I use TopCashback when buying everything from travel to financial products. Cashback on some items can be modest, but in the long run it does all add up and you can notice the savings.”
The savvy spender has worked through his career in universities and the public sector and recently finished paying off his mortgage thanks to his investments.
He commented: “I find investing interesting and fortunately I chose to emphasise renewable energy, which turned out to be the only part of the stock market to do well following the Ukraine war and the rise in interest rates.
He said anyone considering a SIPP pension scheme should make sure it’s the right choice for them as the scheme holder has to make choices about the investments and pay fees for this privilege.
He encouraged any self-employed people with gaps in their National Insurance record to buy Class II contributions towards their state pension as they are “excellent value”.
Mr Reece keeps his bills down by being a longstanding bike user rather than having a car, which he says saves him money on gym fees and the various costs of being unfit.
He added: “I visit Lidl every few days and whenever I can I pick up one of their £1.50 boxes of near-expired vegetables to make and freeze a nourishing soup.
“I am also very careful about the energy used by cooking: often I will steam something over a saucepan to use the energy as efficiently as possible.
“I never use the oven unless I have several different dishes to go into it so that it can be used optimally.”
He said he is also careful to only run the dishwasher when it is completely full, and he always does his clothes wash with a full machine at a low temperature.
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