How to Invest £150k

moneysaver2019

I'm turning to here to ask for some advice with how to make the most from £150k, plus £15k a year I can add.

I currently have:
£50k in Premium Bonds
£42k 1 Year Fix Savings Account (4.2%)
£15k 2 Year Fixed ISA (4.1%)
£15k 1 Year Fixed ISA (4.2%)
£20k LISA (2.5%)
£5k Built up in a Monthly Stocks & Shares ISA Builder.
I also currently have around £15k a year from my salary to invest.

I'm 43, mortgage paid and have no debt.
The only pension product I have is my LISA. I've seen the forecast from a works based pension and it doesn't look very good to me compared to what I would have to put in so I always opt out, also i don't want a large amount of money inaccessible for around another 20 years or so.
I also have no dependents.
Any advice would be greatly recieved, thanks for reading.

GDB2222

Your workplace pension- how much are the employer contributions? It is almost certainly a really really bad idea to opt out. 

It is quite hard to compare projections from completely different types of investment, so you may want to consider that again. Do you have some figures you can share?

Linton

Your retirement provision would seem to be your highest priority unless you will be happy living on £10.5K/year for the last quarter of your life. By far the cheapest way of paying for your retirement is going to be an employer's pension.

MX5huggy

Pension pension pension. You’re missing out on massively by not taking the company pension and then not making further pension contributions. I expect you are a 40% tax payer (if not you’ve done incredibly well to accumulate those savings).

ColdIron

moneysaver2019 said:
The only pension product I have is my LISA. I've seen the forecast from a works based pension and it doesn't look very good to me compared to what I would have to put in so I always opt out

Bearing in mind the tax relief and employer contributions (this is free money) your future self will probably look back and realise this was the worst financial decision you have ever made

I also currently have around £15k a year from my salary to invest.

That's a high level of discretionary income. Please don't tell us you are a higher rate taxpayer

also i don't want a large amount of money inaccessible for around another 20 years or so.

How will you fund your retirement when you no longer have a salary income?

moneysaver2019

Many thanks for all the comments, I appreciate it.
With regards to my work based pension they contribute 3%. I get that I shouldn't ignore pensions, it's just that I don't like the idea of having a large sum built up and not be around to make the most of it, and like I said, I have no dependents to think of.

Also MX5huggy, I'm a basic rate tax payer, I've done it the old fashioned way, started work at 18, worked 50 - 60 hours a week, overplayed as much I could on my mortgage, used all the money saving methods you can think of then saved, saved, saved.
Although, what with turning 44 years old this Christmas I'd like to try and make my money work more for me now.

GDB2222

That’s a remarkable degree of unanimity on the pension! 

ColdIron

moneysaver2019 said:

I'm a basic rate tax payer ... I'd like to try and make my money work more for me now.

With that £15,000 there's £3,750 pa in tax relief straight away

Surviving on the state pension sounds like a pretty grim prospect to me

Linton

moneysaver2019 said:

Many thanks for all the comments, I appreciate it.
With regards to my work based pension they contribute 3%. I get that I shouldn't ignore pensions, it's just that I don't like the idea of having a large sum built up and not be around to make the most of it, and like I said, I have no dependents to think of.

Also MX5huggy, I'm a basic rate tax payer, I've done it the old fashioned way, started work at 18, worked 50 - 60 hours a week, overplayed as much I could on my mortgage, used all the money saving methods you can think of then saved, saved, saved.
Although, what with turning 44 years old this Christmas I'd like to try and make my money work more for me now.

If you have a significantly reduced life expectancy then it could be sensible not to pay into a pension.  On the other hand you may wish to use your pension to retire early - you will be able to access the money in 13 years time.

If you are of average health the Office of National Statistics tables show the life expectancy of someone of your age now  to be about 45 more years, so over 30 years abeyond when you can access your pension.  That should give you plenty of time to use your money.

Albermarle

The only pension product I have is my LISA. I've seen the forecast from a works based pension and it doesn't look very good to me compared to what I would have to put in so I always opt out,

So saving via the LISA for retirement is good, so £4K pa in that for the next 6 years will be good ( you can not contribute after 50)
Otherwise you have too much in cash savings, and not enough invested for the long term, although good that you are looking to invest this £15K pa for the future.
Normally it is recommended to invest for a minimum of 7 years, ideally more than 10 years, to iron out the ups and downs of the market. 
So if you invest outside a pension ( say via a Stocks and shares ISA) you can access the money at any time but really it is best left alone for many years, as you do not want to access it in a down period.
If you invest via a pension, then it will be locked up for about 14 years, but it will grow to a larger sum due to the employer contribution and tax relief. 
Nothing to stop you splitting up the £15K into S&S ISA, works pension, LISA etc , although I would convert the LISA to a Stocks and shares one.

Albermarle

I've seen the forecast from a works based pension and it doesn't look very good to me compared to what I would have to put in
Normally these projections are very pessimistic and best ignored.
On the other hand the amount of money you need to build up to generate a good retirement income, is very much underestimated by most people. Also people underestimate their life expectancy.