£500,000 and 5 years

Audaxer wrote: »

As it's such a large amount of money, I would suggest you consult a few Independent Financial Advisers (IFAs) to discuss how best to invest for your retirement. Initial consultations should be free, but I'd have a look through this forum and other investing sites like Monevator to learn a bit about investing first so you know what to ask. Don't rush into doing anything - you can always put the money in NS&I savings so it's fully protected until you are ready to invest either yourself or via a good IFA.

I’ll be the contrarian here & suggest I don’t think you need to consult an IFA at all.

Firstly, sorry to hear about your loss.
Secondly, you say you are mortgage free living happily on £20k.
You already have pensions lined up: you don’t say if they start from your planned age 55 great escape or later, but given this legacy, I don’t think it matters: 500k would last 20 years at £25k pa if it only made the rate of inflation!

My advice would pretty well mirror that from crv1963. You have illustrated you have a good grasp of finance by being mortgage free and living frugally, with kids: well done!!
I sense you have no need to look for fancy tax avoidance schemes or anything desperately clever.

Yes it is a large sum, but take some time to use MSE and perhaps other similar sites (MisterMoneyMustache, TheGreatEscape) to find the best value investments and start them up.
I’d look at global trackers (such as Vanguard lifestrategy) to keep costs super low and also to insulate against any ‘brexit’ uncertainties).
Don’t know the age of your kids, but HTB/Junior/ ISA or LISA could set them up nicely in the future.
My only advice would be to ‘blow’ a small amount (perhaps up to 5%) on some ‘treats’ (car or big family holiday) in memory of the benefactor.
We did a massive family 1 month long holiday to the States when our kids were 14 & 16. Still the best holiday we’ve been on, well worth doing well (I can pm you the details if it might give you ideas!).

Again, sorry for your loss: I’m sure you will make good use of the inheritance.

cfw1994 wrote: »

I’ll be the contrarian here & suggest I don’t think you need to consult an IFA at all.

Firstly, sorry to hear about your loss.
Secondly, you say you are mortgage free living happily on £20k.
You already have pensions lined up: you don’t say if they start from your planned age 55 great escape or later, but given this legacy, I don’t think it matters: 500k would last 20 years at £25k pa if it only made the rate of inflation!

As the OP has a wife and kids, for future inheritance purposes I would think it does matter. While £500k could last 20 years at £25k per year if just left in savings, if invested wisely the OP could withdraw £15k to £20k per year, and possibly still have most of the £500k capital after 20 years. Accordingly I think it would better to learn what he can on here about investments, and either DIY invest, but in view of the amount its probably best to at least have a couple of initial discussions with IFAs before making any decisions.

Chrism03 wrote: »

I've got the names of a couple of IFAs that come highly recommended by friends / family which I'll be having a chat with over the next couple of months - I will definitely not be rushed into anything.

Good luck. It would be interesting to hear how you get on, and what initial and ongoing charges the IFAs propose. Experienced investors and IFAs that post here will be able to advise you whether their charges seem reasonable.

I would suggest you get the IFAs you visit to confirm they are definitely Independent Financial Advisers as I think a lot of FAs (Financial Advisors) try to give the impression they independent when they are not.