Half a million pounds to invest, need to live off the interest. What's best?

Jonbvn

This board is not the place to get advice on such a large amount. You must see a good IFA ASAP. It is essential that the portfolio is well diversified and now is an excellent time to address the issue of IHT.

cheerfulcat

It seems from the OP that this money will only be in cash for six months to a year ( until the mother finds a house to buy? ). Financial advice is not required - keeping the money in accessible cash accounts is the only thing to do under the circumstances.

But somehow this still doesn't make sense; Harridan, you say that she will need ~£2000 a month and yet she currently lives on £200/month?

rebeccaj

cheerfulcat wrote: »

Harridan, you say that she will need ~£2000 a month and yet she currently lives on £200/month?

to pay the rent as she's moving into rented

dunstonh

and bank advisors do have a use here, as their advice will be free

They have no use at all. Their advice is not free as they take maximum commission on products they sell. Commission is paid for out of charges and many investments now have charges which equal commission in an explicit payment.

Plus, tied advisers cannot portfolio plan and you only get what is offered by that provider. It doesn't matter if the provider is Norwich Union, Legal & General or Scottish Widows. The products will be more expensive and cut down versions of the full retail product available through IFAs. Indeed, some of the bank salesforces wont allow their staff to deal with an investment of that value as they are just not up to the job. The tax implications as well as the investment requirements would go over the head of most tied agents (and probably some low skilled IFAs - remembering that the term IFA covers a wide range of skills and specialities).

But you don't know how to spell it???

For this amount of cash, nobody on here will be able to give you decent advice, because you shouldn't just be lumping it into one account. Go see a couple advisors

If you are going to criticise someone's spelling mistakes it is best not to make one yourself.

Biggles

We're suffering from lack of information here, Harridan, but if she's just renting for a year, then buying a smaller/cheaper house, then it doesn't actually matter whether she quite achieves the £2,000 pm return; if it's in a decent instant access account, she can withdraw from it as much as she needs month by month as she needs it.

This may lead to a very slight reduction in capital over the year but it would be better than risking a substantial reduction in capital (not to mention any possible IFA fees, fund management fees etc etc) if she went down the investment route for such a short period.

stiffnuts69

PBA wrote: »

But you don't know how to spell it???

For this amount of cash, nobody on here will be able to give you decent advice, because you shouldn't just be lumping it into one account. Go see a couple advisors (and bank advisors do have a use here, as their advice will be free). Look at what they suggest and do more research from there.

You are a complete idiot for picking up on spelling mistakes, I hate people like you with a passion.

Shame you cant spell either.

!!!!

JDinho

One of the key factors when undertaking this exercise is to appreciate our own mortality.

You will need to be respectful to her age but also understand that the time horizon is an overwhelming factor as well as the related issue of IHT planning.

FWIW I would adopt a tiered approach, short-term expenses, medium-term, longer-term (possibly beyond the life of your mother if appropriate). With the amount in question there are all manner of possibilities and it would be best to seek the opinion of a number professionals. A good place to start if you don't know of anybody may be your local solicitor, they will at least know of the bad ones but as with everything keep an open mind.

amcluesent

>One of the key factors when undertaking this exercise is to appreciate our own mortality.<

Indeed, I recall Keynes saying "[SIZE=-1]In the long run, we are all dead" when hearing people discuss how investing long term in the stock-market will always come good.[/SIZE]

JDinho

amcluesent wrote: »

>One of the key factors when undertaking this exercise is to appreciate our own mortality.<

Indeed, I recall Keynes saying "[SIZE=-1]In the long run, we are all dead" when hearing people discuss how investing long term in the stock-market will always come good.[/SIZE]

I couldn't think of a better way to say 'she is in her 70's and is more likely to die than someone in their 20's'. I know thats not massively old these days, but life expectancy etc is important.

Edo_2

Now at days, you can not longer put your money into a saving account and live on interest rate, inflation and taxes kill any substantiol yield.
You have to start putting it in low risk funds. Putting the money in a fund, you lower your risk of investment, because the investment is invested in more than one market (however it depends in what fund you invest). Since the capital that will be invested, is high, you should have a personal manager, managing your investment.
Let me know if you need furhter help..... I help people for a living.