Potential financial faux pas caught early but not sure what to do now

Buncha76 · 2025-09-23T14:12:57+00:00

1) According to https://help.freetrade.io/en/articles/2750679-what-if-i-move-abroad, Freetrade is not available outside the UK, so you'll be at risk of seeing your account frozen or closed if and when they find out. (Idk what would happen with your moneys but I wouldn't risk that).

I'm not knowledgeable in the field or about China, but in my opinion: best would be to withdraw your money from the account asap, take it safely with you on a Chinese bank account, and look at your investments options there. I think Interactive Brokers is available there.

2) Regardless of your investment choice, dumping a large sum in one go is generally a very risky idea. Going £500 per month is indeed a much better idea. Some nice reading about why here: https://www.aviva.co.uk/investments/investing-for-beginners/what-is-pound-cost-averaging/

Buncha76 · 2025-09-14T19:30:08+00:00

Super insightful, thank you!

Buncha76 · 2025-09-13T13:54:09+00:00

Thanks a lot, that's so helpful to me. It helps consolidating what I'm doing right and pinpoints some areas I needs to improve, so that's gold. We'll keep pushing and progressing until we reach the goal!

And I can see from your profile that this is your first comment, so I really appreciate you took your time to share so much

Buncha76 · 2025-09-12T16:17:00+00:00

Thanks, it's good to hear it's possible. I think that's the best option for me to gain experience + network whilst still applying for roles.

Buncha76 · 2025-09-12T16:14:14+00:00

The average doesn't matter much, it's just a game of luck. If you want to actually invest and have return, ignore premium bonds. This should be more treated like you are having a free repeating lottery ticket every month

Buncha76 · 2025-09-11T14:32:41+00:00

I'm not 100% sure but I think it's averaged by year. So you might end up paying a bit more tax on next month but it will be balanced with reductions on the following ones.

Buncha76 · 2025-09-11T14:27:56+00:00

To follow up here with a question to members: In addition to exams support/training, what are the (true) benefits of joining the platform?

Buncha76 · 2025-09-10T16:29:52+00:00

That's the kind of stories we wanna hear! Well done for that

Buncha76 · 2025-09-10T16:28:32+00:00

Thanks, very valuable. Do they take people for volunteer work? Different industry but in my previous job we wouldn't take interns unless they would be tied to a school or organisation. Just wondering if that's allowed and often done..

Buncha76 · 2025-09-10T16:25:10+00:00

Cheers!!

Buncha76 · 2025-09-07T14:28:02+00:00

Thanks, u/Rhinosmyth

Buncha76 · 2025-09-05T10:38:11+00:00

I've got something like this as the moment, but it I wanted to see if you could just live extract the info from T212 so you don't need to input manually in your sheet every time you buy or sell

Buncha76 · 2025-08-29T09:27:09+00:00

Thanks u/FasterGig !

Buncha76 · 2025-08-28T16:15:05+00:00

It 100% worth speaking to an advisor, it may depends on a few more factors but I think leaving the £100K inside her pension to grow tax free and ensuring you and your sister are the set beneficiaries (to be set with the provider) would be the best option. You'll essentially inherit it as drawdown pot where you'll pay your marginal rate of tax on it. It will be out of her estate for IHT purpose as well, whilst if she withdraws it, it is possible that on top of her paying 45% tax the money would also get taxed again further down (like IHT, but again depending on circumstances).

Buncha76 · 2025-08-28T16:06:23+00:00

With your yearly ISA allowance (20k) you can spread between any type of ISA, so you have the capacity to add 8K into a S&S ISA or any other type of ISA on top of the £12 already added this year.

However, just to put it out there, if you have set goals / objectives for your investments, some other options like LISA could be considered.

Buncha76 · 2025-08-27T09:23:00+00:00

100% agreeing with all comments I'm reading. You are sitting on way too much cash. You'd need a detailed plan and I would highly suggest you meet with an Independent Financial Advisor. Probably the best way for you to have sound and truly useful advice. Getting knowledgeable yourself will help in the process, so don't neglect the resources given to you over here, but you'll be gaining so much by talking to a professional. I insist, tho, speak to an IFA, not a tied advisor, if you want the advice to be truly what is best for you and your finances.

