Moneymakeover Savings/investment makeover advice

Toastin1

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Personal details

Your age: 54
Your spouse's age: N/A, no spouse
Number and age of children: 1 child, age 26, does not live with me.

Income and expenditure
Annual salary 100,000 plus usually a small bonus
PAYE employee, employer contributes 6% to pension, plus health insurance
Maxing my AVC payments
No major expenditure, small rent payments, home maintenance, food, car, entertainment, etc.
Monthly savings remaining after living expenses about 1,500 - 2,000


Summary of Assets and Liabilities
Mortgage on family home: No mortgage but I do not own the home. Not my asset, never will be.

Cash: 400,000 mostly in various fixed term deposits
Defined Contribution pension fund: current value is around 300,000
Company shares :20,000
Buy to Let Property value: N/A
Buy to let Mortgage: N/A
Total net assets: maybe 730,000 all in, including pension and a few random share investments

Family home mortgage information
I do not own my home but pay minimal rent and cover upkeep, I do not expect this to change in the future.

Other borrowings – car loans/personal loans etc
No debt
Do you pay off your full credit card balance each month? Yes

Pension information
Value of pension fund: 300,000

Buy to let properties
Value: N/A

Other savings and investments:
A few thousand in random shares, maybe 10,000

Other information which might be relevant
I would like to retire by 60, so within the next 5 or 6 years.
I am risk averse when it comes to managing money, I think this has been costing me for years when it comes to savings

What specific question do you have or what issues are of concern to you?
I wanted to get some opinions on how to better make use of my savings. I have been chasing the best fixed term deposit rates I could find for years. I have have some fixed terms maturing soon and the rates available are prompting me to consider investing instead of new deposits.
I am thinking of putting at least 100,000 (25% of savings) into a couple of ETF's, I have tried picking a basket of shares myself at a smaller scale. in the past, and learned that I know nothing!. I am not willing to go down the managed fund route, I tried that in the past and couldn't stomach the high charges versus poor returns. If initial ivestment goes OK I could see myself putting more in over time.

Would you say ETF's are a good way to get a diverse portfolio? I realise I have to take risk if I am looking for a better return that deposit rates, and the exit tax is high.
What I am really looking for is advice on a means of investing in a diverse portfolio that does not require much management from my side. My preference is ETF's over managed funds, would you agree? Any other investment vehicles I should be considering (I have no interest in investing in propoerty and becoming a landlord!)
Bonus question: If I invest in ETF's through a broker (like Degiro), what happens if the broker goes bust? Are the ETF's in my name or how does that work?

Thanks
 
Maximize your pension. You can put about 30k in your pension a year, costing you 18k. If you turn 55 this year, you can put 35k.
 
Summary of Assets and Liabilities
Mortgage on family home: No mortgage but I do not own the home. Not my asset, never will be.
Family home mortgage information
I do not own my home but pay minimal rent and cover upkeep, I do not expect this to change in the future.
Shouldn't you be looking to buy a home of your own? What happens if the property owner wants you out - e.g. to sell up? Where do you go then?
 
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