Pay off which first? Help please

middleclassbutpoor

Bringvaluetome wrote: »

Anymore advice on my situation?

Opt into your workplace pension scheme and take the employers match. Stop paying into your SIPP

Bringvaluetome

The company i work for set up another pension and they pay in to it. I also pay 1% a month in to it.

I moved the previous one to buy shares for long term.

middleclassbutpoor

Bringvaluetome wrote: »

The company i work for set up another pension and they pay in to it. I also pay 1% a month in to it.

I moved the previous one to buy shares for long term.

That can't be right in terms of your contribution - you should be paying more than that and your employer should be matching - minimum contributions can be found below.

https://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/about-pensions/pensions-basics/automatic-enrolment/how-much-do-i-and-my-employer-have-to-pay

You are in your early 30's. There is a phrase used when investing which you should take note of - it's time in the market not timing the market. Over a 30 year period, high risk will not be high risk because of the time you are invested for.

You have a 38 year investment horizon for your pension. I would look at investing in a mix of index tracker funds which are at the riskier end of the scale and are low cost.

Do not mess with shares, get the benefit of the full index (FTSE 100, 250 or the S&P etc) if you want to get your money benefiting from the movement of shares.

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/030916/buffetts-bet-hedge-funds-year-eight-brka-brkb.asp

Buying individual shares should be a low % of your portfolio in my opinion.

enthusiasticsaver

Bringvaluetome wrote: »

The company i work for set up another pension and they pay in to it. I also pay 1% a month in to it.

I moved the previous one to buy shares for long term.

Why did you do that?

Buying individual shares is incredibly high risk and if you have a workplace pension I would hazard that you paying only 1% a month into it is not maximising your employer contributions. You should look into that.

I think you need to ask yourself what you are trying to achieve financially. £25 a month into your SIPP and stocks and shares isa is a relatively small amount and I would think the charges would eradicate the point of doing this.

Why are you sitting on £5200 of savings when you have a loan charging you 2.8%?

Why are you paying £200 into a HTB ISA at 1.75% when you are being charged more on your personal loan and have outstanding debt on a credit card?

Why are you shuffling small pensions around and opting out of a workplace pension when in most cases that is the best way of building up a decent pension as you not only benefit from the tax side of things but also get an employers contribution which often will match your contribution up to a certain level. I thought under the new pension rules the minimum you could pay was now 3% anyway.

Bringvaluetome

The end goal is to become debt free and build up cash.

At its peak early 2018 ish I had around £18k in my stocks and shares ISA.

My employer pays £61 a month in to my work place pension and I pay £20.

Would someone summerise in bullet point and simple steps what they would do in my shoes.

I thought I understand finance but my eyes have been opened!

Bringvaluetome

Oh just to add I will probably need a new car this week.

Bringvaluetome

I could potentially up my work place pension to 5% and that would cost me £70 net per month.

enthusiasticsaver

1 Use your cash to buy your new car and keep or build emergency savings up to £1000

2 Stop your monthly payments into Help to buy isa and the SIPP and stocks and shares isa and target your debt to get it repaid.

3 Once the debt is repaid restart HTB ISA and up your workplace pension payments and then focus on the SIPP/ISA. Be wary of trying to do too much all at the same time. If you want to buy a house focus on the HTB ISA. If you are focusing on building up assets for early retirement look to the SIPP.

This is what I would do but I do not know your full circumstances so this might not be best for you. I do know I would not be bothering with small amounts like £25 into SIPPs and stocks and shares isas and £20 into a workplace pension when you have debt. The charges will outweigh the amounts being invested.

enthusiasticsaver

Bringvaluetome wrote: »

The end goal is to become debt free and build up cash.

At its peak early 2018 ish I had around £18k in my stocks and shares ISA.

My employer pays £61 a month in to my work place pension and I pay £20.

Would someone summerise in bullet point and simple steps what they would do in my shoes.

I thought I understand finance but my eyes have been opened!

Why is your stocks and shares isa showing nil now then?

Bringvaluetome

I'd like to own a house eventually. Early retirement won't be an option sadly.

The ISA & SIPP require a minimum monthly payment of £25 to keep them open.

The S&S ISA cash was used for various things. My car I have now, repairs to it etc. Paid off another loan. £1200 to H2B ISA. Various big losses in the market.....

I really appreciate the effort and advice on here!