Teenager with £30k to invest over 2 years

7891368

Student loan is the cheapest you could ever have pretty much. If I were you, I would save it for BEYOND uni, such as a house deposit.

Also in 5 + years times the return would be far greater than the drip spending starting in 2 years.

I've just finished my first year at uni, I don't need the loan, I could pay it now but I don't see the point. I'm getting just over a £70 a month interest instead for doing nothing (:

agsnu

7891368 wrote: »

I've just finished my first year at uni, I don't need the loan, I could pay it now but I don't see the point. I'm getting just over a £70 a month interest instead for doing nothing (:

They lent you £28k in year 1?

CuriousGem

All the advice you've received here is good. A couple of things to think about - you won't need to access all your 30k in the first year, based on a 3 year course it would be 10k a year, so that may change your investment options. Also, as someone already pointed out, you'd be mad not to take the student loan if you're entitled to it. However, it is NOT anything like enough to live on - I was one of the first years to not get the grant and after my rent I had £13 a week to live on. So the smartest option would probably be to take the loan and top it up with say £5k a year and leave the rest invested for buying a house after uni. On that basis, you'd need access to £15k and could take

CuriousGem

All the advice you've received here is good. A couple of things to think about - you won't need to access all your 30k in the first year, based on a 3 year course it would be 10k a year, so that may change your investment options. Also, as someone already pointed out, you'd be mad not to take the student loan if you're entitled to it. However, it is NOT anything like enough to live on - I was one of the first years to not get the grant and after my rent I had £13 a week to live on. So the smartest option would probably be to take the loan and top it up with say £5k a year and leave the rest invested for buying a house after uni. On that basis, you'd need access to £15k and could take a bit more risk with the other £15k

7891368

agsnu wrote: »

They lent you £28k in year 1?

No? The point is the loan isn't means tested, so anyone can get it regardless of their own savings, it's approx 6.5kish a year.

The rate of the loan is far lower than any which you can obtain from a bank, why waste that opportunity? The 'savings' which the OP refers to can then earn interest, thus providing him more in the future.

atypical

7891368 wrote: »

No? The point is the loan isn't means tested, so anyone can get it regardless of their own savings, it's approx 6.5kish a year.

It doesn't go to £6.5k unless you're means tested and living away from home in London.

The current maximum maintenance loan rates if not income assessed are:
£2,763 - living at home
£3,564 - living away from home outside London
£4,988 - living away from home in London

Either way, I agree with what you're saying. Take the loan even if you don't need it. You're very much likely to earn more in savings interest.

7891368

Plus tuition fee loan? brings it up to 6.5-7k

atypical

7891368 wrote: »

Plus tuition fee loan? brings it up to 6.5-7k

Ah yes, forgot about it somehow! Technically speaking it loanS

Tripleeagle

sharpy2010 wrote: »

For what its worth, I don't believe the OP is 15 either. I certainly wasn't writing eloquent and grammatically correct sentences when I was that age!

Look what English Lit GCSE has done to me!
I have to admit that I love the fact that some of you don't believe I'm 15 (16 in November) but I really am nearly sixteen (only slightly early starting A-Levels/Sixth Form)

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edinburgher wrote: »

Sorry if this is a bit wordy - if you're looking at investing in wine before you're old enough to drink it I'm confident you're up to the challenge!

Thanks for the explanation - I'm pretty sure I understand completely now. But it's true that it is silly for me to be potentially trading wine without being able to have a drop...I guess at least I won't be tempted to keep a bit for myself

Although, I do know a private school in London where one of the extra-curricular clubs is wine-tasting for 16 year-olds...certainly set up to satisfy the middle-class's obsession with encouraging children to taste wines

edinburgher wrote: »

The highest rate instant access account you can find - not so good as you may be taxed and there's always the temptation to spend

I think it's unlikely that I will be spending much - if any - of the money in the next two years. After all, it's been at my disposal for some time now and I haven't touched it. But who knows? Maybe I'll develop a bad habit from now on...at least my parents will be there to remind me what the money's for

edinburgher wrote: »

Premium Bonds - worth a shot maybe? It's harder to withdraw your money than an instant access account, which may encourage you to keep it invested and who knows - maybe you'll win a million and drop out of uni?

To be honest, this sounds like one of the most exciting ideas yet; however, I've heard the value and number of prizes are so low these years that it would be worth more just getting a boring old ISA

edinburgher wrote: »

Zopa - A peer to peer lending website (investment).

patman99 wrote: »

You are not old-enough to lend via Zopa (under 18), you are also to young to bet or even buy a Lottery ticket. However, there is nothing stopping you getting your parents to act on your behalf.

I was actually the one to tell my father about this last year so he signed up for an account and has been trading on Zopa already! I'm sure he will be willing to let me trade using his details I think Zopa's website said there's an average yearly return of 8.3% or something - which is pretty good as long as I pick the right individuals to lend to!

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patman99 wrote: »

As the op is a French national, why not look at interest rates offered buy French banks. If you have a French bank account, you may even be able to avoid UK tax (assuming French tax is not higher or course).

I really hadn't thought of that but it sounds like something I should look into. Unfortunately, I don't already have a French bank account.

patman99 wrote: »

BTW, what do you intend to study at Uni?.

I'd really like to study Economics & Management (so ideally I should already be capable of managing my finances!) in the hope of working in Marketing afterwards. Then, ideally, I'd set up my own business

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7891368 wrote: »

Student loan is the cheapest you could ever have pretty much. If I were you, I would save it for BEYOND uni, such as a house deposit.

Yep, hopefully I won't have blown all the money at Uni and will still be left with enough for the next step (although I really do feel stupid thinking about buying houses when I've not even got my GCSE results yet!)

7891368 wrote: »

I've just finished my first year at uni, I don't need the loan, I could pay it now but I don't see the point. I'm getting just over a £70 a month interest instead for doing nothing (:

CuriousGem wrote: »

Also, as someone already pointed out, you'd be mad not to take the student loan if you're entitled to it. However, it is NOT anything like enough to live on - I was one of the first years to not get the grant and after my rent I had £13 a week to live on. So the smartest option would probably be to take the loan and top it up with say £5k a year and leave the rest invested for buying a house after uni.

I'll definitely be taking out a student loan for as long as possible, since - from what I understand - the loan demands a lower interest rate (or in the case this year, pretty much 0%) than the interest rate I could be receiving. Or as 7891368 said, free money!

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CuriousGem wrote: »

All the advice you've received here is good. A couple of things to think about - you won't need to access all your 30k in the first year, based on a 3 year course it would be 10k a year, so that may change your investment options.

As you say, my course will probably be at least 3 years long so I won't need £30k on my first day at Uni. However, I'm going to have to make sure that I *do* start with something at least