Savings from Saudi

stephen.roberts_msc

So I have been over in Saudi Arabia working on construction projects for over a year now, I will be back in the UK by March 2012, by which time I will have put away £20k in savings after paying off the small debts and overdrafts I had back home. As a 27 year old I was after advice on what people think I should do with this money i.e. invest or save...
With nothing much to do over here I have become a fan of the 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad' books, I wish I had read them when I was 16! Obviously these books are geared to the American public but the advice is great and really changed my way of thinking about money! I look forward to hearing your thoughts and opinions.

Linton

stephen.roberts_msc wrote: »

So I have been over in Saudi Arabia working on construction projects for over a year now, I will be back in the UK by March 2012, by which time I will have put away £20k in savings after paying off the small debts and overdrafts I had back home. As a 27 year old I was after advice on what people think I should do with this money i.e. invest or save...
With nothing much to do over here I have become a fan of the 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad' books, I wish I had read them when I was 16! Obviously these books are geared to the American public but the advice is great and really changed my way of thinking about money! I look forward to hearing your thoughts and opinions.

It all depends on what you want to do with the money and when.

I would suggest something like...

1) If you havent got one, create an emergency fund that could keep you for say 6 months. This needs to be fairly easily accessible, so put it in the best non-term account you can find.

2) Do you have any foreseen needs in say the 1-5 year period?
If so put the money for them in the best fixed term account you can find.

3) Anything left over put in an S&S ISA to buy funds and shares, or into your pension.

stephen.roberts_msc

Thanks for the reply and good advice, Im set on building my asset column so I think if I can put about 12k away in savings fixed rate ISA, Savings account etc.. then the rest in an 'emergancy fund'. Should things go well on the job front then I will keep adding to the savings account. Eventually I would like to enter the property game and start building a small portfolio, but not until I have researched and educated myself enough to know how its done correctly! I think with adding to my savings over the next 3 years and switching to higher interest accounts when the time is right hopefuly the interest earned can go towards a deposit on an investment opportunity that may come my way.

Voyager2002

I agree with #2.

I would add, now is a good time to do some life planning. For example, what are your career goals? In order to achieve them, do you need any education or training? If so, that is what you need to do with (some of) your money: few investments perform as well as investing in yourself. And do you expect to buy a property any time soon? Your savings are about what you need for a deposit in order to get a reasonably good mortgage on an average property.

For saving/investing, you need to decide on your attitude to risk. Your money would be safe in any UK savings account, but virtually all of them pay less interest than the current rate of inflation, so the value of your money would be gradually eroded. One way to overcome this problem would be to put your money into a savings account in Australia, where interest rates are a good deal higher: but then, of course, your money would be in Australian dollars and no-one knows whether the value of the Australian dollar in terms of pounds will rise or fall.

darkpool

i didn't think someone that didn't pay tax in the UK could open an ISA?

Lokolo

darkpool wrote: »

i didn't think someone that didn't pay tax in the UK could open an ISA?

Which would eliminate the jobless and those that earn under personal allowance... so no, its not someone that doesn't pay tax.

The rule is you have to be a resident and ordinarily resident in the UK to contribute to an ISA.

darkpool

Lokolo wrote: »

Which would eliminate the jobless and those that earn under personal allowance... so no, its not someone that doesn't pay tax.

The rule is you have to be a resident and ordinarily resident in the UK to contribute to an ISA.

so from the sound of it the OP wont be able to open an isa.