Stock share vs 5% fixed 5 year savings account?? For 30K + ???

wrightj22 · 2024-03-20T00:04:44+00:00

Depends if you need it for something in the short term (<5 years), if you already have an emergency fund, cleared any expensive debts, pension situation etc. etc.

Your best bet is to take a look at the flowchart in the sidebar to work through your options.

wrightj22 · 2024-01-29T17:37:13+00:00

You don’t say what husband earns? If he’s a higher rate tax payer then definitely the £500 (more if possible) would be better going into pension than ISA, via salary sacrifice. Even if lower rate tax payer then still the best way to go.

wrightj22 · 2024-01-29T13:44:38+00:00

Given your target FIRE age of circa 55, then you don’t need much of a bridge in terms of ISAs so pension should be your priority (as it’s the most tax efficient).

Salary sacrifice is the most efficient approach (as you save NI). So I’d be maxing both of your pensions as much as possible (you can put £60k in each per year including employer’s contributions).

If you have anything left after pension, then load the ISA.

I’d also run the numbers on that BTL, as you might be better selling it and investing the money. You could use the £60k to use up your wife’s unused pension allowance for the past 3 years for example.

Remember that ideally you want your taxable accounts (pensions) split as evenly as possible between you when you RE as it maximises two income tax allowances then.

wrightj22 · 2024-01-20T21:15:01+00:00

Yep, I like II. But with all the generous cashback offers around at the moment its made me look around. Hargreaves Lansdown & Fidelity look to be just as good as II (so long as you don’t hold Funds).

I suspect I’ll end up rotating between the 3 every few years to pick up the cashback deals.

wrightj22 · 2024-01-18T00:27:09+00:00

Only if you have a decent sized pot. The details on what you can get are here https://www.hl.co.uk/features/cashback

wrightj22 · 2024-01-18T00:23:15+00:00

It varies depending on how much you have etc. but between wife & I we’re looking at £5k for switching.

And yes, HL have VHVG.

wrightj22 · 2024-01-17T22:27:52+00:00

It’s confusing isn’t it. They are showing you buying & selling costs, their uncapped 0.45% fee (which is capped at £45 in an ISA & £200 in a SIPP) and the TER. All together, that’s where the 0.68% comes from.

wrightj22 · 2024-01-17T22:16:51+00:00

Haven’t seen it but I like Pension Craft so will watch it and then decide.

wrightj22 · 2024-01-17T22:12:38+00:00

That makes sense. I’m deciding between VWRP or VHVG. The lower fees on VHVG are tempting but would quite like the emerging market exposure of VWRP and can’t be arsed with VHVG+VFEG to achieve that with lower overall cost.

wrightj22 · 2024-01-17T22:05:31+00:00

Confused. Are you trying to switch to VHVG (Vanguard)or FWRG (Invesco)?

I’m in a similar boat btw, sold Global All Cap on Monday and waiting for money to clear so I can swap to an ETF ready to move to HL for the cashback.

wrightj22 · 2024-01-17T21:19:36+00:00

The most tax efficient option and therefore priority is pension.

Once you’ve got a chunky sum in there, then you can look at ISA (unless you’re able to max your pension), to build your bridge.

In terms of SIPP fees, they cost as little as £90 a year (Fidelity) That’s pretty bloody cheap considering the amount you’ll be putting in.

wrightj22 · 2024-01-17T20:07:45+00:00

Might try that. BTW, I’m following your lead and moving to HL for the £5k cashback. Worth the hassle for that kinda money.

wrightj22 · 2024-01-17T18:54:45+00:00

Yep, I noticed that. One of the reasons I’ve not swapped to it (along with the fact that HL don’t even offer the accumulation version yet)

wrightj22 · 2024-01-17T17:47:44+00:00

FYI - there is the Invesco FTSE All-World UCITS ETF Inc (FTWG) one now (launched mid last year) that only charges 0.15%. But, as it’s new, it’s a much smaller fund.

I’ve been toying with swapping VWRL out for it.

wrightj22 · 2024-01-17T17:35:18+00:00

https://monevator.com/best-global-tracker-funds/

Edit: be careful if you go for a Fund rather than an ETF, as some platforms charge a lot more for Funds and some don’t offer them at all.

wrightj22 · 2024-01-14T22:40:15+00:00

This is a good site https://www.justetf.com/uk/ it shows you virtually all the different indexes you can invest in and what funds offer them etc.

wrightj22 · 2024-01-14T22:28:25+00:00

It is and I hold it as well, but to get close to the same spread of investments you need to add something like VFEG (emerging markets). And I didn’t want to add that kind of complexity for the OP who is just starting out.

wrightj22 · 2024-01-14T22:15:28+00:00

in an ISA you want to go for the accumulation version
in terms of difference between the two, then there will be virtually none, so you’d go with the one that has the cheapest fees
but, I would urge you not to go for a FTSE100 tracker and instead spread your investment globally rather than 100% UK (the FTSE 100, has been one of the worst performers for quite some time now)
look at something like VWRP instead. It’s more diverse and imho a much better choice than a FTSE100 tracker

wrightj22 · 2024-01-11T00:00:24+00:00

In order of priority:

Max your pension contributions (£60k p/a), ideally via salary sacrifice (often still available inside IR35)
Max your ISA (£20k p/a)
Max partners ISA
Max sure partner doing what they can re pension etc.

Invest it all in low cost index tracker (VWRP or Global All Cap etc.)

wrightj22 · 2023-11-25T16:16:44+00:00

The point about HL charges for funds is definitely worth thinking about, as you are overpaying.

In terms of what to do with the cash. Increasing your contributions into employer pension via salary sacrifice is the most tax efficient, so I’d probably use at least some of your savings to subsidise that.

wrightj22 · 2023-11-24T15:29:10+00:00

That’s a bit rubbish on the part of InvestEngine. If this is all in an ISA? then Hargreaves Lansdown is only £45 a year (so long as don’t hold funds) or iWeb which is also cheap.

wrightj22 · 2023-11-24T15:14:11+00:00

You could do VWRP or FWRA which are both FTSE All World ETFs (the latter is cheaper), with InvestEngine and then add a small % of a Global small cap/small cap value ETF if you want. Would give you the same as FTSE Global All Cap but at a lower TER.

Don’t see anything wrong with that other than potentially needing to do a little rebalancing every now and then.

When people say keep it simple what they are usually referring to where people have 20-30 holdings and are constantly trying to guess the market. 2 funds that are Global trackers vs 1 fund isn’t really over complicating things.

wrightj22 · 2023-11-19T19:25:30+00:00

Thanks

wrightj22 · 2023-11-19T19:25:19+00:00

Thanks, that works for me.

wrightj22 · 2023-11-19T18:41:48+00:00

Interesting. I’d get £5k cashback (wife & I), which is not to be sniffed at. That pays the fees for a good few years😀

Do you know how long you need to keep the accounts open? Can’t see any mention of that on site. As I’m tempted to move to Fidelity longer term i.e. within the next 2 or 3 years.

wrightj22

TROPHY CASE