Help with savings - Goal to buy first property

DiggerUK

Bringvaluetome said:

Annual income of £26.5k. At time of posting outgoings per month are £750.

Then I see  your target of buying in four years as doable if you get frugal and stay out of unmanageable debt. Don't know what others think, but that's how I see your situation.

Just don't forget, all work and no play will do your head no good.
As to lending that much money to a friend? no comment. Best of fortune..._

Bringvaluetome

At the moment it's not unmanageable debt. I'm just weighing up if I should clear the credit card asap or pile all I've got in to a LISA. I could reach the LISA £4K limit in the next month or two.

DiggerUK

You're on a 0% CC, max out the LISA..._

Bringvaluetome

Thank you for all of the comments. It's much appreciated.

Bringvaluetome

Hi all.
Finally debt free on paper! 
I've been putting a lot of thought in to my Help to Buy ISA and it's not really the right product for me. Interest rate is pretty much non-exsistant (0.75%). I do want to open a LISA but not yet, I want the money easily accessible for now.
My plan is to close the HTB and hold it in cash in my Stocks and Shares ISA.
Any thoughts on this?

grumiofoundation

Bringvaluetome said:

Hi all.
Finally debt free on paper! 
I've been putting a lot of thought in to my Help to Buy ISA and it's not really the right product for me. Interest rate is pretty much non-exsistant (0.75%). I do want to open a LISA but not yet, I want the money easily accessible for now.
My plan is to close the HTB and hold it in cash in my Stocks and Shares ISA.
Any thoughts on this?

You can open the LISA today with £1 - might as well do this since the LISA  has to be open for 12 months before can be used might as well get the ball rolling. You can then just top up the £3999 before the end of this tax year. 

Bringvaluetome

If I decided down the line that a LISA isn't for me, would there be a penalty for closing even with a £1 balance?

cloud_dog

Bringvaluetome said:

Hi all.
Finally debt free on paper! 
I've been putting a lot of thought in to my Help to Buy ISA and it's not really the right product for me. Interest rate is pretty much non-exsistant (0.75%). I do want to open a LISA but not yet, I want the money easily accessible for now.
My plan is to close the HTB and hold it in cash in my Stocks and Shares ISA.
Any thoughts on this?

With the time frame you have, I would not be recommending a S&S investment at all.

Whilst IRs are dire, at the moment, you would be better off with this approach than finding you have 25% less iin the pot when you come to need the money to purchase a property.  If you now think your timescales for building a pot to make the purchase is now likely to be 5 or more years then you can consider the S&S as an option.

grumiofoundation

Bringvaluetome said:

If I decided down the line that a LISA isn't for me, would there be a penalty for closing even with a £1 balance?

If you closed before retirement you’d only get back 93p!!!!!! 

I agree with the poster above - on a sub 5 year timescale to house buying keeping money you would need for deposit in Stocks and shares is risky. 

Bringvaluetome

I say stocks and shares ISA because that's my only other ISA open. I can keep cash in there and don't have to invest.