Deposit of £150k, what would you do in my situation?

Tancred

Reue wrote: »

There's a nice area of Calcot?

Council houses galore in Calcot. Also a hotspot for hookers.

To be frank, there aren't many decent places to live in Reading - parts of Woodley, Earley and Lower Earley, and the best place being Caversham Heights, unaffordable for all except the wealthiest.

Tancred

Reue wrote: »

Why would you need to access a pension fund to retire? As long as you have enough invested to make your living expenses back you can retire at any age.

True, but you would need to be very successful and/or lucky in your investments to retire at 40. Let's be realistic. I'm not saying it cannot be done, but simply that it's unlikely.

Reue

Tancred wrote: »

True, but you would need to be very successful and/or lucky in your investments to retire at 40. Let's be realistic. I'm not saying it cannot be done, but simply that it's unlikely.

Not really, historically shares have returned about 7% per year average including dividends and growth. Subtract inflation from that and you have 4%. Therefore if you can save 25x your living expenses you can retire. No need to be particularly successful or lucky, it just depends on your rate of savings and living costs.

Reue

Tancred wrote: »

Council houses galore in Calcot. Also a hotspot for hookers.

To be frank, there aren't many decent places to live in Reading - parts of Woodley, Earley and Lower Earley, and the best place being Caversham Heights, unaffordable for all except the wealthiest.

Personally I moved out to Burghfield, However if it wasnt for work locations i'd have gone out towards Goring. Some beautiful villages westwards.. just nothing particularly central location except Caversham.

dtaylor84

Tancred wrote: »

Read what I said - I didn't say you can't retire before 55, but you would need to be a very successful entrepreneur to do so. Normal salary earners cannot retire before 55 because the law doesn't allow you to do so through accessing a pension fund.

Rubbish. If you're planning to retire before 55 that's a good reason not to put all your money in a pension fund (and use ISAs, etc. instead) but it has absolutely no bearing on your ability to retire.

stevenjhepburn

If I was in your situation I would use the £150,000 to buy an investment property. This could be a 'fixer-upper' you can buy and renovate within your budget then sell for a profit or an already refurbished buy-to-let. Depending on your attitude to risk you could leverage the money more by taking out a manageable mortgage to enable you to look at properties above your savings limit. This way you gain either the rise in value from flipping a house or the regular income from rental. These profits should go into: 1) an emergency account for the property 2) a fund for your 2nd property.

Then for your personal circumstances, I would look to rent a room or flatshare. Keep things cheap but gain some independence, friends and probably some good and bad experiences about the world.

In short I would invest the money in property whilst living a comfortable 25 year old lifestyle without feeling tied to a 'property-for-life'.

Tancred

Flashmanchop wrote: »

but if he has been earmning good money since 16 or 17 and is now thirty, living at home, possibly board free with very little costs.

perhaps he doesnt drive or have a iphone 5, maybe he doesnt have a 50" plasma, or a DFS 4 years 0% interest free sofa.

i vote we should make him a MSE ambassador.

Right. And he would have been on £30k a year at age 16? :huh:
The maths doesn't add up.

dktreesea

I thought this looked okay in Calcot:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-41351810.html

Though I preferred this:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-39423700.html
The land looks better.

Tancred, what's so special about Caversham? It seems a bit of a hike to me, both to the railway and the M4.

Reue

dktreesea wrote: »

I thought this looked okay in Calcot:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-41351810.html

Though I preferred this:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-39423700.html
The land looks better.

Tancred, what's so special about Caversham? It seems a bit of a hike to me, both to the railway and the M4.

First one is in part of the quieter area of Calcot hence the extra cost.

The 2nd is in Whitley

dktreesea

Reue wrote: »

First one is in part of the quieter area of Calcot hence the extra cost.

The 2nd is in Whitley

Is Whitley so different to Calcot? Some better off places mixed with some poorer spots. Most of Reading is like that, isn't it?