IFA/people with money advice - £600,000

Carman1989

Hi all

I have come into a large sumk of money,but don't know where to start or what to do with it. I'm only young,22 to be precise. I have been to see a IFA an spoken to a few advisors , so just thought I'd broaden my search for info/advice from any financial advisors on here or anyone who has invested large sums liken this before, obviously my plan is to double/quadruple this money over the years through investments ,it's just knowing what some of you guys have done with similar amounts which has turned out to be successful .

Any advice would be appreciated

Aegis

At 22 you probably won't find many people who have been in precisely the same situation as you, but the general strategies will remain the same. Spend what you need to, for example if you want to buy a property. Retain a sum in cash that is sufficient to tide you over for 6 months to two years, depending on how cautious you want to be. Invest the balance in a portfolio in line with the level of risk you're willing to tolerate.

With the amount in question it's clearly a good idea to get a lot of opinions, but remember to avoid the bank advisers and other tied agents, and ask the IFA to work on a fee basis to keep your costs in check.

Depending on how much gets earmarked for investment purposes and whether you require an income from that, you'll be looking at some combination of ISAs, direct investments, pensions and possibly insurance-based portfolios. There might be occasional forays into more complex tax structures, but those depend on your attitude to risk (and should always be avoided if you don't understand them after the adviser recommends something).

All in all, make sure you're very happy with your understanding of your strategy before you commit any funds to investment.

MarcoM

With that amount you could look into property investments ie commercial. You could raise a loan buy a commercial high street building and rent it to someone like hsbc. You could just then sit back and see the income however you could also risk the property being empty. But such properties in good locations are always in high demand....

Personally at your age I would set aside 25% of that money for spending and have loads of fun over the next few years. The rest can then be invested / saved.

It all depends on your attitude to risk , lifestyle and future plans.
I saved a considerable amount of money and then got ill. Not life threatening but I cannot do amny of the things I could have done.
imho spend some of it whilst you can.

atush

Sorry but I find the above advice completely wrong for a young person or indeed any novice investor.

By all means, buy a car and take a holiday, but i don't think telling you to p*ss away 150K is in anyway a good idea.

Rather than commercial property, and given the current market, buying a place for you to live in could be a great idea. And being a cash buyer (if you are living outside of London) would put you in an excllent negotiating position for even further reductions on price.

Keeping a min of 6 months spending in cash (maybe one year for you) is also a good idea. Keep this in ISAs as much as possible (you will have to phase it in over time as you can only put in 5340 this year- do this tomorrow- and then a further 5600 next april etc) the rest can be in an easy access savings acct at the highest interest you can find.

And yes, use an advisor on a fee basis for your investments and to set up a pension for you. Don't ever use one from your bank, or any tied advsor as you will not get the best advice for you (but maybe the best advice for the bank/advisor). Get one recommended to you by someone you know who has used them, or from unbiased.co.uk. Talk to at least two to get a 'feel' for the person.