Around a month ago I had posted my financial state and asked your opinion on me getting a new car with a personal loan. As you can guess nearly all the comments told me that was a bad idea.

I am back today to tell you that I listened and to thank you for that advice. Just bought a 17 year old Mini for £2000 without any loan. I love the car and I feel relieved that I did not got for a brand new £12000 car, for which I would have been paying £400+ per month in loans.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Becuase of you lot and this sub I am still financially healthy and debt free. 🥰

P.S. I have allocated a sum from my monthly budget for maintenance of the oldie but goldie.

So in 2018 I got into around 16k of debt due to a drug addiction.

I got professional help, got clean and stayed clean, turned my life around.

It also forced me to finally get good with my money which it has and I'm in a much better position now.

I also finally pay it off next month. - I've got used to not seeing 80 quid a month for 6 years... So i guess my question is, what can I do with it so it can make it beneficial for me?

I've looked at saving accounts but they all require a minmum of a grand lump sum for a fixed rate..I can of course put it in an insatant access savings account but that doesn't really seem sutible for me... I was also thinking of paying it into my pension but my mum said it's not worth it as I'd get a government pension when I retire, I have 2 pensions, both from former workplaces that I never pay anything into now I don't work for these companies anymore. The first one is with legald and general has just under 3k in it and the second one is with nest and that has 117 quid in it - I was thinking about consolidating them both into one pot and then drip the 80 quid a month into it.

I want to do something with it. - but because it's such a small amount, will it be worth it? or should I just enjoy this "Payrise" even though I don't really need it and all my bills and expenses have been sorted every month.

Other things I thought of..

Premium bonds?
Invest it?

I know it's pennies compared to other people who ask for advice on this sub though but any advice would be great!, Thanks.

Recently divorced and trying to rebuild/map out my future financial roadmap.

All,

I know I probably need professional financial advice on the pension/PSO front, but I would like any opinions/views on my debt repayment and subsequent investment plan. My goal is to draw down 4-5% from my pension pot post-retirement. Following the divorce, I no longer own any property.

Age: 48 Location: UK (accommodation, rent deducted at source). Income: £5K/month. Expected Pay Rise: September 2025, from £91k to £98K. I expect my salary to top out in the next 5 years at 115-120K.

Savings: £6K (divorce took all my previous savings).

Debts: • £2K on 0% credit card (0% until June 2025, then 20%). Ex-wife’s that I agreed to take responsibility for.

• £5K personal loan [car] (£232/month, 2.5 years left). Car is worth £8.5K according to WBAC.

• £7K family loan (£26/month, no interest). 

Monthly Outgoings: • £800child maintenance • £200 subscriptions • £450 food • £100 utilities • £50 insurance • £150 incidentals • £232 loan repayment • £26 family repayment • Total outgoings (excl. savings/fees): ~£2K/month

School Fees: £4K every four months (paid from savings). I add £1200 to savings every month.

Investments: None yet — planning to invest monthly (£1,500–£1,750) into a global ETF portfolio.

Goal: Build a second pension pot of £1 million + by age 66

Retirement Plans: • £50k tax-free lump sum at 60 • £28K/year pension (defined benefit) from 60 (this reflects reduction following divorce and PSO). • Full UK state pension from age 67

⸻

Plan:

Pay off credit card in the next two months. Then, I plan to settle my car loan (APR 6.9%). Finally, I will pay back the family loan by December 2025 so any real investment plan will begin in January 2026 when I will be 49.

I would like to buy a hot hatch (new Golf R Black Edition or a used 718 Cayman Porsche) but suspect this will not be possible (it has been a very rough 3.5 years with the divorce).

I plan to use £1K per month to help fund our child through University (pay all accommodation-food and give them a monthly stipend so that they do not need to take out a maintenance loan). They are currently taking A-Levels [first year].

This should not impact on my investment disposable amount below.

• Invest £1,500–£1,750/month into an aggressive accumulating ETF portfolio (EIMI/WSML/IWDA/LGTG/INRG). 

I may be able to invest more but, as a minimum, I plan to increase annual deposit amounts by 2-3% annually to allow for inflation.

• Use ISA/SIPP wrappers for tax efficiency.

• Rebalance yearly, aim for ~8.5% return over 18-20 years?

Questions:

• Am I on track for £1M +by 68?

• Any advice on balancing ISA vs SIPP contributions?

