Financial Advice

musehead

Hi there,

I'm looking for a bit of advice with my finances if possible. I am 21, almost 22 and a recent graduate with a good degree. I am currently on a "gap year" and am going travelling next year for several months, after which I may be taking a year-long Masters course. I live with my parents at the mo and my current expenses are insignificant. My only debt is ~£6k of student loan. I have an ad-hoc, tax-free average income of about £3k per month (advantage gambling, but let's not go into details as it's not what i'm concerned about). I have around £180k in cash and no other assets. Most of it is in icesave at the moment, and some in an old B&B account (rate just below icesave). I will of course be looking to buy a house (most likely in the SE) at some point, but it probably won't be within the next couple of years.


My only taxable income is the interest on this money, a ~£4k per year trust fund, and a small amount of work income from temping. I also believe i'm going to receive a lump sum of about £50k from the trust fund to go towards buying a house when that happens.

My main aim with this money at the moment is to grow it into more money - I don't currently need it for income. I will be contributing a large chunk of my income to the stash for the forseeable future. In the long run, i'd like enough money to provide me with a good income or financial freedom, so that I don't have to be a "slave to the wage". I am not risk averse - I made most of my money through calculated risks - but I obviously don't want to lose it!

I've applied for a couple of ~7% 1 year bonds the last few days, would this be a good move?

I'm more than happy to clarify anything. Any advice on what to do would be much appreciated :beer:

musehead

Bump - anyone?

I have been looking into opening a S&S ISA recently. I have the last 3 years worth of allowance in cash ISA but haven't moved onto S&S yet. I'm going to put this years allowance into several funds (still researching at the moment, haven't really decided on any yet) as a bit of an experiment. Would it be a good idea to invest a large chunk of my savings in a balanced portfolio, or should I stick to smaller scale tax-free investing in an ISA?

musehead

The trust fund is basically my grandparents giving me a sum of money each year to use for education etc, plus the lump sum to help with a house as far as I understand it.

chesky369

What the kerfuffle with Northern Rock should have told everyone is that you shouldn't keep more than £30k in ANY account as that's the limit you would be reimbursed in a bank failure. I trust ICEsave implicitly, but I make it a rule never to go over my 30k.

Crabman

Bradford & Bingley have a new account: Bradford + Bingley 6.40% AER Internet Saver.

Some peeps on this thread have managed to get their existing B&B account transferred to the new 6.4% account - consider giving it a try!

You didn't mention an ISA, perhaps dunk £3k into a cash isa if you don't already have one. NS&I is the current best buy at 6.3% AER.

chesky369

Go to an IFA; stocks and shares ISAs would be a good idea for you now, you could get £4k in this year (on top of your cash £3k) - Invesco do a good one.