What to do with my 75k savings?

confusedkale

I am living and working in London and renting. I have been keeping my savings in cash as I thought I might want to buy my first house but the commitment of a mortgage/size of debt worries me. I have been thinking about stocks and shares ISAs and index funds until I have saved more and figured out whether to get a mortgage but I’ve read that with those you need to put money away for longer term as well. I don’t like that I am ‘wasting’ money on rent while my saving just sit in my bank account. I’d love some advice on how to make the most of my savings.

Thank you so much. 

kuratowski

Do you have a LISA?  Admittedly that won't occupy much of your 75k.  Presumably you have a decent income to have saved that much, so stay clear of the other government so-called "support" schemes.
I would say if you already have a 75k deposit then you are already ready to buy.  Otherwise, how much more are you going to save and how long will it take?
To get a house in London as a FTB you would have a very limited choice of areas, perhaps set your sights on a flat.

grumiofoundation

As above a lifetime ISA is an option to consider.

The only issue you might face is the price limit of £450,000 which may be a problem in London?

The issue with using stocks and shares for a significant proportion of your deposit if that these can drop in value by 10, 20, 30+% just before you come to withdraw. 


As poster above says how long will you have to save to buy the property you want? 

Albermarle

as I thought I might want to buy my first house but the commitment of a mortgage/size of debt worries me.

It would be better if you could actually decide, then the course of action will be clearer.

MEM62

With £75k in your account your bank would have been all over you with offers of financial advice.  The first thing you need to decide is what your long term plan for the money is.  Everything else works from there.   

Albermarle

MEM62 said:

With £75k in your account your bank would have been all over you with offers of financial advice.  The first thing you need to decide is what your long term plan for the money is.  Everything else works from there.   

I have had various sums of money with my bank over the years and they have never contacted me once . I do not think they are actually allowed to offer any kind of advice unless you specifically request it.

Doshwaster

MEM62 said:

With £75k in your account your bank would have been all over you with offers of financial advice.  The first thing you need to decide is what your long term plan for the money is.  Everything else works from there.   

Any "offer" which comes from your bank is usually an attempt to sell you services rather than independent advice. The last time I was invited to a "personal consultation" with my "personal account manager" they just tried selling me home and life insurance.

confusedkale

kuratowski said:

Do you have a LISA?  Admittedly that won't occupy much of your 75k.  Presumably you have a decent income to have saved that much, so stay clear of the other government so-called "support" schemes.
I would say if you already have a 75k deposit then you are already ready to buy.  Otherwise, how much more are you going to save and how long will it take?
To get a house in London as a FTB you would have a very limited choice of areas, perhaps set your sights on a flat.

Thank you for your reply! Haven’t got LISA or any kind of ISA. Yeah want to avoid help to buy or anything that would lead to a bigger debt. If I were to buy now it’ll have to be a flat <£350k to get a decent loan to value ratio.  

confusedkale

grumiofoundation said:

As above a lifetime ISA is an option to consider.

The only issue you might face is the price limit of £450,000 which may be a problem in London?

The issue with using stocks and shares for a significant proportion of your deposit if that these can drop in value by 10, 20, 30+% just before you come to withdraw. 


As poster above says how long will you have to save to buy the property you want? 

If I were to buy today £450k would be above my budget anyway but if start putting money in the LISA now and buy in a few years than it might be an issue. I am already maximising my pension contributions and not too keen to have the LISA end up in pension as well.

confusedkale

MEM62 said:

With £75k in your account your bank would have been all over you with offers of financial advice.  The first thing you need to decide is what your long term plan for the money is.  Everything else works from there.   

They called me once when I had 30k but have left me since then  
Long term I suppose I do want to use it towards a house I am just nervous about getting a mortgage. 

confusedkale

Albermarle said:

as I thought I might want to buy my first house but the commitment of a mortgage/size of debt worries me.

It would be better if you could actually decide, then the course of action will be clearer.

I know really not sure what the right thing to do is here