where best to invest £180,000?

DragonQ

Buy a house and rent it to me please.

chucknorris

neilsolaris wrote: »

Thanks Linton, that clarifies it a lot. I currently don't have any sort of pension, so that's something I'd like to look into. I formed the impression that I'd maybe left it too late though. I'm 42. What do you think?

I didn't really start investing in my pension until I was 54 (3 years ago), at which point I started investing my entire salary, now we are capped at £40k, so that is how much I invest (nothing to carry forward). 42 is not too late, but of course earlier would have been better, but if you don't have a tardius then there's no point in crying over spilt milk, you have a 12 year head start on me.

SeekTruth

Totton wrote: »

Apparently not everyone will. It gets a bit murky if you look under the surface of Government announcements :-)

Indeed!

I believe that what I claimed is true for those with 35 or more years of NI contributions that have never been employed: namely SPA on or before 5 April 2016 means £113ish/week; SPA on or after 6 April 2016 means £148ish per week.

The 'murkiness' comes for those with periods of Contracted Out service who, even with more than 35 years of NI contributions, could find their pension well below the £148 figure.

kidmugsy

SeekTruth wrote: »

The 'murkiness' comes for those with periods of Contracted Out service who, even with more than 35 years of NI contributions, could find their pension well below the £148 figure.

Well they surely can't expect to get double-credit for their NICs, can they, getting both a bigger private pension and a bigger state pension?

neilsolaris

Is there anyone who could give me advice on where to find a decent independent financial adviser in my area please? I'm based in North Kent, but I can travel into London easily enough.

Also, how does it work? Do I pay them a fee for their time, or do they make their money some other way?

Thanks again for your help.

dunstonh

Is there anyone who could give me advice on where to find a decent independent financial adviser in my area please?

https://www.unbiased.co.uk and do a post code search.

Also, how does it work? Do I pay them a fee for their time, or do they make their money some other way?

You pay them for advice they give you. No money is obtained via other means.

neilsolaris

Thanks Dunstonh.

So I have a ballpark figure in mind, what might an average financial adviser's hourly or fixed fee be, for someone in my position?

Thanks.

dunstonh

neilsolaris wrote: »

Thanks Dunstonh.

So I have a ballpark figure in mind, what might an average financial adviser's hourly or fixed fee be, for someone in my position?

Thanks.

Hourly rates are the least popular option with consumers. Percentage is common but fixed fee is increasingly the most common option. Fees are dropping but something no more than £2000 unless your have complicated issues should be the sort of maximum. You may find it a lot less than that but shouldnt really be any more.

There are over 20,000 advisers today. Each will have their own pricing. Some will be expensive, even greedy. Some much better value. Different adviser firms may target different types of consumer and their pricing may be focused on their target market. (i.e. a prestige, city based firm dealing with high net worth will be priced at that market and will be damned expensive for anyone outside of that)

neilsolaris

I had no idea it would be that much! Thanks again for your advice.

neilsolaris

Whilst I'm considering all the options, what are people's opinions of buy to let as an investment? I've looked at areas that offer a good return, and Southampton comes up with a good yield, and within my price range. I know there is a risk attached to renting out properties though, and the net return might not be all that good, although I expect capital growth should be ok.

Also, if I were to apply to start a pension, is there any particular scheme people recommend? Do I really need the help of a financial adviser for this? One of my friends just went along to Scottish Widows and they sorted one out for her, but neither she nor I know how good her product is.

Thanks.