£15K burning a hole in my pocket

agent69

I make full use of my ISA allowances, and pay money monthly into an investment account. However I find myself with £15k spare with nowhere obvious to put it.

I recall that around Easter time last year there were government bond for sale that were tax free and paid interest at a rate above inflation. Are these bonds an anual event or was it just a one off?

If there is no guarantee of more Government bonds in the near future whats the best thing to do with my £15k. I don't have any debts, but am reluctant to invest any more in stocks and shares due to recent volatility.

xylophone

There might be a new issue of NS&I Index linked savings certificates this year but no news yet. http://www.nsandi.com/savings/tax-free
In the mean time, you can put it into the highest interest paying instant access account you can find then take out the full £5640 to subscribe to your 12-13 cash ISA after 6 April.

I suppose you could open the issue 4 e-account with Santander which would facilitate opening one of their cash ISAs in due course?

http://www.santander.co.uk/csgs/Satellite?canal=CABBEYCOM&cid=1195845566878&cidAgrup=845616358929450&empr=Abbeycom&leng=en_GB&pagename=Abbeycom%2FPage%2FWC_ACOM_TemplateY2&posSel=1

atush

What sort of investment account? Have you thought of drip feeding into an Investment trust (helps smooth that volatility you are afraid of).

Do you have a pension? If yes, put some of it into a lump sum pmt. If not, start one now.

Do you have a mtg? What is the rate?

agent69

atush wrote: »

What sort of investment account? Have you thought of drip feeding into an Investment trust (helps smooth that volatility you are afraid of).

Do you have a pension? If yes, put some of it into a lump sum pmt. If not, start one now.

Do you have a mtg? What is the rate?

1) I pay monthy into an account run by fundsnetwork (Fidelity). It's just more stocks and shares outside the ISA wrapper.

2) I pay into a company pension. The thing that puts me off contributing more is that you cannot be certain what the annuity rates will be in 10 years time when I retire

3) Assuming mtg is a mortgare, I don't have one. No debts, no loans.

Broadwood

If I was in such an enviable financial position as you have got yourself into I think I would be inclined to spend some of your surplus cash on a holiday of a lifetime or its equivalent partly because you can't take it with you, and also because in the meantime if you were to fall on harder times most benefits are means-tested.

Alternatively you could buy £15k's worth of Krugerrands but then you'd have to keep them somewhere safe.

If only I had your dilemma......:(

atush

1) Do you pay Tax? If so, why is this not ISA'd? you lose 20% of any interest paid if you are a taxpayer and 40-50% if you are a HRTaxpayer.

2) Do you pay enough to get your Maximum Employers Contribution? If not, why not? That is "Free Money". You DO NOT HAVE to BUY an ANNUITY if you don't want to so this is not an excuse. You can instead use Drawdown- 2 types regular (has limits per year) and Flexible (no limits but you must have 20K pension income to qualify)

3) a mtg is a Mortgage ie do you own a home and if so do you have an outstanding mtg and what is the rate? As this can impact where to put savings if your rate is higher than the amt you can get from savings (ie not a tracker).

oldvicar

Budget Day (21 March) small print will state the amount that the Chancellor requires NS&I to raise for him, and this will be the best indication of whether Index-Linked Savings Certificates will be on general sale again any time soon.

agent69

atush wrote: »

1) Do you pay Tax? If so, why is this not ISA'd? you lose 20% of any interest paid if you are a taxpayer and 40-50% if you are a HRTaxpayer.

2) Do you pay enough to get your Maximum Employers Contribution? If not, why not? That is "Free Money". You DO NOT HAVE to BUY an ANNUITY if you don't want to so this is not an excuse. You can instead use Drawdown- 2 types regular (has limits per year) and Flexible (no limits but you must have 20K pension income to qualify)

3) a mtg is a Mortgage ie do you own a home and if so do you have an outstanding mtg and what is the rate? As this can impact where to put savings if your rate is higher than the amt you can get from savings (ie not a tracker).

As I said in my previous posts I already make full use of my ISA allowances. The Fundshetwork investment is on top of this. I own a house but do not have a mortgage.

I am familiar with income drawdown, but this relies on the performance of the stock markets after retirement. I had hoped to move to a more certain outcome by the time I retire.

atush

Drawdowns do not have to be invested 'in the stock market' unless you want them to. Anything you can invest in (apart from residential property) outside a pension you can invest in inside one. So I don't really see your point.

And if you dont' want to buy an annuity or suffer from inflation then you will have to think of bonds or equity income funds for Any income you get in retirement.

No one knows what annuity rates will be like (and if there will in fact BE annuities) when you get around to retiring. Maxing ut your pension contribs in your case (while continuing to save outside as well) is a no brainer. You seem to be on track for an income in excess of 20K from investments and pensions so would be allowed to take flexible drawdown which means you could draw as much as you liked.