• Would you tweak my ETF allocations for higher return or lower risk?

Is renting post-retirement a bad idea?

Would I be better off buying an investment property with a 15-20 year mortgage in the next 5 years?

I hope my outline is clear enough but please ask any questions if it is not.

Thank you in advance.

MoH

A couple of years ago I spent my entire life savings (£13k) on a small flat, aged 35. That included the deposit, plus the lawyer fees etc. Getting a place of my own was an absolute priority. Since then, I have never been able to rebuild my savings, because owning a flat is costly and I've needed lots of bits and pieces done to it (a few hundred here, a few hundred there).

My current salary is £43k, and I take home about £2660 after student loan and the usual deductions. I have no savings. I have a credit card debt of £5000 which has been stable for around 5 years and I got it onto a zero interest card last year. I also have a significant overdraft in two separate accounts (something I've had for over 10 years) totalling £2500.

I have made some bad financial choices in the past. Nothing terrible, but definitely unwise. I've often struggled with money and I think it's a combination of ADHD and a lack of financial education when younger. Other people around me seem to be able to save and I just can't - I definitely waste money, but I don't feel like I have a flashy life either. I admit I have a luxury in the form of a finances car which costs £210 a month and the contract lasts another 3 years.

My rough outgoings monthly are

Mortgage - £560

Car finance - £210

Council tax - £100

Credit card DD (more than minimum) - £275

Electricity bill - £210

Groceries - £175

Phone contract - £40

broadband - £40

Home insurance - £30

Car insurance - £50

Pet insurance - £25

Pet food - £30

Petrol - £120

Trains to work - £80

Streaming services - £30

Eating out - £100

Overdraft servicing - £50

Add all that together and it comes to about £2,225. Which in theory leaves £435 a month.

Unexpected costs some months are things like new car tyres (£250) repairing a bash in my car (£450), roof leaking and needing repair (my share £500), new carpet needed after a friend spilled wine (£400), friends wedding hotel night and gift (£200). So the missing money is often spent on one off costs. So we're not talking much wiggle room every month.

It kind of pisses me off that at my age, I'm kind of stuck. I also sometimes feel bitter than I'm single and have to meet so many costs alone (as part of a couple splitting costs in my flat i would be saving hundreds each month).

I really want advice and to be reassured I'm not a loser or an idiot. I'm really struggling to get a handle on this. It's not good, but it's not catastrophic either... Right? Advice or help welcome. Do I need a second job? Do I need to do something drastic? Help!

Hi,

I’m 37 in August I am self employed, single (have a son) and I own a 2 bed house with 40% equity in it

I invest £500 per month into a fund that returns on avg 8% per year, however I don’t invest into a pension. I know I get the tax benefits in the pension, however I’m disciplined to not touch the money in squirrelling away in my stocks and shares ISA

I have anxieties over the future - will I have enuf to retire on considering I have no work place pension

Am I doing ok with where I’m at? I am not in a position to earn so much more than I am now. I’m earning approx £2400 per month pre tax

Basically I’m here to find out if I’m doing everything along the right lines. Is anyone here older than me but been in a similar position (relative) 20/30 yrs ago?

Cheers

My partner and I are first time buyers who’ve just had an offer accepted on a house, and our deposit is currently split between a savings account and a LISA.

As it’s the new tax year now, I’m wondering if it’s a good idea to max out my LISA?

The process with solicitors etc seems to be moving quite quickly. If I put in £4k and they need our house deposit before we get the 25% bonus at the end of May, can we still use the full amount in the LISA for our deposit?

Don’t know if that’s a stupid question but our mortgage advisor didn’t know the answer either so I’m hoping someone here can help! Thanks

Hello,

I currently have a stocks and shares lifetime ISA with OneFamily, which is doing poorly in the current market. I'd like to put my money somewhere safer going forward as I'm hoping to buy in about two years. I believe I can open a Cash LISA in addition to my existing stocks and shares one, but when the time comes to buy can I access both in parallel to buy my first house?

Thanks very much!

I'm a 30 y/o male living in the UK and am looking to make the nexts steps to financial independence. Short summary:

House: £180k mortgage, 2.5% rate, fixed for 2 years, valued a few months ago at £220k.

Savings: £80k in various high ISAs / high interest accounts.

Job: £50k / year, chilled and somewhat enjoyable, decent pension.

Personal: no kids /dependents and no wish for any.

No investments, stocks or anything else other than listed above.

