£45k to invest over 3 1/2 - 4 years...Help!!

johng_uk

Hi all,

I'd appreciate any helpful info on my situation. As the title says, I have just about £45k to invest and can tie it up for 3 1/2 - 4 years until the rest of my debt is gone. Just wondering where is best to put it?

My other debt is an interest free loan so paying that off would not be cost-effective. The capital is to be used for a house deposit when I am debt free.

My wife already has a cash ISA for this year (£3k). I was thinking along the lines of filling up an ISA for me (£3k) and then filling up an ISA each in the new tax year (£7200). This would leave me with almost £35k to put somewhere else. Obviously with the relatively short timescale, exposure to the stock market wouldn't be the best move. Probably a High interest bank account or bond would be the best option.

Does anyone have any helpful hints or tips as to where to put the money and avoid as much tax as possible. My wife is a non-taxpayer at the moment due to an 8 month old kiddie.

Many thanks in advance folks. :A

dunstonh

The timescale isnt long enough to invest. Stick with savings accounts.

You may be close to the 5 year minimum that is usually recommended but given that your aim is house deposit and timescale is fluid, it isnt worth the risk (unless you are particulary high risk).

johng_uk

Cheers dunstonh.

That's exactly what I thought. We have friends (retired) who are trying to nudge us towards IFA's. I phoned around a few today to get a feel for which one to potentially use, and one said the same thing. He said due to the timescale he would use sites such as this and moneysupermarket.com to find high interest savers etc. He said if it was for 7 years plus then he'd ask me to pop in and chat about risk profiles and investments. Therefore he recommended doing it myself rather than forking out £150 for him to do it

Nice chap and didn't try the 'hard-sell' approach - A bit of a novelty!!

dunstonh

Nice chap and didn't try the 'hard-sell' approach - A bit of a novelty!!

There are more IFAs like that than the ones your hear the bad things about. Nice to hear it just the same though. I suggest you note his number for future reference as you may well need the advice later on.

johng_uk

Thanks again!