How do I maximise my trust?

forest_green

Hi there, I am wondering if anyone could provide some advice for the best ways to invest my trust fund when it matures (approx £80k). I will be 21 and at the end of my university degree, so I won't want to tie too much up long term, as I may be thinking about costs for a property/car etc. What sort of methods should I consider in investing this money?

wmb194

forest_green said:

Hi there, I am wondering if anyone could provide some advice for the best ways to invest my trust fund when it matures (approx £80k). I will be 21 and at the end of my university degree, so I won't want to tie too much up long term, as I may be thinking about costs for a property/car etc. What sort of methods should I consider in investing this money?

Savings accounts, then.

kempiejon

forest_green said:

Hi there, I am wondering if anyone could provide some advice for the best ways to invest my trust fund when it matures (approx £80k). I will be 21 and at the end of my university degree, so I won't want to tie too much up long term, as I may be thinking about costs for a property/car etc. What sort of methods should I consider in investing this money?

How old are you now? How long until you get the money? Leaving University will you have any debts?
Might be an idea to clear any of those that are expensive.
If you don't want to tie it up cash is good. If you're UK based and working there might be a tax liability so look at those rules.

As a starter for now you should look at where it invested and how it grew, what charges were applied.

xylophone

Do you have a LISA ?

https://www.gov.uk/lifetime-isa

If you are almost certain to need much of the cash in the short term, (under five years), saving (deposit accounts of some description),

rather than investing, is likely to be the better option.

Linton

forest_green said:

Hi there, I am wondering if anyone could provide some advice for the best ways to invest my trust fund when it matures (approx £80k). I will be 21 and at the end of my university degree, so I won't want to tie too much up long term, as I may be thinking about costs for a property/car etc. What sort of methods should I consider in investing this money?

Any amount you may wish to use in the next 5 years should be in cash or very similar to avoid the risk of ending up with less money than when you started..  So yes, savings accounts is really the only straightforward option and currently provide about as good returns as you could safely get elsewhere.

forest_green

kempiejon said:

forest_green said:

Hi there, I am wondering if anyone could provide some advice for the best ways to invest my trust fund when it matures (approx £80k). I will be 21 and at the end of my university degree, so I won't want to tie too much up long term, as I may be thinking about costs for a property/car etc. What sort of methods should I consider in investing this money?

How old are you now? How long until you get the money? Leaving University will you have any debts?
Might be an idea to clear any of those that are expensive.
If you don't want to tie it up cash is good. If you're UK based and working there might be a tax liability so look at those rules.

As a starter for now you should look at where it invested and how it grew, what charges were applied.

I'm currently 19 and I will get the money in 2 years time. The only debts I will have will be from my student loan. Thank you for your advice.

El_Torro

This money will set you off nicely and it's good to see that you're considering how to make good use of it, rather than squandering it all straight away. 

Probably your biggest expense in the coming years is a property purchase. How much of this £80k will be used for the deposit? If it's not all of it then you can afford to invest some of it. A Stocks & Shares ISA wouldn't be a bad idea for this. Pensions are good too but you'll have a very long time before you make the most of a pension. Might be better to just make sure you pay a good amount of your income into a pension when you are in full time employment. 

A LISA is a good idea, already suggested but worth repeating. You can only put £4k a year into a LISA but the bonus is great, and will help with a property purchase. 

It's very hard to know at this stage in your life but it's worth having a think about when you plan to buy a property. If it's 10 years away or more then investments are a good idea for most of the money. Excluding what you want to put aside for other more imminent expensive purchases, like a car.

forest_green

El_Torro said:

This money will set you off nicely and it's good to see that you're considering how to make good use of it, rather than squandering it all straight away. 

Probably your biggest expense in the coming years is a property purchase. How much of this £80k will be used for the deposit? If it's not all of it then you can afford to invest some of it. A Stocks & Shares ISA wouldn't be a bad idea for this. Pensions are good too but you'll have a very long time before you make the most of a pension. Might be better to just make sure you pay a good amount of your income into a pension when you are in full time employment. 

A LISA is a good idea, already suggested but worth repeating. You can only put £4k a year into a LISA but the bonus is great, and will help with a property purchase. 

It's very hard to know at this stage in your life but it's worth having a think about when you plan to buy a property. If it's 10 years away or more then investments are a good idea for most of the money. Excluding what you want to put aside for other more imminent expensive purchases, like a car.

Thank you for your advice. Super helpful!

boingy

Another way to maximise your trust is to spend as little of it as possible on a car.
Nice cars are fun but are pretty much the worst thing you can spend money on in the early years of your career.
I know, I know, it's boring advice and I sound like my dad. But he was right!

Whatever else you do, make sure you make full use of your 20k ISA allowance each year, be it cash or S&S or both.