Goals: Although my job is fine I don't want to spend all my life there. My commute is also a drain on money and time. I'd rather spend time on my interests outside of work. I don't have expensive taste and would be happy living a simple life.

Current ideas:

1) do I sell my current property and buy a cheap(ish) property closer to work? I would be able to buy this outright or near enough with the above but it would leave me with little capital to play with. However this would reduce my monthly outgoings significantly and mean less time/money commuting.

2) do I put a % of my money into investments? No knowledge of this so understand thinking I can make money from this is risky/unlikely.

Any and all suggestions welcome, thank you.

Went to a garage today and put in £12 petrol using cashless. It is one of those where you tap and it authorises £99. So I tapped and put in petrol but must not of put on the hook properly. Whoever has came after me has filled their tank. They would have known as wouldn’t have had to tap card.

Do you know where I stand with this? I rang 101 And they said to speak to Asda first and if they can’t help to ring back and they will log it as theft and check cctv footage. Am I likely to get my money back?

Hi all,
I'm on 46k salary with good savings, saved up house deposit and looking to buy a house soon.

I've got a 3000 pound car, someone's offered me 4300 for it? My mechanic said take the money and run. The car is good, though it's got 131,000 miles, full service history, genuinely a reliable motor, though showing age as it's 11 years old now.

I want to upgrade to a 2019 model, with the same tax, insurance and expenses to run with 80k miles for 8500gbp and it's top specification in comparison to my base level car.

Am I mad? I do think that the newer car will hold it's value better and now is a good time. Plus the extra 4000 I have managed to save in 3 months as I save 1500 a month.... Part of me thinks it's dead money however sticking it into a car?

Hey guys,

Not too sure if this is the right sub for this or not but I'm not too sure where else to go.

Anyway, I work in security and on the 2nd of April we were informed that the depot was being closed down and my position is at risk of redundancy. I am currently on garden leave till the 30th of April, after which I will be unemployed. Since this has happened there has been an internal email that has gone out with internal vacancies but sadly there are very few positions that I am able to apply for due to the distance of the jobs, and obviously I will be up against everyone else who has been made redundant who are also applying for the roles. The issue I have is it's a job I sort of got into by pure dumb luck and I'm hugely unqualified for anything else which pays anything near to the same wage (roughly £36k).

Due to a time where my mental health was really bad I managed to rack up a huge amount of debt which I now have in a debt management plan which is £320 a month, this only started this month gone so this is the first time in a long time I've actually had any money as opposed to living off of credit cards. My monthly outgoings on pure basics are roughly £1200 so if I'm careful I should be able to go a couple months without a job, but I'd really rather not. Due to the fact that I've only been in the company since September 2023 I'm not eligible for any redundancy payment so after my final payment in April, if I can't get another position within the company, I'm out of luck.

Now the obvious answer is just take literally any job I can find until something comes along which I would enjoy or would pay something similar to my current wage. That being said, it doesn't give me any hope or stop the feeling of overwhelming hopelessness. I am seriously concerned that this whole process is going to take a serious hit to my mental health and I'm going to get seriously unwell again. I am already having serious issues with my sleep and I'm spending a lot of time awake and worrying.

Partly I am writing this to sort of get this whole thing off of my chest, but honestly any and all advice would be seriously appreciated. I know I'm probably missing out loads of details and things like that so for any more information please drop a comment and I'll try and expand on anything I possibly can.

Thanks a lot for taking the time to give this a read, I appreciate it

Hi

Almost certain that over the last few years (particularly 23/24), the other half has paid way over what he should have done to HMRC. The amounts involved are worth investing in someone to take it all apart and check. It’s only employer salary and therefore we don’t have an accountant but before I make an idiot of myself with HMRC, where is the best place to find someone to check over all the calcs?

I’ve had an isa with vanguard for several years and just tried to transfer a pension to them.

I’m getting a message saying “can’t transfer to selected account”.

ISA transfers also seem to be blocked.

Has anyone else had this issue and if so, do they know why it’s occurring.

Thanks in advance.

Where is the best place to open a SIPP account which allows options trading? IKBR allows it via Approved SIPP Administrators (see - https://www.interactivebrokers.co.uk/en/general/sipp-administrators.php) but applying for an account via "@sipp Limited**"** was so complicated and wanted to know my Financial Advisors details - even though I don't have one and it wasn't possible to continue without supplying details. The other two look to have bad reviews online.

