Drip-feed saving with irregular injections

DH91

I am wanting to start saving around £50 a month into some form of savings account. The plan is for long-term ‘drip-feed’ saving of a small portion of disposable income (~30 years if possible).

My profession means that I also get irregular bonuses that I would also want to save a portion of, perhaps saving £200 a few times a year.

I would like to be able to access this money for an emergency but the plan is to save this for retirement. What form of saving would you recommend (saving account, ISA etc.)? I’m not sure if you are able to put irregular lump-sums into an ISA or not.

I do not live near a large city so access to the account is also an issue. Ideally I would like to be able to access the account online or via my phone.

I have been reading up a bit on stocks & shares ISA’s which is tempting as it might provide higher returns over the length of the investment (obviously this comes with risk).

I also have about £5000 that it just sat in a current account, I would need access to this on occasion also for unforeseen expenses (car repairs, holidays etc.). I was considering moving this into a saving account with my bank.

Any advice is much appreciated!

Albermarle

I would like to be able to access this money for an emergency but the plan is to save this for retirement.

You should have some cash savings as an emergency fund . In case of losing job, car blows up etc.
Work out how much you need and then the rest should go into long term investments .

If you are looking to a retirement fund then a pension is nearly always a better bet than alternatives .
What pension provision do you have ? Employer scheme ?

Ideally I would like to be able to access the account online or via my phone.

This is usually no problem nowadays , in fact it is the norm.

DH91

I was considering my pension but I would have thought my main issue would be that I wouldn't be putting in a standard amount each month (due to bonuses). Wouldn't I need to contribute to it through salary sacrifice?

Currently my employer puts 6% of my salary into a pension.

What type of long-term investment would you suggest?

Albermarle

I was considering my pension but I would have thought my main issue would be that I wouldn't be putting in a standard amount each month (due to bonuses). Wouldn't I need to contribute to it through salary sacrifice?

It depends on the exact arrangements with your employer - how bonuses are paid for example.:
It is always better to contribute via salary sacrifice if you can, as you get the benefit of paying less NI.
Alternatively you could make separate irregular lump sum contributions from your net/after tax pay, but probably this would have to be to a different pension where they would add the tax relief. There are simple pensions that are easy to open on line.

What type of long-term investment would you suggest?

You should stick to mainstream stocks and shares investments . Low cost multi asset funds are usually recommended for new investors. They can be volatile but normally show good growth over the long term ( > 10 years).
Don't forget that money in a pension is actually also invested in the financial markets, but you get a tax benefit ( minimum 6.25% but can be more ) from investing in a pension, rather than outside one . Although the money is not accessible until age 55 ( under current rules)

enthusiasticsaver

You can put irregular lump sums into both SIPPs and Stocks and Shares ISAs. Those lump sums can be just few hundred although check out the cost structure of your platform first to see if you would be better waiting until you have say £500. Most platforms charge per deal so it will be cheaper if you do a lump sum every few months if you cannot commit to a regular monthly amount which is usually cheaper fee wise.