300k

austin62 · 17 January 2017 at 11:24AM

In early March I will have £300k to invest, I'm not sure what to do with it.

We have no debt, no children and our mortgage will be paid off.
We both work in well paid jobs, therefore we do not plan to touch the money for 5/6 years when we reach 60.

Linton · 17 January 2017 at 11:39AM

1) Immediately put it in an instant access NSandI account where you will get about 1% interest but the whole lot is guaranteed by the government..
2) Think about what you want the money for and when. New house, leave it to charity in your wills, gifts to family, enhance your income for the rest of your lives etc etc. What about retiring now.
3) If you want it for a longer time scale then spending the lot in 5-6 years time get professional advice. Set up free initial consultations with perhaps 3 local IFAs ("I" for Independent is important, you dont want the advisor from your bank) and choose one you feel you can work with. You may be able to get recommendations from friends and neighbours. His/her job will be to set up investments in line with your needs.
4) If you do want to blow the lot in say 5 years time probably easiest to leave it in NSandI. Investments would not be a good idea as there would be a reasonable chance you could lose money over the short term.

eskbanker · 17 January 2017 at 11:40AM

What's your pension coverage like, i.e. is this money over and above a regular pension income or are you needing it to live on? Presumably you won't be needing £300K as a lump sum at 60?

I suspect that the answer will ultimately be to discuss your requirements with some IFAs but you may get some ideas on here, especially if you can outline more about your expectations, etc....

austin62 · 17 January 2017 at 12:15PM

Thanks both our pensions are fairly good, this money is over and above pension income. We have other savings and investments ( Stocks & shares ISAs, etc.) that we have accumulated in the pat 10 years or so.

bowlhead99 · 17 January 2017 at 12:32PM

So basically you are saying you already have and understand S&S investment funds, you already have and understand pensions, and you already have and understand savings, you don't have any debt to pay off - and now you have some extra money, you want *us* to tell *you* what you would like to do with it for some unknown future goal.

That seems a pretty big ask. The comments from others above make sense. If you don't actually want to blow the whole lot at age 60 then some of the more tax-efficient things you can do with it in March and April will include maxing your S&S ISA allowance this tax year and next, each, and maxing each of your pension contributions this tax year and next. The amount of money that uses up, depending on salaries and how much of the respective allowances you have already used up, could be £200k+. After that if you still have taxable income this year or next you could make some VCT investments depending on what level of risk you are comfortable with, to get further tax relief.

A sensible suggestion you've already had, would be to go and find an independent financial advisor (IFA) you are comfortable with and pay them a fee to help you conclude on a suitable solution on what to do with your new found wealth. You could see two or three for a free intro session to understand costs and what they have to offer. You would get more out of them if you had some vague clue about what your eventual goals might be over your next 40 years or more on this earth.

dunstonh · 17 January 2017 at 12:37PM

You need to work backwards from your objectives. Not look for solutions before knowing what you want the money for.

i.e. what are your plans for the money? what period will you need the money and how often?

Thanks both our pensions are fairly good,

Only fairly good? How is your retirement planning affected by them only being fairly good? What can you do to get the retirement income and capital that you need? What is the best way to achieve that?

this money is over and above pension income

Stop thinking of it separately. If you have retirement needs for income and expenditure then these are going to be met by your existing arrangements and any new arrangements you make with this money. So, your may well find your existing money and provision will be merged in with this new money. You will likely have multiple goals and it may take multiple solutions (almost certainly will given the amount). However, you have one life with a set of goals and objectives and you need to look at what you have and how you can achieve those goals with that money.

enthusiasticsaver · 17 January 2017 at 12:46PM

Sounds like you are in a fortunate position. Do you want to work until 60 or is early retirement a desired objective? What about plans for where you live, do you like travelling, are you in good health? All these are questions you need to ask yourself. We have always used the philosophy with large amounts of money we have received to gift one third to our children, invest a third and spend a third. Obviously as you have no children or debt you have only two options - either invest/save it or spend it.

As someone else said you are obviously au fait with investments. I personally don't use financial advisors but that is your choice. You must know about the level of risk you wish to assume with investments and you will know the timescale of investing if you examine your objectives. The last lump sum we received we split and invested half and put half in a cash buffer in National Savings Income bonds (and a few current accounts with high interest rates). This is because husband is retired and I go in one years time and we have a 8 year gap until spa kicks in. I would look at sipps, stocks and shares and national savings income bonds and decide the allocation to each in both of your names.

xylophone · 17 January 2017 at 2:04PM

Have you each obtained a new state pension statement?
https://www.gov.uk/check-state-pension

our pensions are fairly good,

Which means?

And what kind of pensions?

MarcoM · 17 January 2017 at 2:56PM

sorry to hijack the thread a bit but I am curious to know how NSI deal with lumps sums of that size.
Do the post cheques to the client once the money needs withdrawn or is it done electronically?
When the account is opened does one have to send a cheque to them or again is this done via CHAPS etc?

I am asking because in my experience they are not the greatest when it comes to customer detail security. For example their letters have NI number, date of birth on them which I don't think it is clever.

I would not be happy sending a cheque for 300k in the post to them.

ChesterDog · 17 January 2017 at 9:27PM

It depends on the account.

From memory, an Income Bond can only be funded by debit card from the associated bank current account. A Direct Saver can be funded by CHAPS.

The former pays out interest monthly. The latter retains (annual) interest.

The former can only pay out into a current account. The latter too, I think. No limit on the payout amount, but a £500 minimum.

greenglide · 17 January 2017 at 9:56PM

From memory, an Income Bond can only be funded by debit card from the associated bank current account.

Income bond can be subscribed by Debit Card or by cheque. The cheque can come from a bank account which is not the linked account.

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