No savings, no pension.....

DilbertJones

One never knows what is round the corner....

I will crack on with life assurance, level term as a minimum.

custardy

xylophone wrote: »

Get on with the life cover - I still vividly remember when the spouse of a fellow member of a group I'd joined was killed in a freak accident, leaving behind two very young children;mercifully, provision had been made prior to his death.

Too true. The old "you could get knocked down by a bus" is too true
A friend died recenty at 40. dropped down dead with no warning

atush

We got Life insurance before we bought property, the minute we were parents.

Do it.

mf78

You don't need to take out the mortgage life insurance that you'll probably be offered. We just went online and found a nice cheap quote for the amount we needed to pay off the mortgage and provide some for the kids and remaining partner. Take out separate policies for you and the wife, rather than a joint one, as that would only pay out on the first of you to go should the worst happen. Ours cost about £7 per month each so its not a lot. Of course, we hope we never claim on it!

xylophone

I agree about separate policies.

cos_2

The LGPS may cover some of your life assurance requirements (at least from your perspective if your wife dies). Check it out, as it may provide a large tax-free lump sum and then on-going monthly payments, also for your kids if you were to die as well.

cashbackproblems

I would definitely echo the S+S ISA idea, I am in a similar position to you but a bit younger and dont have a pension yet (being a contractor) but have been investing £200 per month in a range of funds via HL in an ISA for the long term. I invested in emerging market funds with a few bonds and it has done pretty well 10-15% over 5/6 yr period have almost 15k in there.

alanq

atush wrote: »

I don't think I can access my HSBC reg saver.

You can. No partial withdrawals are allowed but closure is permitted sacrificing much of the interest.
http://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/2/savings-accounts/regular-savings-accounts

atush

So useless as an interest bearing vehicle to which you need access.

So first emergency sums should be into an easy access acct of any kind, then a RS.

alanq

atush wrote: »

So useless as an interest bearing vehicle to which you need access.

So first emergency sums should be into an easy access acct of any kind, then a RS.

Yes one needs some funds in easy-access no-penalty accounts for day to day spending that one is certain to need. However, it would be worthwhile additionally building up a reserve for use in case of an emergency using a HSBC Regular Saver which is paying about four times the rate of the best instant access/no penalty account. (Leaving aside interest paying current accounts)

As I pointed out earlier there are other Regular Saver accounts, admittedly paying lower interest rates, that allow at least one penalty-free withdrawal a year.