Oh no, not another, 'What should I do with my money' thread!!

CTID_2

Sorry, I know there have been loads but I can't find one similar to my circumstances.

I have £220,000 profit from the sale of my house. I am currently living and working overseas and after my sale have no property in the UK. I can stay here (outside the EU) for at least 4 more years and it could be longer if I want it, I get a good salary and accommodation is free. I can save about £1200 per month as well.

I eventually want to buy a property, probably France, where I would retire in 10 - 15 years. I know prices are rising in France so I don't want to leave it too long, but unless there is a housing crash in the UK I have no intention of buying there for the foreseeable.

I don't like risk and I am rubbish at keeping an eye on things. I have no interest in money matters and I must admit I struggle to get my head around the many many options. If I was pointed to 2 or 3 I would read everything about them and get a feel of which is best but at the moment there are just too many options. I've read I should have ISA's but is that necessary with this big sum to invest?

So to sum up

£220,000 lump sum
£1,200 per month
no other savings at all (no isa's etc)

I don't want to risk losing a bargain if there is a crash or I see the property of my dreams, so I don't want to lock the money away for 20 years. I just need help from you savvy peeps! What should I do with my money??!!!?

Primrose

I'm not sure if non residents in the UK are allowed to hold ISAs. No doubt somebody here will have a definitive answer. If you don't want to be continually checking if you're getting a good deal, you could simply put the whole sum in a high interest paying internet account like ICESAVE where you could monitor it from abroad and where they guarantee the rate until 2009 but again, being non UK resident, I am unsure whether you will be able to produce the necessary Money Laundering identification documentation to set the account up. Again, I'm sure somebody here will be able to confirm whether this is possible.

cheerfulcat

CTID wrote: »

I don't want to risk losing a bargain if there is a crash or I see the property of my dreams, so I don't want to lock the money away for 20 years. I just need help from you savvy peeps! What should I do with my money??!!!?

Under the circumstances the only sensible answer is " keep it in cash, in a high-interest account, in the currency in which you are most likely to buy a house ".

CTID_2

thanks for the advice. What is the thoughts on ISA's, should I max these out as well or just leave it as a lump sum?

Jonbvn

As an expat (non resident for tax), you are not permitted to invest in ISA's. However, since you are an expat you can invest offshore, without paying any tax on your gains/interest.

As an example, a with a quick google search, I found this with the Halifax offshore. Offers up to 6.16% gross. Have a look around the other offshore banks & BS to find similar products.

PBA

Jonbvn wrote: »

As an expat (non resident for tax), you are not permitted to invest in ISA's. However, since you are an expat you can invest offshore, without paying any tax on your gains/interest.

Not quite. You won't have to pay UK tax, but you will have to pay tax in the country you're resident in. Assuming you want to keep your money in sterling then the best bet would be the offshore shoot of one of the UK banks, but it's worth seeing if the country where you're resident has anything similar to an ISA offering tax free savings for it's residents.

Come to think of it, this might make for an interesting thread as I'm sure there are plenty of MSE users resident offshore, and I've never heard anything about foreign equivalents to ISAs.

Jonbvn

PBA wrote: »

Not quite. You won't have to pay UK tax, but you will have to pay tax in the country you're resident in.

It is dependent on what country you are working/living in. If you are working in a EU country, you will be liable for 15% tax on savings under ESD.