So I have £30,000 sitting around

Yazi

Hi all!

First time posting here! Hoping to learn a lot from you all!

I am a student at uni who has been saving money from summer jobs, £6000 inheritance, childhood savings and slowly worked up to £30000 (now I have £37k!!) in my bank accounts at this point. I feel very blessed!

I would like to know how to get the most out of this money to increase it or invest it.
Currently divided up as follows:
£2000 - 123 Student account Santander (3% on £2000)
£4800 (used to be £4k)- Help to buy ISA Santander (2%, £200 transfer each month to it (can get bonus from government when purchasing first house)
£2500 - FlexDirect Account Nationwide (5% interest max £2500 for 12 months)
£27000 (used to be £22.6k) - Old children saving account (1.6% with no upper cap for interest)
£1000 (added in Jan 2018) - Nationwide Flex Regular Online Saver (5%, £250 per month)

I know inflation rates are higher than the interest rates so I know I'm technically losing money long term.

Additionally to this, I have no guaranteed income as I am a student aside from student finance which is the maximum. (£3000 grant, £4000 loan) as well as student loans each year. I heard its not advisable to pay as much off as I can now though my mum wanted me to do so. This means getting a mortgage would not be possible as I have no steady income to get a mortgage loan though maybe I would like to be a home owner a few years after graduation (graduation:2020, maybe house in 2022?).

Any advice please? Thanks so much in advance!!

economic

Spend it

Eco_Miser

Nationwide Flexclusive Regular Saver 5% - add £250 each month.
As many other Regular Savers paying more than 1.6%, all fed from your old savings account. See list at https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/608697 If you stagger opening these, they will also mature at different times, making further recycling easier.
Consider other higher interest current accounts, but most require direct debits, and as a student you may not fit the banks' target profile.

If you can put some of the money aside for at least five years, preferably ten or more, consider investments into funds of stock market equities and bonds. There is much discussion of investments on this board and sites like Monevator to give you an idea of whether this is something you would want to do.

BananaRepublic

You're a student, blow it on drink, drugs and parties.

However, it would be wiser to invest it. It would make a nice deposit on a house or flat when you get a proper job. If you do invest in the stock markets, you really do need to be able to leave it there for more than 5 years simply because you don't know if the markets will crash, and hence even after 5 years you might be nursing a loss. Of course you usually end up doing quite well, but you need to account for the worst case when you plan.

Glen_Clark

Many people save wisely like you have, put it in the Stock market when they see how much others have made because the market is high (like it is now)... the market falls..... they get bitten..... so they sell at a loss and never buy shares again.
But thats unlikely to happen if you invest for at least 5 years, and don't lose your nerve and sell when it dips.

Lungboy

Should that be £20000 in the 123?

Temrael

And should it not be 1.5% on the 123 rather than 3%?

ivormonee

I'd say drip feed a monthly amount into something like the vanguard LifeStrategy range of funds. Pick one that suits how much risk you feel comfortable with. Probably, at such a young age, if you are willing to leave the money invested for a good few years, the Vanguard LifeStrategy 80 may be a good option - it's more volatile than the 60, 40 and 20 versions but you can give it plenty of time to ride the ups and downs.

economic

ivormonee wrote: »

I'd say drip feed a monthly amount into something like the vanguard LifeStrategy range of funds. Pick one that suits how much risk you feel comfortable with. Probably, at such a young age, if you are willing to leave the money invested for a good few years, the Vanguard LifeStrategy 80 may be a good option - it's more volatile than the 60, 40 and 20 versions but you can give it plenty of time to ride the ups and downs.

i would stick to 100. Im 34 and even i have vanguard LS 100. I have no bonds whatsoever. i prefer cash instead of bonds.

Voyager2002

As a student, the best investment you can make is in your career and hence your future earning power. So a good use of that money would be things like study time (not needing to take a job when you need to hit the books); financing a good internship; and of course meeting accommodation costs when a good opportunity arises in an inconvenient place. So I suggest keeping most of your money liquid until you are established in your first graduate job. At that point, look very seriously at a help-to-buy ISA since buying a home is likely to be your next move.

derrick

Lungboy wrote: »

Should that be £20000 in the 123?

It's 2 not 20, @ 1.5% not 3%.

Yazi wrote: »

Hi all!

First time posting here! Hoping to learn a lot from you all!

I am a student who has been saving money from summer jobs, £6000 inheritance, childhood savings and slowly worked up to £30000 in my bank accounts at the end of this year. I feel very blessed!

I would like to know how to get the most out of this money to increase it or invest it.
Currently divided up as follows:
£2000 - 123 Santander (3% on £2000)
£4000 - Help to buy ISA Santander (2%, £200 transfer each month to it (can get bonus from government when purchasing first house)
£2500 - FlexDirect Account Nationwide (5% interest max £2500 for 12 months)
£22600 - Old children saving account (1.6% with no upper cap for interest)

I know inflation rates are higher than the interest rates so I know I'm technically losing money long term.

Additionally to this, I have no guaranteed income as I am a student aside from student finance which is the maximum. (£3000 grant, £4000 loan) as well as student loans each year. I heard its not advisable to pay as much off as I can now though my mum wanted me to do so. This means getting a mortgage would not be possible as I have no steady income to get a mortgage loan though maybe I would like to be a home owner a few years after graduation (graduation:2020, maybe house in 2022?).

Any advice please? Thanks so much in advance!!