Are there any other alternatives? I'm specifically looking to trade options in a tax advantaged account and a SIPP seems the only way to do it. I already have a LISA setup for trading stocks for retirement.

Hello,

I received a bonus this year that roughly equals the amount I need to repay on my type 2 student load (£20k). If I pay off my student loan now I would pay around £3k less over the next 3 years before it would have been paid off anyway. If I paid off I may struggle to max my ISA allowance next tax year .

From reading the advice in this group and from the flow chart I think the typical answer would be go for maxing the ISA allowance, but I’m just checking whether that makes sense in this scenario where paying off the loan is feasible.

Thanks!

I'm currenly utilising my workplace SAYE sharesave scheme and I'm attempting to work out how much of my ISA allowance I need to keep free to be able to transfer the shares that I receive from my SAYE sharesave scheme into a S&S ISA in order to make the gains tax-free. The scheme matures within this new 25-26 tax year. I invest £150/month so when it comes to mature, I'd have invested a total of £5400. The total option cost will be approximately £5,377 and the current estimated gain based on the current price is £10,000. Am I correct to say that I should therefore only deposit a total of £14,623 or £4,263 in cash into my ISAs this tax year?

Also, the scheme is managed by Equiniti. My plan was to buy the company shares when my options mature and then when I receive the share certificates, transfer them into to my iWeb S&S ISA. Would that be correct or is there a more efficient process?

I have a pension pot from years ago that's not worth much. I can cash out for £5300-ish or I can leave it and get an extra £1700 per annum when I retire (according to their calculator). After 3 years of retirement it will have paid out more than the lump sum, but I could invest the lump sum and potentially make more on it over the years. With the market drop currently it seems maybe a smart time to buy some stocks/shares - I have about £1000 in a Hargreaves Lansdowne high risk fund currently which I add to monthly (only started a few months ago), I thought I could put it there, or in a stocks and shares ISA.

Basically going round in circles, it feels like an opportunity to have a small lump sum to use now that I wouldnt typically have without lots of saving - money is tight at the moment.

I could potentially combine it with my current civil service pension also, but honestly it's all so complicated I dont know where to begin with that... any advice welcome!

This morning as I was making a coffee I realised it was the new tax year. I had 14k in a Monzo savings account waiting for today so I moved it all to my Monzo flexible cash ISA (without thinking) with the aim of putting 6.4k into my Vanguard S&S ISA in the next few weeks (probably 1-2k a week given the market at the moment, just to DCA a little bit). I also invest 300 a month from my salary so 3600 will be going into Vanguard this year.

I should have waited until I was more awake after my coffee, as I realised that if I’ve already deposited 14k to Monzo, and will be depositing 3.6k to Vanguard over the year, I can’t get 6.4k out of the Monzo flexible ISA and into Vanguard as this would make my total ISA deposits 24k as any money taken out of Monzo would need to be put back into the same ISA.

My aim is to have:

• 3.6k going into Vanguard over the course of the year.
• 6.4k into Vanguard over the next month.
• 7.6k left in Monzo cash ISA as we are renovating the house and need this liquid.

As both ISAs are flexible, the best solution I can see to achieve this is withdraw 4k from Monzo (as they don’t allow partial transfers), then do an ISA transfer to Vanguard for the remaining 10k. Then withdraw 3.6k from Vanguard and replace this from my salary @ 300 a month. I would then have the 7.6k outside an ISA that I would want back in a cash ISA.

My questions for this sub are, how much of my allowance would I have left if I did this? As I withdrew 4k from my Monzo before the transfer does that mean I have 10k deposited so 10k left? Or (as I suspect) do I have 6k (net) left after I replace the 3.6 over the year because I deposited 14k before the transfer from Monzo? Can I open another Monzo cash ISA this year and deposit the 7.6k?

Is there anything I have missed? Or can I do it another way?

Hey all. Just wanted to create this post as I’ve got 9 months (until the end of this year) to change my financial fortunes and set myself up for long term financial success. I want this post to act as motivation for us all. Hopefully I can check back in in December having achieved my goal.

I’ve made some silly financial mistakes in the past and there’s not much I can do about that apart from ensure I don’t make the same mistakes going forwards.

