Looking into furthering my savings.

dubb

Morning folks, wasn't sure what to put as the title!


Basically I/we (wife) have a basic joint savings account that we deposit whatever we have at the end of the month into. I'm a complete noob when it comes to what else to do with our savings.


From my very limited research so far, would I be looking through something Vanguard or similar? On top of our contributions into our savings we could make approximately a £200 monthly deposit into something else. We'd like to keep our savings as the more liquid side of things in case any big requests crop up.


I'm 33, so I'm guessing I've nearly missed the boat for getting started?


Any help/suggestions gratefully received.

Pension_Geek

A lot of factors, but one would be, have you got a pension?

What is your monthly outgoing and how much are your monthly outgoings. Ideally you'll have between 3 and 6 months in readily available cash savings, before you look at Investing, as investing in a fund like Vanguard should be considered as a long term investment.

Is the money for anything in particular?

AN no, you haven't missed any boat .

dubb

Thanks for getting back to me.


Yes, in work currently I've got a pension with regular monthly contributions.


I understand that investing mainly is seen as a long-term strategy, I'd be looking to put money away to help retire earlier & supplement my work pension.


The money going into investing or similar would mainly be for retirement, I'm 33 currently & just feel like I need to get my finger out and arrange something so we have a kitty years down the line.

AnotherJoe

How much are those monthly contributions?

Are you putting in at least enough to get the maximum matching employer contributions?
What is the interest rate on your basic joint savings account?

cloud_dog

Are you a higher or lower rate tax payer?

If lower rate and not borderline, i.e. a pay rise of two might take you in to 40% territory you may want to consider a LISA instead of pension (can be used for a house or taken at age 60 currently).

Alternatively, do you know if your company uses salary sacrifice within their payroll? That may have a considerable impact on the decision making process.

dubb

AnotherJoe wrote: »

How much are those monthly contributions?

Are you putting in at least enough to get the maximum matching employer contributions?
What is the interest rate on your basic joint savings account?

Monthly contributions to our savings are around £500. Not sure about my employer contributions, never fully enquired about my pension to my detriment, however I'm asking today, currently waiting on a reply!


Looking online our account has an interest rate of 0.20% gross.

cloud_dog wrote: »

Are you a higher or lower rate tax payer?

If lower rate and not borderline, i.e. a pay rise of two might take you in to 40% territory you may want to consider a LISA instead of pension (can be used for a house or taken at age 60 currently).

Alternatively, do you know if your company uses salary sacrifice within their payroll? That may have a considerable impact on the decision making process.

We're lower rate & neither of us are going to be moving into the higher bracket anytime soon. I had briefly read about LISA's, they come with a government subsidy each year?


I'm currently a civil servant if that helps any matters regarding pension advice.

AnotherJoe

dubb wrote: »

Monthly contributions to our savings are around £500. Not sure about my employer contributions, never fully enquired about my pension to my detriment, however I'm asking today, currently waiting on a reply!


Looking online our account has an interest rate of 0.20% gross.

!!!!!!. At least set up a Marcus or similar account and feed everything into that, or better still a regular saver at 3% or so.

We're lower rate & neither of us are going to be moving into the higher bracket anytime soon. I had briefly read about LISA's, they come with a government subsidy each year?

Yep if you are buying a house eventually. Are you?



I'm currently a civil servant if that helps any matters regarding pension advice.

OK so thats usually a very good pension so any extra savings into a pension are best done as AVCs (=additional lump sums paid into that) or into a personal pension. But if you intend to buy a house LISA or HTB ISA probably way to go.

cloud_dog

AnotherJoe wrote: »

OK so thats usually a very good pension so any extra savings into a pension are best done as AVCs (=additional lump sums paid into that) or into a personal pension. But if you intend to buy a house LISA or HTB ISA probably way to go.

I'm not a CS pensions expert but I would check the rules around accessing the AVC portion, i.e. if you choose to retire earlier than your scheme's NRA.

dubb

To answer that question, we're not saving for a house, already have one.

cloud_dog

dubb wrote: »

To answer that question, we're not saving for a house, already have one.

But, you can still use it for long-term / retirement savings.

Need to understand what would be the better option for you.

The big advantage of the LISA for a BRT (any) payer is that all monies from the account (at age 60) are tax free.

We (you) would need to understand what benefits paying in to the AVC would bring you.

dubb

cloud_dog wrote: »

We (you) would need to understand what benefits paying in to the AVC would bring you.

HR section are taking their time getting back to me.