How would you invest £50k?

ShinyStarlight1

Hello all

I have inherited some money following the deaths of my parents, and would like your thoughts on how to invest it. I have never had money before so it is an unfamiliar world, though I am reading what I can.

My situation is that I am:

Married.

Mortgage-free.

Due a full state pension in 8 years time.

At the limit of my Premium Bond allowance.

Paying £2880 per year into an online pension (I am not earning so cannot save more).

Living with a progressive chronic disease so I don’t assume I will live to a ripe old age, though there is a confounding chance that I might!

Helping those I love or care about whenever I can.


I am comfortable taking a considered risk, although I’m always mindful that my parents left this money for me so wouldn’t want to squander it.


I would be very interested in hearing a range of your thoughts about what to do with the £50k, in the light of the above.

Thank you all in advance. I follow these forums and enjoy seeing the breadth of knowledge here, though I don’t understand half of it!

TimSynths

This the UK Personal Finance flowchart from Reddit to follow-

The Flowchart - UKPersonalFinance Wiki

ShinyStarlight1

TimSynths said:

This the UK Personal Finance flowchart from Reddit to follow-

The Flowchart - UKPersonalFinance Wiki

Thank you so much for this, it’s really helpful.

Linton

An important driver for how to invest a pot of money is what you want the money for and when.  Investing for a one-off major purchase in 5 years time is very different to leaving it untouched for your lifetime as an inheritance.

eskbanker

ShinyStarlight1 said:

At the limit of my Premium Bond allowance.

[...]

Living with a progressive chronic disease so I don’t assume I will live to a ripe old age, though there is a confounding chance that I might!

Helping those I love or care about whenever I can.

You don't mention whether you have children, which begs the question of what would happen to the money if it lasted longer than you did?  Whether or not you do, if you have plenty of cash savings (as implied) and sufficient pension coverage for retirement (again not really clarified), you might wish to consider spending some of it on a holiday of a lifetime if your health will deteriorate to the extent that this may no longer be possible in the foreseeable future?

Conscious that you were looking for a range of options, so thought I'd suggest something other than the mundane savings/investing ones (that I'd normally put forward too, to be fair)!

Albermarle

I have never had money before so it is an unfamiliar world

However you apparently have £50K in Premium Bonds

At the limit of my Premium Bond allowance.

So you should take a step back as in reality you now have £100K as starting point for any decisions about what to do. Quite likely having 50% of it in premium bonds is not the right way forward.

In other words how you might invest/save a £50K inheritance if that was the only money you had, will be different as to how you might invest/save it when you already £50K in savings/premium bonds.

jaceyboy

Its called a Porsche

SVaz

Given that NS&I are paying 6.2% for a year,  I would stick £40k in it and £10k in an easy or limited access account paying 5%ish.  

If you wont need the cash for 10+ years then a Stocks and Shares ISA in a Global tracker will probably out perform saving rates. 

ShinyStarlight1

Linton said:

An important driver for how to invest a pot of money is what you want the money for and when.  Investing for a one-off major purchase in 5 years time is very different to leaving it untouched for your lifetime as an inheritance.

This is a good question which I’m not sure of the answer. I don’t have any specific major purchase in mind. I would like to make the most of the money so that if I need care later if my health becomes trickier, I can afford it and, if not, then I’ll leave a decent amount for my son and others.

ShinyStarlight1

eskbanker said:

ShinyStarlight1 said:

At the limit of my Premium Bond allowance.

[...]

Living with a progressive chronic disease so I don’t assume I will live to a ripe old age, though there is a confounding chance that I might!

Helping those I love or care about whenever I can.

You don't mention whether you have children, which begs the question of what would happen to the money if it lasted longer than you did?  Whether or not you do, if you have plenty of cash savings (as implied) and sufficient pension coverage for retirement (again not really clarified), you might wish to consider spending some of it on a holiday of a lifetime if your health will deteriorate to the extent that this may no longer be possible in the foreseeable future?

Conscious that you were looking for a range of options, so thought I'd suggest something other than the mundane savings/investing ones (that I'd normally put forward too, to be fair)!

I appreciate your suggestion about having a lovely holiday, I think you’re right about making the most of this period of time.

Re: pension coverage - I have approx £9k in an online pension which was one of the first things I did when my parents died. It’s a tiny amount but I’ll add £2880 to it each year.

I have a son, grandson and nieces so have made a Will to benefit them if I die sooner rather than later.

Thanks again.😊

ShinyStarlight1

SVaz said:

Given that NS&I are paying 6.2% for a year,  I would stick £40k in it and £10k in an easy or limited access account paying 5%ish.  

If you wont need the cash for 10+ years then a Stocks and Shares ISA in a Global tracker will probably out perform saving rates. 

Thanks for this very concrete advice, it’s very helpful!