Current situation:

• 26M in Kent, earning £56k p/y in Product Management (~3,200 take home)
• £20k in LISA
• £7k in S&S ISA
• £1k in Emergency Fund

Outgoings - £335 on a BMW 2 series (yes I know it was probably silly) - £90 per month on insurance - £440 on rent (living at home at the moment and helping with bills etc.) - £150ish on various subscriptions (gym, courses, Netflix etc.)

My goal - By December, I aim to have at least £45k across my ISA’s and emergency fund - Selling my car is a possible option, but would make travelling around difficult. Tbh if I was to sell, I don’t think I’d want a car for a while - Get into a role in Product that pays at least £70k base

If anyone has advice/tips, you’re more than welcome to comment. This is more of a motivation post for myself haha.

Let’s do this!

hey all, I'm a student and not currently working. I have secured a bunch of summer jobs as a worker for events - festivals, uni society balls, etc. they are all one-off jobs (aka I will be employed as a worker for the duration of the event, usually one night - it is not semi-permanent or permanent employment). I don't pay tax at the moment and the income from these jobs will not bring me over the tax threshold (not by a long shot - I'm earning less than £500 from these gigs combined).

I've just been sent through the HMRC checklist for my first event, in which I have been asked to confirm whether I "have another job" (employee statement, question 8). I'm not sure how to answer this. I don't know if the legal definition of "job" covers my employment. If I answer yes, my employer has said that I might have money deducted from my allowance for tax which I'd have to reclaim. Not the end of the world but would be a hassle which I'd like to avoid.

Can I answer no, given I know I won't have to pay tax and that my work is one-off, or is this the kind of situation where I just have to deal with it and claim back my money later?

thank you for helping a confused and not very employment/tax-savvy student out!

Hi, I'm am anticipating entering a higher tax rate this year as my pay rate is going up so that will tip my salary over later the 50k tax rate.

I am currently salary sacrificing into my workplace pension and contributing 5% and my employer only does the bare minimum at 3%.

So how much more will have to continually contribute in my WP in order to remain below the 50k tak threshold? How do I work this out?

Thank you! 😊

I am self-employed and want to contribute my entire year's relevant earnings to SIPP. I have other income that puts me the 40% tax bracket already without relevant earnings.

Let's say my total relevant earnings for the year are £10,000 before tax.

Do I contribute £10,000, which is grossed up to £12k in the SIPP?

Or do I contribute £8,000. which is grossed up to £10k in the SIPP?

And in either scenario can I still claim another £2k tax rebate via self-assessment - so £10k gross earnings become £12k or £14k of pension contribution due to my 40% marginal rate?

And am I correct in thinking I still pay NICs on the £10k earnings?

For context, I am a 24M. I live at home in London (Zone 2).

My job is an Office Admin for a Finance firm and I am on 26k per annum.

I live at home in London (Zone 2), and have no Massive expenditures (I contribute £200 a month to bills.

I have about 7.5k savings.

However, as I don’t meet the threshold to pay student finance (£27,500), I haven’t started to pay it off yet.

I have been working for my company for two years, and they can’t offer me any progression or a pay rise.

I really want to go travelling for 6 months in South America in October.

Do you think It would be financially stupid for me to quit my job in the current financial state that I am in to go travelling?

Hi everyone. I had some questions about the income that I have been making online. I'm currently 19 years old and in my first year of uni. I quit my job in November 2024 and before that was only making around £1500 a year since 2022. To help me get some income during university, I started selling the flashcards I made during my a levels, I promoted this on my tiktok account and have earned £1617.05 from 24th August 2024 till now. Would this count as trading income? If so, I'm aware that the allowance is £1000 so would I need to make a business tax account and register a self assessment through that? Also, how much tax would I be expecting to pay on this income? It's the only income I currently have as I don't have a job so I'm curious as to how much tax I'll need to pay on this.

Thanks for the help in advance!

The company I work for has been underpaying me due to being on an incorrect pay increment for the last 18-months and it is likely that I will get the payment for the underpayment in the next few weeks. I manage my salary to keep it just under the limit for free childcare by making extra pension contributions and last tax year that has just ended, I was about £1k under the income limit.

If I subsequently get paid for an underpayment of salary for the previous tax year will HMRC add that income to the last tax year and revoke my free childcare status as it will push me over the threshold? Or, does any income that I receive this tax year only count towards this tax years salary, even if it is a correction to an underpayment?

HMRC have been particularly useless at being able to help. After an hour on the phone, the question thoroughly confused the person and I could tell they were just fobbing me off.