200k inheritance. What to do?

kidmugsy

If you do fancy investing in property, consider the sort that's got the greatest tax advantages, and is likeliest to bring you the greatest pleasure: owner-occupied. Would lavishing (say) £150k on moving to a bigger, or better-sited, house appeal? Upshifting will presumably become common once their children start inheriting on a large scale from baby-boomers. Do you do like to be beside the seaside?

UPDATE: I know. Wait for the next French property crash and buy yourself a nice wee flat on the Ile Saint-Louis. The very spot: even the ice cream is wonderful.

Eco_Miser

MissM0neyPenny wrote: »

Property seems to be the safest place to invest money because house prices always increase over time, apparently doubling every 10 years or so.

When I look out of my back windows I see a vast expanse of green grass. When I moved here, that was all houses.

Averages are one thing, individual houses are another.

achtung123

Hi everyone.
I'm in a similar situation to the OP.
I'm in my late twenties and my parents passed away, I have inherited approx £300k. About £50k I've split between a Cash ISA, Premium Bonds, and my wedding which is in the near future.
The remaining £250k will be spent on a property next year, we will be looking to buy somewhere roughly in June.

Right now that 250k is sitting in an online e-saver account not doing much. Where would be a wise place to let this money reside, assuming we'll need to withdraw it in just over six months?
Thank you in advance for any advice offered.

Ryan_Futuristics

bristol_pilot wrote: »

Yes, its the unknown unknowns. I suppose what really spooks me about P2P is who on earth borrows money for anything other than a mortgage anyway? Only the fekless* and desperate surely? The mere fact that they need to borrow money in the first place renders them a high risk in my eyes.

*I know this is not the correct spelling of this word, but the forum thinks the correct spelling is a rude word and blocks it!

Well Funding Circle's just lending to businesses - basically just bank small business loans without the middlemen

In principle it's the kind of thing that should really work in the public's favour

So far I seem to be getting 10.2% interest (which it estimates will be down to around 7% after bad debts) ... So you'd almost need something to go quite wrong for it not to be at least better than holding bonds at the moment

Ryan_Futuristics

achtung123 wrote: »

Hi everyone.
I'm in a similar situation to the OP.
I'm in my late twenties and my parents passed away, I have inherited approx £300k. About £50k I've split between a Cash ISA, Premium Bonds, and my wedding which is in the near future.
The remaining £250k will be spent on a property next year, we will be looking to buy somewhere roughly in June.

Right now that 250k is sitting in an online e-saver account not doing much. Where would be a wise place to let this money reside, assuming we'll need to withdraw it in just over six months?
Thank you in advance for any advice offered.

Really sorry to hear that

To be honest, I'd most likely keep the money you're going to need in cash (an e-savings account is probably as good a place as any) - as it doesn't seem worth exposing it to any unnecessary risk

I'd imagine the other £50k would give you a good buffer for any unexpected expenses ... So I'd probably only be thinking about investments after you're settled and you know how much you've got left over and what kind of time frame and risks you're willing to take with it (stocks and cash are about your only worthwhile options at the moment, so certainly wouldn't be thinking stocks till you've got a longer time-frame)

kidmugsy

achtung123 wrote: »

Right now that 250k is sitting in an online e-saver account not doing much.

Dear God, move most of it immediately. Only £85k has got deposit-protection. So either have accounts at several providers of £85k each, or use ns&i, who have a Treasury guarantee.