How would you invest 500k?

getridofmydebt

I have come to the conclusion that the only way to get rid of my unsecured debt is to sell our house. Our current situation is as follows:
House value 700k (was 850k before the downturn)
Mortgage about 125k
Credit card debt about 60k
I currently work abroad and earn around 40k net,my plan is to bring my wife and kids over and to invest the 500k surplus for between 2 to 5 years.
Is there any way of achieving around 5% and still have access to the money.
I am going to have to fund two lots of school fees (approx 13k) and rent on a bigger property (approx 12k) with no other debts that will leave me with approx 15k to live on.
Just a bit scared of not having any property to return to in the UK if the need arises.
We will be able to split the 500k between myself and my wife if that has any benefits tax wise.

pressuredrop_2

Sounds like a crazy idea if you ask me.

Half a million quid in equity and you're worried about £60K. I don't geddit.

As I'd lend you £60K at, say 5% ( interest only if you like ), I don't see why a bank can't.

baldbloke_2

getridofmydebt

Why are you not considering downsizing?

Can your family not simply sell your present house and buy a house in the UK for £500,000 (or even £625,000) and you can all continue with your lives as at present?
If the £60k credit card debt is the sum of your debts then you do not seem to have much of a problem at all - particularly with so much equity in your home. Many will envy you your dilemma.

Your solution seems unnecessarily drastic if you don't mind me saying.

Good luck.

getridofmydebt

Yeah the problem lies with me earning my income from outside the UK as i thought about a further advance and a loan to clear my debts but im not classed as UK resident.
Maybe someone knows of a lender that will.
At the moment i can only afford to make the minimum repayments on my credit cards as im running two homes the one in the uk im looking at selling and my accomadation costs at the place where i work. The other spanner in the works is that i am classsed as self employed and have only been for 18 months so another stumbling block for the loan root.

pressuredrop_2

What did your bank say when you asked for a £60K loan?

Primrose

On the face of it without knowing your whole story, it does rather sound as if the debt tail is wagging the dogs. If your wife and children are still in the UK, could you not send the children to State schools where no fees are necessary, at least until your debts are cleared?. Believe it or not, people do survive and thrive having been educated in the state system.
Or can you not downsize and buy a smaller house? I don't see that having £500K to invest right now is a reliable option with the stock markets in such a volatile state, and interest on cash deposits so low.
Is your wife working? If not, could she get a job to help reduce your debts?

getridofmydebt

I have not asked my bank. I discussed two years ago with my mortgage provider about a further advance and they would not entertain me as i would be living outside the UK.
I also recently started to complete a personal loan form online with tescos as it was only about 7.5% whereas my credit cards are around 20% but again it asks you if you are a UK resident and your employers name and address, so i did not continue.
I am currently paying around 1680 per month in minimum repayments and see no real decrease in the loan amounts. I have one loan that completes in December so will have an extra 500 per month then.
But as you can see at the moment half my salary is going to repay these credit card debts, on top of this i have a mortgage payment of around 700 per month rent of about 500 per month. This leaves us with nothing to live on and i am finding it a real struggle making ends meet.
Just thought it would be good to have fresh start with no debt and a half decent salary then re evaluate in a couple of years.
If you do know a way of reducing my outgoings and being able to keep my property i am interested to hear.

getridofmydebt

Primrose wrote: »

On the face of it without knowing your whole story, it does rather sound as if the debt tail is wagging the dogs. If your wife and children are still in the UK, could you not send the children to State schools where no fees are necessary, at least until your debts are cleared?. Believe it or not, people do survive and thrive having been educated in the state system.
Or can you not downsize and buy a smaller house? I don't see that having £500K to invest right now is a reliable option with the stock markets in such a volatile state, and interest on cash deposits so low.
Is your wife working? If not, could she get a job to help reduce your debts?

Thanks for your reply. My children do attend state school at the moment in the UK and am very happy with the standard of education they are receiving. But if they were to move to the country i work in they would need to attend a British school as they are both now teenagers and would struggle in a state foreign school without being able to speak the language.
Downsizing could be an option but is it the best one?
My wife does work part time at weekends as where we live is quite remote and being on her own the children rely on her being able to take them to school etc

pressuredrop_2

Someone has a net worth of over half a million quid and can't borrow £60K; I is amazed.

getridofmydebt

Maybe i am talking to the wrong people then or going about it in the wrong way.
It always amazes me when you watch programs such as property ladder where people have given up there jobs to have a go at property developing and they find banks that are willing to give them mortgages and credit cards when they do not even have jobs.

baldbloke_2

You clearly have an undisclosed reason for not simply exchanging your presumably magnificent home for something probably equally magnificent but just a wee bit more modest and still in the UK.

I can't see anyone reading about your situation aceepting your suggested plan as being sensible or helpful.

It will disrupt the current lives of your wife and children and leave you with an unnecessarily large capital fund at the most difficult of economic times. Your wife presumably has her own vision of how this could be worked through.

You will be selling the home anyway under your scheme so what is to be gained by giving up a UK base for what you say is contract employment.