£30000 to invest

greystep

I am to receive £30000 as a gift and wondering how to invest this. I own my own home that is worth about £300,000 but still owe about £100,000 in total with a mortgage, second mortgage and some debts. I am going to pay off some debts and will have 30,000 left after this. My morg has about 7 years left and I am happy to keep this. We will down size in a few years and release some capital. Myself and my husband are both self employed and are managing to live reasonably comfortably. I have never really had savings before as we have struggled to bring up 3 children. I'm concerned that if I have savings my sons may not be eligible for student loans and maintenance grants any longer. I don't really want to lock the money away over a long period as with being self employed we may need to access it if we have a major problem.
I have a few small pensions in different places from when I was employed years ago but feel it's a bit late to start adding to these and we'll use our capital release as our pensions (+some more money I will potentially inherit).
I'm 53 and my husband is 57. Any advise would be gratefully received . I am going to speak to the bank but I would like to have a bit of background knowledge first!!

Thrugelmir

Personally I'd clear the debts totally. Add some money to the pension pot (to benefit from the tax relief). Pay some off the mortgage. Retain an amount as an emergency fund.

Worth making the most of windfalls for the benefit of the long term.

Lloyd90

Just from my research into where to put my money I am considering a buy to let.

Obviously this is risky (But aren't all investments ?) BUT there is a lot of uncertainty at the moment with buy to let changes.

Whether you are a 20% or 40% tax payer (or close to the threshold) will play a big part in options for this, as will what is available in your area for the price.