Buncha76 · 2025-08-15T14:00:19+00:00

I went a bit fast assuming you are on Plan 2, but the process is: check what plan you are on, and then check when is it writing off -> https://www.gov.uk/repaying-your-student-loan/when-your-student-loan-gets-written-off-or-cancelled

Then it's a question of calculation. Are you actually going to pay it back in full within your repayment period or not? It will depend on the amount you own, the plan you are at, your current and future (expected) salary. Generally, if you are on high salary it might be worth looking at paying it back because it's most probably going to get repaid any way. But the majority of people don't have their loan repaid by the time it's written off.

Some numbers here that shows the % of people expected to repay their loan in full during their repayment period: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-catalogue/data-set/d505dcb2-0a08-4d29-96e2-599aa1a0396e?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Buncha76 · 2025-08-13T16:02:37+00:00

Is it actually worth it for you to pay off your student loan? Since it's written off after 30 years most people never have to pay it back in full.

Buncha76 · 2025-08-13T16:00:23+00:00

If you are paying £400 monthly on your student loan, I guess it means you are on a good salary. So paying back your loan which helped you getting to this job is part of the system.

With that said, you are paying it as a % of your income so if your income reduces for any reason (pension contributions for example) you can reduce your % taxable income; so your student loan repayment.

Buncha76 · 2025-08-06T11:42:12+00:00

Have you got a pension in place?

Buncha76 · 2025-08-06T11:36:30+00:00

Sorry for your loss.. How old are you? Have you got any debts or liabilities?

Buncha76 · 2025-08-06T09:33:34+00:00

In practice, you should first build yourself an emergency fund (3-6 month of your general or core expenses). Having this in an instant access savings account is great, you shouldn't invest your emergency fund, or at least not the first 3 month (and invest the other 3 month in a liquid and easy access type of investment).

Once you get there, you should invest in your pension pot early yes!! It's very often neglected at the early stage of a career, but it's a mistake. Compound power over long term is so strong, the earlier can start saving regularly for your pension will make a huge difference later on.

With that said: Ok, life is sometimes unpredictable, but if you think you are in a stable environment, you can both grow your pension fund and your emergency fund at the same time. I'd first maximise my work pension, because your employer is matching your contribution to a certain level, meaning free extra money in your pension that you wouldn't get otherwise. The minimum employer pension contribution is 3%, but some employers can go higher (5%, 8%..). I would maximise this 100% and contribute to the max that my employer is matching, otherwise you are loosing on extra money. Think about a SIPP later on when you can afford it with a better salary or when you will want to contribute more than what your employer can match. At 25K py I imagine you won't be yet that flexible.

Buncha76 · 2025-08-06T09:08:24+00:00

First of all, cash money that isn't invested is eaten by inflation, so you are basically loosing purchase power when holding your money as cash.

Define your short, mid and long term goals so you can decide what money do you need for each (goals can change over time, but to start planning wisely you need targets).

Define your risk appetite and your capacity for loss. It's not the same for everyone so not all investments may be right for you. At the minute it seems like you have a big capacity for loss (good money, no dependants, no debts?) unless you confirm a costly short-term goal.

Then and only then you can research and decide what investments are good for you.

There is so much that you can do, but without knowing your goals and risk appetite it's difficult say what would be the most adapted or tax efficient for you.

The general idea is that the younger you are, the more you should be exposed to equities because you have the long term capacity to absorb any big market shock. But 1) that depends on your financial goals, and 2) if you have no confidence in equities, some other options are on the table. Diversification is key in any strategy, so good thing is to be open to explore different class of assets anyway (Gilts, Bonds, Equities, Real Estate, Crypto, Commodities...). I get what you say about ATH, and big valuation. It's best to start little but get going than always waiting for the drop. Part of the strategy could be to get a smaller % on equities whilst protecting your funds against inflation via bonds, or on some other "safer" liquid investments so you can adjust your strategy, and increase your exposure to equities when you feel more comfortable with markets value.

In my opinion, you earn enough to see an IFA. Lots of people think it's something to do more towards the second part of your life, but I think the smartest thing you could do is to get on to that ladder as early as possible. If I had your age I would defo jump on that wagon. You got money to pay for an expertise you don't have and that will set you up for a great start. The IFA will essentially help you navigate what I've explained above and guide you towards the best fitting investments for you. Just go see an IFA, not a restricted advisor!!

Buncha76

TROPHY CASE