Source
r/UKPersonalFinance•
RedChivas

[Misc] 32yo finally discovering the personal finance world..

Misc

Hi UKPF!

I'm 32 male, single and no dependant, french, but living and working in the UK since 2 years now. I've only just started to educate myself on the budget matters, as my income are growing, and I realised I'm not making the most of it, and could definitely do with some suggestions/advice!

Key points :

  • Salary of £43K a year at the moment, but will increase to £57k starting in a couple of months, with further rises in the next few years

  • Saving about £1300 each month, all included

  • Pension is to be considered as close to minimum so far, currently 9% (7% from employer + 2% from me)

  • Have £16k in cash at the moment (including 5K in Club Lloyds 4% current account, and was about to open 2 current accounts in Tesco for the 3% interest up to £3000 each, not knowing more about what to do in the immediate future)

  • Have 20K€ in a french H2B ISA equivalent, paying close to no interests at all

How I see it :

  1. I, of course, thought about an H2B ISA, but my geographical future is a bit uncertain, and I don't know where I'll be living in two years from now (France? UK? Somewhere else?), so that makes me a bit reluctant to invest my money in that kind of plan, but ready to hear any thoughts about that

  2. From my readings, I think my priority would be to raise my contribution to my pension pot to reach about 16% total (figure found from moneysavinexpert : my age/2), which I can afford I think

3a) So far, I just get interests from my Club Lloyds CA (4% so far...until they change it), and as stating, was about to open 2 Tesco CA paying another 3% up to £3000 each, having no better ideas

3b) These interests are just under £500/year, can you confirm that even after my payrise (which will take me to the higher rate tax band), it'll be still tax free?

  1. I'm not planning on any big purchase at the moment, already own a car, and don't have any loan/debts/credit card...

I'm listening to all your suggestions, thanks in advance!

And sorry for possible bad english!

Posted Sep 6, 2016, 3:21 PM UTC

31
NEWSBOT3•
  1. From my readings, I think my priority would be to raise my contribution to my pension pot to reach about 16% total (figure found from moneysavinexpert : my age/2), which I can afford I think

Sounds good but i would put the amounts into a pension calculator (google for one, there are lots) and see if it meets your retirement goals - if not, adjust accordingly.

3b) These interests are just under £500/year, can you confirm that even after my payrise (which will take me to the higher rate tax band), it'll be still tax free?

Yes. The limit is £1000 for basic rate, and £500 for higher rate.

It's sort of hard to suggest anything else because you haven't really mentioned any goals - generally you should plan your finances to fit around these.

The only thing I would say is that since your future is uncertain, then keeping your money in cash accounts is going to be recommend as much less risky than investment is. You could perhaps look into some peer to peer lending http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/peer-to-peer-lending , as some of this is quite good return over 12 months - but beware the risks.

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