15k in savings - what to do with it?

hugheskevi

What measures are you taking to avoid the High Income Child Benefit Tax Charge?

Erm...none. Mum is claiming Child Benefit - we understand it's a good idea to do this so that the year of maternity counts towards her pension entitlement. I haven't researched this in-depth but believe that I'll have to repay everything we get anyway, when it comes to self-assessment. I also have got business costs to factor into my tax return - depending on the final figure, we might actually end up getting some peanuts for the little one.

I'm hesitant about pensions - I've currently got TPS which is where most of the money is. There's also an inactive LGPS (around 2k), NEST (around 2k) and People's Pension (around 1k). I really need to get around to rationalising these.

You are correct about the mother claiming despite having to pay it back.

You may want to read this page. It sounds like an £8,000 pension contribution could cost you around £3,370 taking into account higher rate tax relief and the effect on Child Benefit. That is going to beat most regular savers The money is locked away unfortunately, but there is a strong incentive.

This page sets out some options if you wanted to improve your pension.