Looking about I think stocks and shares, but don't want one that I have to manage myself. However, as LeJoggly points out, Im seeing interest and ratws of return so low that im wondering if its worth the faff at the preesent time.
Depends where your £50k sits in your hierarchy of 'money'. Ours looks like this:
Very liquid - rapid access.
Some 'proper' paper money (not much - handy for fish and chipe etc!).
Excess income each month in Current a/c - doesn't sit in there for long.
Premium bonds - new to us and just seeing how they perform.
Fairly liquid (subject to 180 day interest penalty hit) - typically 3-5 years for us.
Cash ISA's.
Mildly Illiquid:
Private pension funds - no intention of taking an income from them. They'll be closed and reinvested at some stage. We are both over 55 so we can do this as and when but obviously in a manner that minimises the tax burden. They are performing well at the moment and have done since inception.
Fairly Illiquid:
Stocks & Shares ISA's - again, new (ish) to us. Technically they are pretty liquid but they are in this category as anything other than a long-term perspective will probably cost us money. We have a Vanguard 80/20 ISA on an initial lump sum + monthly drip investment that's doing just fine. New A J Bell ISA is a ready made portfolio that can be amended by Moi. This is not on a monthly drip investment basis but was started with a lump sum and will be topped up by regular lump sums (minimises dealing charges) as and when certain financial indices suppress the underlying fund rates. Investment monies will come from our surplus income - we usually amass a nice chunk every 3 months. Hoping that the underlying indices theory works out - we shall see!
Very illiquid:
Fixed Rate Bonds - typically 5-7 years for us.
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As things stand it will be unlikely that our income will ever be lower than our expenditure and if an occasional 'overspend' is required then it will be Premium Bonds to the rescue!
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We do not anticipate ever accessing the rest of our stash - but who knows, we may want to buy a property abroad or a boat etc.
With this in mind, ie unlikely to ever need to touch any of our illiquid funds, we have made the decision to invest in S&S ISA's. We are happy to leave them alone and do their thing ad-infinitum unless there are any genuine poor performers. This has been primarly driven by the poor rates of return on Cash ISA's and FRB's.
So...
@Drago - if your £50k sits at the illiquid end of your 'money', ie it's there as a comfort blanket but you probably won't ever touch it, then I'd suggest that S&S ISA's are pretty much the way to go. As ever these are best drip-fed to take advantage of market lows. Global markets are currently suppressed for obvious reasons so I think now is the time for go for it although definitely not in one hit unless you are very brave! Maybe try £5-10k to get a feel for things, give it a year and see if it is working for you - you are plenty young enough to make this approach part of your long term strategy.
In hindsight we probably should've done this a year back but we are a cautious couple on the money front!
The £40-45k residue you can put into PB's in the meantime or try a 2 year FRB at 0.75% pa here:
https://www.blme.com/products-and-services/savings/premier-deposit-account/
We have quite a lot of money in BLME mainly 5 & 7 year FRB's albeit at higher rates than currently advertised.
Hope that this helps.
PS: Vanguard S&S ISA - dead easy to set up and cheap as the proverbial chips.
