THERE are some pearls of financial wisdom so cherished that to go against them might seem lunacy. But what if you turned everything about being good with money on its head?

Here are ten ways to go against the grain. They might sound crazy, but might just work.

Wait to save into a pension

Logic tells us that smart people start saving into a pension as soon as they can, benefiting from early years’ growth on their funds. Nevertheless, you might do better by waiting.

Many people earn less than £34,600 early on, meaning their pension contributions attract 22 per cent tax relief, compared with the 40 per cent relief they receive once they earn more.

“These days you can put a lump sum equal to your annual earnings into a pension. This means you could build up a large fund in Isas and move it into your pension when you become a higher rate taxpayer,” says Alasdair Buchanan, of Royal London, the pensions company.

Don’t protect yourself

You might be better off buying only the most basic cover, such as life insurance and car insurance. Which?, the consumer watchdog, says that thousands of pounds may be being wasted on useless insurances. Most of the things covered by policies – including identity theft, accidental death and mobile phones – are often already protected by legislation or existing policies. Which? also recommends avoiding extended warranties and payment protection insurance.

Don’t save for a rainy day

Rational people squirrel away all they can for a rainy day, however little. But if you are only able to make modest savings there is an argument to say that you should not bother. Pension credits guarantee that everyone aged 60 and over has an income of at least £119.05 a week if single, a shared £181.70 if they have a partner. Elements designed to reward people for saving might be worth £19.05 a week for singletons, £25.26 between two for those with partners, but the way it is worked out means that modest savers get back only a maximum of 60 per cent of the value of their savings.

Get a store card

Store cards are generally viewed as the bad boys of consumer credit. But some deals available represent good value. Ikea-lovers should note that its store card charges a solid 12.9 per cent interest and entitles cardholders to sale previews and free catalogues. Marks & Spencer’s card offers 0 per cent interest on furniture for two years.

Don’t remortgage for the best deal

If you were to take a mortgage out today for 25 years and paid mortgage fees of, say, £1,500 every two years each time you moved to a new fixed deal, you may have been better off staying put instead of paying nearly £20,000 in fees. Lifetime trackers allow borrowers not to worry about switching mortgages, as they follow base rate, plus a given margin – for example, Barclays’ deal set at 0.69 per cent above base.

Ignore the stock market

Getting the best investment returns is all about timing the market right.

This is fine in theory, but many people would do better ignoring the markets. “If you miss out on the best ten days’ return in a year, you could lose out on one third of the overall returns.

“By taking no notice of the stock market, you could profit more than you might by trying to time it right,” says Leanne Holder, of Helm Godfrey, the financial adviser. Drip-feed cash into an Isa every month instead of making one lump sum investment.

Spend, spend, spend

In your old age you should be wise and prudent – or should you? By giving away cash, you can reduce the size of your estate for inheritance tax purposes. You could get your estate below the £300,000 threshold through giving away £250 to as many people as you wish every year, donating £5,000 to your child if they are getting married, £2,500 to your grandchildren and £1,000 to anyone whose happy day falls within the tax year.

Borrow from your mortgage to pay into your pension

The normal order of things is to work towards paying off your mortgage before retirement.

But there is another way: “You could think about withdrawing equity out of your mortgage and putting a lump sum in your pension to benefit from 40 per cent tax relief if you are a higher-rate taxpayer,” says Jason Witcombe, of Evolve Financial Planning. When you come to take your 25 per cent tax-free lump sum, you could pay off what you withdrew and become mortgage free.

Put all your eggs in one basket

Hedging your bets by running a diverse portfolio of investments that includes a mixed selection of assets is the best way to secure the best investment returns. But there are instances where putting all your eggs in one basket is best. Martin Bamford, of Informed Choice, the financial advisers, says: “If you had invested everything in property or gold over the past ten years, it would be hard to argue that putting all your eggs in one basket is always a bad idea.”

Don’t pay off debts before you save

As debts typically charge you more interest than you can earn on savings and investments, the old adage is that you should always clear your borrowing before you start to save. But it can sometimes be a good idea to get into the saving habit, even while you still have borrowings.

Mr Bamford says that borrowers may want to save if they have lower-charging debts, such as student loans, or certain personal loans on low rates of less than, say, 7 per cent.

CASE STUDY IN IT FOR THE LONG TERM

SARAH OAKLEY, an examination officer, and her husband Paul, a songwriter, have a lifetime tracker mortgage with the Woolwich. Unlike many borrowers, the couple have always spurned fixed deals in favour of a variable mortgage.

“I know lots of people go for fixed mortgages, but quite often it’s because they think they’ll be paying out less when they probably end up paying more in the long term,” says Sarah, 43.

The couple, who live in West Sussex with their three children Jotham, 15, Lydia, 13 and Matthew, 9, say that it makes sense to pay what the market rate is at the time and avoid fees along the way.

Sarah says: “Of course, we moan when the Bank of England puts up rates, but when it goes down we aren’t caught out by a situation where you could have just shelled out hundreds of pounds in fees for a fixed rate that looks like a bad deal the minute rates fall. I like the idea of paying the going rate and not having to worry about paying fees every couple of years to try to find a better deal.”