If you were 23 and had £230k, what would you do?

planteria

i like that...and being a Business Owner and Investor is certainly the way for me. but not for everyone. some people dont want the stress. the people i am most envious of (sometimes) is those that walk out of work at 5pm and dont have to think about it again until 9am the next morning. there must be a lot of people here who work hard for someone else, earn decent money, invest wisely, and do very nicely both now & in the future.
i work part-time for someone else, and some of my favourite parts of the week are actually when im just doing what is asked of me. i just do it, and kind of relax..

System

I'm going to carry on with my business...but I think its failing...so also considering getting a part time job at £10 an hour, if I can get one.

My plan is to buy a house for £130k. The £100k will pay for the bills for the next 45 years or so. Work part time 20 hours a week for £10 an hour, is £10k a year, to spend on myself, no mortgage, no bills (all paid for).


I could get a couple of holidays, few treats on £10k a year. I'm not one who desires a Range Rover or Designer clothes. I'm happy with a cuppa and a good nights sleep.

This is why I think a postman, who earn £10 an hour, is something to look into and also someting like a nightshift worker. UPS warehouse operatives get £10 ph a night. Something like that.

Thing is, I was university "calibre" but have never got a degree, something I think I've let my parents down with. But I don't want a degree because I don't think there would be a good use for it. Maybe a part time teacher would be a good career, decent money (£16k for 20 hour weeks and lots of hols).


Not really into the investment plan, too risky, but if I can get to £300k, I would consider investing around £50k

amiehall

No idea why you'd be considering things like night shift work. Seems like low quality of life considering your aims. Realistically £230k is not going to sustain you for life so it would be sensible to work out what kind of job you would enjoy doing and take some steps to get yourself there. You're in a good position in that you can afford to take some time without a wage for training up or job hunting.

Arthurian

I like your plan, Berbastrike. Working part-time, whilst knowing you can always resign if the boss is unreasonable, would be great. I wonder if there is some special way of buying the house in trust in order to protect yourself if you meet a nice young lady who moves in with you, becomes pregnant, and then breaks up with you, and claims the house plus maintenance for the child? Or maybe the original plan of 2 houses would be better, so you'd still at least have a mortgage-free place of your own if the worst happens.

System

Arthurian wrote: »

I like your plan, Berbastrike. Working part-time, whilst knowing you can always resign if the boss is unreasonable, would be great. I wonder if there is some special way of buying the house in trust in order to protect yourself if you meet a nice young lady who moves in with you, becomes pregnant, and then breaks up with you, and claims the house plus maintenance for the child? Or maybe the original plan of 2 houses would be better, so you'd still at least have a mortgage-free place of your own if the worst happens.

I've been warned by my parents to watch for any girls who will take all my money, I doubt I'll ever get a girlfriend so probably won't happen anyway

LookingToTheFuture_2

I've recently become addicted to the Mr Money Mustache blog. He 'retired' in his 30s thanks to earning a good wage for a few years, living frugally and investing sensibly. Unfortunately I'm way past the age of being able to retire in my 30s but I'm still finding lots of good advice and inspiration there. If I was 23 and had £230k as a starting point I'd definitely be following his example:-
http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/02/22/getting-rich-from-zero-to-hero-in-one-blog-post/

As for your comment about doubting you'll ever get a girlfriend - of course you will - but not if you start off by viewing girls as potential gold diggers who are all out to take all your money!

ruinen

berbastrike wrote: »

You have no job, no house.

Would this be the best plan:

Buy a house for £100k to live in.

Buy another house for £100k to let

Put £30k in savings

I'd say at 23 you have lots of unknowns. Are you sure where you want to live? Do you know what your ideal career is? or where that career will be located? What are you life goals?

£230k gives you plenty of oppurtunity to experiment a little and try and find what is perfect for you. Have you travelled? Are you interested in travelling? You can easily spend 3 months travelling Asia and spend less than £3000 total. That might give you inspiriation and some greater insight on what you want to do.

My advice is keep your options open and don't commit to anything major yet. Unless you are super keen on it, I'd avoid the hassle of being a proprty owner and renting to tenants.

If you do want to make investments, then there are plenty of other options than property, and they have benefits like greater liquidity. But again investments are something you can worry about when you have more ideas of what you want to do.

My advice, stick £100k of it in some long-term fixed interest savings for example 2.4% for two years. http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/savings-accounts-best-interest?_ga=1.33905634.211866296.1400953123#fixed - leave that £100k to your 25 year-old self to worry about what to do with. You might have quite different goals in two years!

Then stick the rest in a good interest rate instant access savings account. Then go experiment with what you want to do. Go places! Try jobs! If you don't like them then you have the freedom to quit and seek out something else.

ViolaLass

I agree with ruinen; I don't know why you would rush to buy a house when you don't know what you want to do with yourself. Buying a house is something you do when you're going to settle in an area for a few years but you could do anything now. Make the most of it!

planteria

i agree. lots of good advice.
working nights is Not the way to go, imo. it isn't good for you, and you don't Need to do that. just try to find something that you like doing, that brings enough money in to live on. and i would be using all of the money you have, plus what it generates, plus more that you save (even if just a few pounds/month) to secure your future....it might sound boring, but it is the way to go.

Tassotti

How much does a 100K property rent for where you are berbastrike