£100k to invest. Totally lost as to what to do.

ives31

Thanks everyone.
I'm taking everyone's advice and I'm going to look for a IFA.

atush

If there is anything you don't understand, don't be afraid to ask. Many on here don't appreciate that some people don't have a basic understanding of pensions, savings, etc and use terms and words that are obvious to them and a foreign language to someone like yourself.

I dont think so, we had to learn sometime and explain things here when asked (hence my simple explanation of pension/free money).

Anyway for the OP, as you are now 50, been working for ten years and so have gotten a hold on your life now, you need to plan for your future.

So, the 4 planks to a good retirement are, cash fund (for emergencies now, and for living on later) and a safe secure place to live. Ideally a flat you owned for instance so something to think about- look at now. If you are in a council flat, is there 'right to buy'? You can rent in retirement but it is not safe or secure unless you are in council acommodation .

Then Pension, in your case join the company pension ASAP/tomorrow. put in at least enough to get the max employers contribution but ideally more in your case as you are starting late. Then, savings and investment. In cash and S&S isas. Cash rates are low now, so think about maybe start in a few regular savers. Which will mature next year when maybe ISA rates will be on the rise. Then, the S&S isa thing. This and your pension the IFA can help with. You want to invest some of your inheritance and income, because cash pays so little it struggles to keep up with inflation, and equtiies outpace inflation if you hae a decade or more before you need it. And ISAs keep the growth and eventual income tax free.

So call a few IFAs and meet at least 2 of them for a free consultation. Then choose (you can come back to this thread and ask us anything before or after).

I am sorry for whatever happened for you to get this inherticance, but it looks like life will be a little easier for you from now on.

Good luck.

Wammer

atush wrote: »

I dont think so, we had to learn sometime and explain things here when asked (hence my simple explanation of pension/free money).

Sorry I wasn't pointing the finger at anyone and certainly not at you as your post was in simple terms. I was thinking of other threads on here when people speak in acronyms assuming that everyone knows what they mean.

My reason for saying that was that the OP had already said that he didn't understand much of what was being suggested, even though it was in what most of us would think were simple terms. Sometimes they just need to be simpler! I would hate for the OP to be put off asking for something to be explained in a different way in case he felt stupid for asking.

Wammer

atush wrote: »

So call a few IFAs and meet at least 2 of them for a free consultation. Then choose (you can come back to this thread and ask us anything before or after).

This is very sound advice. We met one IFA who was a really nice and friendly guy so we weren't going to look any further. We had a couple of meetings with him and he made some suggestions for investments. We even went as far as signing to agree to them. Then something just didn't feel right as he hadn't taken our pension provision into consideration and I called to ask for more time to consider.

We saw a different IFA. He took note of all our finances including our pensions, arranged to get up to date pension forecasts and arranged a meeting in 6 weeks when he would have all the information to hand. At the end of that meeting he didn't suggest changing anything, but still asked if we were happy for him to be our IFA. He didn't charge us a penny.

I have since found out that the S&S ISA that the first IFA had suggested we transfer out actually performed well in the past year and a bond he said to cash in has done nothing but rise in value in the past 5 years.

Mickygg

I often think if I had £100k what would I do with it. It would be:

1) cash ISA £7.5k
2) shares ISA £7.5k
3) £20k instant access in Santander 123 account
4) £10k pension top up
5) £10k in 4-5% current accounts
6) £20k mortgage repay
7) £20k best instant access savings account for rainy day. Next tax year tfr £15k to ISA
8) £5k holiday

That's just me and my circumstances though.

HTH

jamesd

ives31 wrote: »

I don't own my own home.

It's worth considering doing something about that, though don't spend the whole £100,000 on it. Ideally, no more than a deposit worth because investments tend to grow at a faster rate than mortgage interest costs.

One of the key facts in retirement is that those who own their own homes tend to be better off than those who don't. The running costs of an owned home are lower usually than the ongoing rent of a rented place. Before retirement it's also usually easy enough to find a place to buy that is cheaper than a rented place after the mortgage costs and upkeep are considered.

A key to this for increasing wealth in retirement is to buy a home that is no more than you need, whether that's a studio flat, one bedroom flat or small house. The cheaper home has lower mortgage costs, lower council tax and lower bills so it increases your gains. A place that needs work in an area that is not central but also not bad is the sort that tends to work well. A ground floor flat can be useful if you stay there long into retirement since it can make access easier.

It's well worth considering what mortgage would be sensible and what places are available where you want to or must live and seeing if you can find a suitable deal.