British Expat Investment Advice

ELdxb230 · 1 July 2021 at 8:50AM

Good morning,

I have had a search through this thread and cannot really find anything that is applicable to my situation so I would greatly appreciate any input/advice.

I am 29 years old, single, and currently residing in the Middle East and have managed to save up a small pot of money over the past 5 years (£75,000). I did have plans to permanently move back to the UK this year, but with the pandemic and UK job situation I have decided to stay put for now.
My money is currently spread across some rather stagnant UK savings accounts and I am worried about depreciation. My aim with investments is to just make my money hopefully beat inflation. I don't pay rent/bills/taxes so my current earnings are sufficient and I am happy to invest most of this pot of money for the next 20+ years.

Unfortunately my job doesn't come with a pension (rather a small end of service benefit when I leave), so I really need to start making my own plan. From my research I have found most SIPP providers ask that you reside in the UK (which I don't) i'm assuming due to tax relief benefits, however information found on money advice service states that anyone can pay into a pension in the UK, so my question is can I do this but I won't receive tax relief? I will also be making voluntary NI contributions from now on also so I will be entitled to state pension in the future.

Also, as I cannot open a stocks and shares ISA, I wanted to open a general investment account. As I am a complete beginner and still trying to get my head around investments I have found Vanguard Life Strategy to be a good starting point, I also liked the look of their Target Retirement - 2055.

My plan would be to invest:
£15,000 - LifeStrategy® 100% Equity Fund - Accumulation (+ regular monthly contribution of £200)
£5,000 - S&P 500 UCITS ETF (VUSA)

£15,000 - Target Retirement 2055 Fund - Accumulation (+ regular monthly contribution of £400)

Keep £10,000 as an emergency fund in a current account/linked regular savings

That leaves £30,000? I would like to put more of this in a pension plan but as mentioned above I'm worried about the tax/residency status implications?

I understand no one can give me financial advice on this forum, would seeing an IFA be beneficial in this case? I assumed they only deal with much larger investment amounts.

Thank you greatly in advance.