Advice for a young saver/investor

ryanprediction

Hi all,

I'm fairly clueless when it comes to saving/investing like all 24 year olds.

After some poor lifestyle choices and post-University apathy i finally have a decent income and am debt free as of this month. I now have approximately £700 a month that i should be able to save/invest.

Naturally i would like to start saving towards a deposit on a house. What are my best options? I know there is an ISA for first time buyers coming in the Autumn but is there more i can be doing to make it go further?

Thanks in advance, any help would be greatly appreciated x

Luckyinlife

Do you know how much youd need ? how long will it take ?

You can put around 25-30k in current accounts which will give you a ok monthly return wont change your life tho will add a little somthing tho

personally i just put my house deposit into my isa out of the way as i wanted easy access and could use it when i wanted

good luck keep up updated

Archi_Bald

Start by reading tings like this article, and the forum. Don't expect to be spoonfeed - after all, you have been an adult for 6 years.

Look at putting some of your £700/mth into the best Regular Savers you can lay your hands on. As they won't pay interest until after April 2016, you should automatically get all the interest gross. The HTB ISA sounds a good plan as well.

You don't have to put all your money into the same bucket. Save some for the near future (holidays etc), save some for the medium term (house etc), save some for old age. Think about a pension if you are employed as you will get free money from your employer if you do so. You might not think so, but 24 is quite late to begin saving for your old age.

ryanprediction

Thanks for the quick replies.

'Don't expect to be spoonfeed - after all, you have been an adult for 6 years.' Even this patronising line... I didn't expect to be spoonfed but do i bang it all in an ISA or do i use the Santander account for some? Any useful ideas and i'll give that article a read!

In terms of how much, i don't have a target but £20k would seem enough to get me something. Which i suppose would take me around 2 years although i expect my salary to increase.

I should have mentioned i have been paying into a final salary pension scheme for 18 months where my employer matches my 5.8%.

atush

Well if you are an adult you can see the interest rates and choose the higher Ie the current acct? That is what I would do if wanting to buy.

I'd also see a mtg broker and find out how much I could borrow then look at flats/prices and see how much of a deposit I would need?

Have you joined your work pension?

Archi_Bald

ryanprediction wrote: »

do i bang it all in an ISA or do i use the Santander account for some?

Archi_Bald wrote: »

You don't have to put all your money into the same bucket. Save some for the near future (holidays etc), save some for the medium term (house etc), save some for old age.

What more do you want to know?

ryanprediction wrote: »

'Don't expect to be spoonfeed - after all, you have been an adult for 6 years.' Even this patronising line

It is not patronising, it's a fact. Also, not all 24 year olds are fairly clueless about saving and investing, as you claimed :)E]

pjcox2005

The reply did seem a little harsh given it's a forum to ask for further information.

Personally, I'd look to save via the help to buy isa when they come out given you want to buy a house and that will top it up by 25%. Brief details suggest you can have £1k to pay in at the start and them £200 a month.

On top of that, I'd probably saving in a regular saver like first direct (6% interest) or a current account paying reasonable interest (Santander 123 depending on the fees?).

You've already got a pension, so the next part is do you want to plough everything into savings to buy a house, or are you willing to delay the house purchase slightly and put money aside for investments that need a 5-10 year life (maybe longer). People on this board have suggested the Vanguard Life strategy at 80% as a potential option. Their website gives a list of providers who offer it. Just check the rules around the help to buy ISA as not sure you can have two so the investment would have to be outside the ISA tax wrapper for now.


Pension you've already got so I would suggest you keep paying into that and maximising any employer contributions.

Radiantsoul

Archi_Bald wrote: »

You might not think so, but 24 is quite late to begin saving for your old age.

Extreme Early Retirement Newspaper Delivery Boy is a blog that really needs to be created.

compbren

ryanprediction wrote: »

Thanks for the quick replies.

'Don't expect to be spoonfeed - after all, you have been an adult for 6 years.' Even this patronising line... I didn't expect to be spoonfed but do i bang it all in an ISA or do i use the Santander account for some? Any useful ideas and i'll give that article a read!

.

Don't let idiots like him put you off on these forums. Ask as many questions as you like, people like him (and a couple of others) think they've got the right to talk down to new posters. I wonder if they're as 'mouthy' in real life as much as they are hiding behind their computer screens? Good luck btw!

barvid

"I should have mentioned i have been paying into a final salary pension scheme for 18 months where my employer matches my 5.8%."

Are you sure it's a final salary scheme? With final salary it doesn't really matter what the company contributes as you know what you'll get at the end - defined benefit rather than defined contribution. If you pay 5.8% and they pay 5.8% are you sure it's not money purchase?

mollycat

compbren wrote: »

Don't let idiots like him put you off on these forums. Ask as many questions as you like, people like him (and a couple of others) think they've got the right to talk down to new posters. I wonder if they're as 'mouthy' in real life as much as they are hiding behind their computer screens? Good luck btw!

Just to add some balance, I dont think Archibald is an idiot; I always think he tries to be helpfull.

OP's idea that ALL 24 year olds are clueless with savings and investing is a bit daft mind you