UK Personal Finance and Investing

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Business, Finance, and Careers > UK Personal Finance and Investing

Naar: Aug 19, 2003; The Time of the Eye is now; Fun Shoe

I found this site a really useful resource when I was planning what to put in to my stocks & shares ISA/SIPP: https://monevator.com/

Extremely TL;DR version is: global stock tracker 60%, bonds 40%.

# ¿ Apr 26, 2019 16:55

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 23, 2024 20:11

Naar: Aug 19, 2003; The Time of the Eye is now; Fun Shoe

Budgie posted:

If you get a Stocks and Shares LISA, put £4k in and invest it, then get the £1k bonus from the government: can you also invest the bonus cash? I assume so but I want to make sure before I get one.

Yes, you can.

# ¿ Mar 2, 2023 08:17

Naar: Aug 19, 2003; The Time of the Eye is now; Fun Shoe

It's 4.65% at the moment, which is OK but not amazing. The reason I have some is because they're tax free, unlike normal savings account interest.

# ¿ Aug 26, 2023 12:21

Naar: Aug 19, 2003; The Time of the Eye is now; Fun Shoe

I'd agree with the posts above about repaying your mortgage early and about Nutmeg; you are likely to be able to get the same exposure cheaper elsewhere. You could consider opening a lifetime ISA if you're in the right age range, it's basically a free £1000 each year if you fill it up. Premium bonds are never likely to return much if you don't have a lot of them (and even then not brilliant), so unless there's some other reason you hold them, like already having enough interest income that you're being taxed, you might be better off with a savings account.

# ¿ Oct 15, 2023 15:56

Naar: Aug 19, 2003; The Time of the Eye is now; Fun Shoe

Mourning Due posted:

I have so many questions, like:

- Do I have the right credit card? I have an Amex that gives a 0.75% Cashback on spend up to �10,000. Got about �400 back this year which was nice, but...for my lifestyle, would there be something better?
- RE the overpay mortgage, people tell me "just put your money into an account that has a greater than 2% return instead": there's literally thousands of different accounts and I have no idea which ones are good and which are poo poo.
- People told me, close the Nutmeg as they're less reputable than Vanguard...but it was giving me a much higher rate of return, and I haven't seen any fees, so I'm struggling to understand why that's what I should have done. I've done it, but I don't get it.
- I turned 40 in February: I believe that means an additional lifetime ISA is a no-go? Had one originally when saving for the house & cashed it out. Also, we plan to potentially move overseas: would that invalidate the ISA?

And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

I really just need advice on, who should I be speaking to here? I know Fidelity are advisors, are they just for stocks and bonds? It feels like my sort of "baby's first financial questions" would be a lucrative market niche for someone to be addressing. The advice in this thread is great, and I'm trying to self-educate, but the whole "having two S&S ISAs at the same time" thing has just shown me that I really don't know what I'm doing, and that mistakes now could be costing me thousands in the future. I'd much rather pay someone to point me in the right direction, with a yearly financial health check-in or something.

Does nobody do this sort of thing in the UK for the relatively low amounts I'm talking about here?

Being a financial advisor requires expensive insurance, so pretty much all of them will either charge you or be tied advisors who can't advise on anything other than tied products. For most of your questions, have a look at https://www.moneysavingexpert.com for a good list of reward credit cards, savings accounts, etc.
You haven't said exactly what you were investing in in your Nutmeg account vs. Vanguard, so you might not be comparing apples with apples. The fee you pay at Nutmeg (IIRC) is in the form of higher expenses on your funds, which don't show up as explicit fees - most of their funds are 1%+ all in, which is incredibly high by the standards of other accounts you can open.
No more lifetime ISAs for you as you're over 40, unfortunately.

# ¿ Oct 31, 2023 15:55

Naar: Aug 19, 2003; The Time of the Eye is now; Fun Shoe

If you want to invest in some stuff you don't have to think about, a Vanguard Lifestrategy fund is very appropriate (though IMO it has too high a UK bias - it's a bit more hassle to DIY it out of ETFs and it sounds like you can't be bothered). If you are planning to retire more than 10 years out, 100% equity is fine. Alternatively, you could go for a Vanguard target retirement fund which automatically increases bond allocation following a vaguely 'optimal' strategy as you get closer to the end date.

