Sell a flat and invest the proceeds

bostonerimus

aaaaancly said:

Deleted_User said:

I'd sell the BTL, and learn to invest myself, without using a expensive advisor. A good website to learn the basics of investing is Monevator, e.g.  There is a bit to learn, but once you've got a plan, it can be very hands-off.

Trying to take 5% a year from investments is challenging. You shouldn't rely on that. If markets are favourable, it's possible, but you should be prepared to settle for a bit less. But the thing is that it's harder to do it with an advisor, because you have to pay their charges, too, so you need to push for an even higher return. The advisor will happily take their percentage, and if market continue to be favourable (as they have over the last year), imply it's because of how good they are; but if markets turn unfavourable, explain that it's extraordinary conditions, and it's not their fault that you might have to choose between taking less income or depleting your capital.

(On whether the advisor has hidden fees: if they are not an Independent Financial Advisor, they may only be using funds from an associated company, which have higher charges than similar funds which an IFA, who can pick funds from any company, would use.)

The tax on selling the flat is unfortunate, but it will only go up over time. Perhaps ask your accountant approximately how much it will be? And this seems like a decent time to get out in terms of the remaining lease length.

Thank you.

It has been a fair year despite coronavirus. I did ok. My portfolio with them is mainly stocks and shares. They are ex Brewin dolphin and Hargreaves Hale people.

I'm unsure whether I could match their performance, but I will certainly look at the videos linked. I do wonder whether I could just mirror their choices but that would increase my exposure to certain areas wouldn't it. Someone mentioned tracker funds, I'm looking at them.

The accountant agrees that there will be a liability of approx £33k if I sell the flat now. So if I achieve £250k after selling charges I should have c£217k cash.

Still no closer to a decision, but I'm privileged to have the decision to make, and I'm getting great food for thought from everyone's comments.

I'm not a fan of paying advisors to do what you can do yourself. Many of them don't provide any net benefit, but I think the most important factor in DIY is that you understand what's happening with your money directly and it's empowering. After 30 years of DIY I could not imagine letting anyone have control over my investment decisions. I've never done anything complicated and I've seen good long term returns so that now I don't have to worry anymore. If you DIY or go the IFA route you must take a long term view and be prepared to weather the volatility of investing.

Lifematters

I had BTL flat for over 20 years which I recently sold and invested proceeds in pension and S&S ISA (which will be spread over a few years), £50k in premium bonds which is giving me little wins each month (waiting for the big one). Although I had no major problems with the flat selling it has been the best decision I’ve made,