£10K to invest/save - what to do?

sakinge

I will have around £10k to either invest or save very soon and I have no idea where to put if for the best.

I am thinking of putting £3k into an ISA (not decided which one as yet)

I have no mortgage as its in my partners name and I have no pension/retirement fund.

I am 33 yrs old working full time and paying 20% tax band

I can invest/save the £7k for a long period of time and was thinking that something for retirement would be a sensible option.

I would prefer something low risk.

If anyone has any suggestions or can give me a shove in the right direction that would be great

Also, would it be advisable to see an IFA.

Any help greatly appreciated

Thanks

Liz_the_Whizz

hi sakinge

£3k in the ISA (best rate is still National Savings & Investments @6.3%) is a very good start point.

After that, you could look at a fixed-term bond if you don't need to touch the money for a year or so. The rates on these are still the best around, though you need to act quickly as many of the best ones (eg Birmingham Midshires) have closed to new savers, and everyone seems to think the next move on interest rates will be down.

Anglo Irish Bank are still offering 6.9% for a one year FTB, with other more well known brands available at slightly lower rates (Derbyshire Building Society 6.85% and Nationwide Building Society 6.7%). But these are changing all the time so you need to have a check again when you are ready to make your savings decisions.

Good luck - post back on what you decided to do.

avantra

The best rate for ISA (not instant access) is with BMW savings at 6.7%.

sakinge

Thanks for the advice.

I shall investigate the BMW isa.

If anyone has any suggestions for the other £7k that would be great.

Thanks

dunstonh

There are many things you can do but I will just comment on your retirement provision. Zero at age 33. The basic state pension is £4500 a year. How do you fancy living on that at 67 (your state retirement age is not 65 but 67)?

Whatever you do, you really need to start planning. Either plan to put money aside for retirement or plan to be poor in retirement.

sakinge

Thanks for that advice.

I think my best option would be to put the £7k into a pension as the company I work for do not provide one at the moment.

Would my best bet be to get some advice from a IFA?

dunstonh

Would my best bet be to get some advice from a IFA?

Do you know what you are doing to be able to complete this yourself?

Stakeholder, personal or SIPP? What fund spread will you pick and which provider offers the funds to enable that spread?

If you can answer the questions you can do it yourself. If you cannot answer the questions, you can still do it yourself but you run the risk of making a pigs ear of it or you can get an IFA to do it.