# ¿ Nov 1, 2023 18:13

Naar: Aug 19, 2003; The Time of the Eye is now; Fun Shoe

Shelvocke posted:

I'm on the look out for some accounting software. I'm switching to fully freelance as opposed to full time PAYE/part time freelance. I also manage the in/outgoings of our furnished holiday let, receive some dividends, and account interest in a taxable account.

The last couple of years I've done tax returns without things like expenses and deductible spends, but the Airbnb revenue and property upkeep has complicated things somewhat. I'll also be invoicing people and need to spend on things like mileage, consumables etc.

Is there a software which is relatively straightforward for a sole trader, but can handle two "businesses", i.e. the rental and my freelance work, not to mention dividends? I'm happy to pay. I could also get an accountant, but I like to have a handle on these things.

Freeagent, maybe? I use it to invoice people for my business, track expenses, etc. and it works pretty well. I don't know how well it would work for multiple businesses, though - you might need to pay twice.

# ¿ Jan 22, 2024 20:52

Naar: Aug 19, 2003; The Time of the Eye is now; Fun Shoe

BizarroAzrael posted:

I just set up a Limited company - to offer freelance services and do independent game development. I'd like to claim VAT back on some stuff, mainly my PC that I use for all my work, what do I need to do? Will I be able to submit accounts and claim it back? I worked as a contractor previously but used an accountant.

Having no turnover yet I've not registered for VAT, do I need to do so to claim? What about self-assessment, do I need to set up with that as well? Or is that only if I start drawing dividends?

Not an accountant, but I do have a limited company. If you need to purchase something which will be used for business purposes, the company can purchase it (i.e. pay for it using your business bank account debit card) or you can purchase it yourself and reclaim the amount from company funds as an expense. If you want to reclaim VAT, you have to be VAT registered and submit VAT returns. You can voluntarily register for VAT if you want. I'm not sure if it's possible to reclaim anything for things you already own personally before starting your company, if that's what you were thinking. I would probably submit a self-assessment just to be on the safe side, it's not likely to be complicated if you don't have any salary or dividends coming from the company.

# ¿ Mar 19, 2024 23:21

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ May 23, 2024 20:11

Naar: Aug 19, 2003; The Time of the Eye is now; Fun Shoe

Josef bugman posted:

I have a couple of quick questions about financial stuff.

I recently started work at a call centre for specifically finance related matters. Me and my fiancée are both saving up for a house and, fortunately, are in the North East meaning that we can put down a far smaller deposit than we normally would have to. Our work is also giving all of us a slight upgrade in terms of pay and a bonus every April if we hit certain criteria. Currently we're on a combined income of about £33,000 between the two of us, with potential for me to go and get a CEMAP and potentially start working to become a mortgage consultant in a year or so.

It means that we are generally in a very good position fiscally, better than either of us have been in for our entire lives, but I don't know too much about how to do savings and general usage of funds. We always pay back any credit card debts at the end of the month, have a fully paid for car and only a student loan (type 1 as it happens so jack and poo poo is going to happen with it and it gets written off once I hit 51) on my side, plus a pension of around £30,000 (approx) from my previous job. I was wondering if this is fiscally "okay" as it were, mainly because the saving for a house has meant that we are both about £500 down per month and, although that has meant we are in a good position for getting a mortgage, it can leave us a bit too reliant on credit cards to do some stuff. We never go above 15% on the cards as well, just for clarity.

Do folks think that sounds healthy, or if there is anything we are doing "wrong" or particularly egregiously silly?

Take a look at https://flowchart.ukpersonal.finance/ as it's pretty good advice. Not quite sure what you mean about being £500 down if you're paying off all your credit card debt every month?

# ¿ Mar 19, 2024 23:25

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Business, Finance, and Careers > UK Personal Finance and Investing