The Student Room Group

£15,000 in savings - How to utilise it?

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Original post by bittr n swt
it's not really a hassle, standing orders are a thing you know


True, but it also means you have to try and remember how much money you have in each account (i.e. which one you can spend money from), and all the pin numbers...
Reply 101
Original post by bittr n swt
it's not really a hassle, standing orders are a thing you know


It's hassle if 1 part of your standing order web pauses, causing the whole thing to come crashing down with a bang and associated account fees.

Personally I've never bothered with any of these accounts requiring various deposits/transfers etc just to get a special rate. I'll stick with my First Direct account, the potential loss in interest on other accounts is more than compensated by their faultless customer service.
Reply 102
£15k is enough that you should consider seeing an IFA. Depending on your attitude to risk, they might suggest putting it into an investment portfolio of some sort that you should hopefully see nice returns on.

Most IFAs will offer an initial consultation for free, and only charge if you ask them to draw up some more concrete plans. (You should expect an initial charge in the region of £500 if you agree to have them manage your money).
you could flip cars like old premium marques such as rolls royce, bentley and aston martin for the 80's and early 90's you can double your money easily if you buy the right vehicle at the right price
Reply 104
Original post by estel
£15k is enough that you should consider seeing an IFA. Depending on your attitude to risk, they might suggest putting it into an investment portfolio of some sort that you should hopefully see nice returns on.

Most IFAs will offer an initial consultation for free, and only charge if you ask them to draw up some more concrete plans. (You should expect an initial charge in the region of £500 if you agree to have them manage your money).


I've never heard of anyone recommending an IFA on investments of £15k! It simply isnt worth the fees they'd charge.
Original post by jamesthehustler
you could flip cars like old premium marques such as rolls royce, bentley and aston martin for the 80's and early 90's you can double your money easily if you buy the right vehicle at the right price


http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201506284728028?page=1&radius=1500&postcode=tn85hj&onesearchad=used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew&sort=default&search-target=usedcars&channel=cars&make=bentley&logcode=p

worth about 15k as stated on the classic car show with in the next year or two
Following the tread to see if any good idea comes up

I have similar figures and I have them spread, the majority in an instant access ISA and a part of it lent to around 150 selected businesses in P2P lending schemes, returns, after bad debts and fees are around 7% for me, but wether this is for you depends on your attitude to risk and ability to understand economy dynamics and business management models.

From time to time I buy undervalued stuff on Ebay and resell it a higher price, or buy limited edition items (e.g shoes) whenever possible and sell them for profit


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Original post by ConnorBR
Hey guys,

Apologies - I'm sure this type of post is written almost weekly, just thought I'd explain my situation and see what opportunities are available.

I'm currently on a placement year at IBM, I'll be starting my final year in September. Over the years I've been able to accumulate around £15k in savings and I'm really unsure what to do with it. I hate knowing it's just sitting in my bank as opposed to earning some interest/profit.

I'm fairly business-minded, always thinking of ways to invest, profit etc etc. I gave Ebay/Facebook/Craigslist arbitrage a go but didn't find it sustainable - Yeah, I made a bit of money... but it wasn't worth the hours I spent searching through websites.

I've had a few ideas to create a blog/website and profit via affiliate links, Clickbank etc however I don't have the time to create content at the moment, so that's kinda out of the window.

I have some in an ISA currently. I don't want to add the rest into an ISA purely because I like having "financial security", if anything goes wrong I want to have some money available, so ISA's are out of the window.

Any proven methods guys? - I'd love to toy with shares but I'm not too clued up. I've also heard that £15k isn't going to make much money, so it comes down to whether the risk is worth the reward! (if any)

I'm sure I'll get a few people say "parents money" so I'll state now that I've earned this all through jobs. I've been working since I was 16.

Thanks guys, I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Connor


You can get ISA's where you canstill have access to your money when you need to. Not all ISA's lock your money away without access.
Reply 108
I'm in the same situation except I have £17,000. I'll probably spend ~ £2000 on travel and going to interviews.

I had thought of doing a masters but that will use most of my savings = waste of money?

Then I had heard about investing in gold but I don't know where to start.
Original post by ConnorBR
Hey guys,

Apologies - I'm sure this type of post is written almost weekly, just thought I'd explain my situation and see what opportunities are available.

I'm currently on a placement year at IBM, I'll be starting my final year in September. Over the years I've been able to accumulate around £15k in savings and I'm really unsure what to do with it. I hate knowing it's just sitting in my bank as opposed to earning some interest/profit.

I'm fairly business-minded, always thinking of ways to invest, profit etc etc. I gave Ebay/Facebook/Craigslist arbitrage a go but didn't find it sustainable - Yeah, I made a bit of money... but it wasn't worth the hours I spent searching through websites.

I've had a few ideas to create a blog/website and profit via affiliate links, Clickbank etc however I don't have the time to create content at the moment, so that's kinda out of the window.

I have some in an ISA currently. I don't want to add the rest into an ISA purely because I like having "financial security", if anything goes wrong I want to have some money available, so ISA's are out of the window.

Any proven methods guys? - I'd love to toy with shares but I'm not too clued up. I've also heard that £15k isn't going to make much money, so it comes down to whether the risk is worth the reward! (if any)

I'm sure I'll get a few people say "parents money" so I'll state now that I've earned this all through jobs. I've been working since I was 16.

Thanks guys, I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Connor


Easy-access ISAs are no more difficult to access than savings accounts, and the difference in interest rates for easy-access versus locked away is marginal, so that's not the worry with ISAs. The thing is, particularly since they raised the maximum to £15,000 or whatever it is, ISAs aren't worth it at all, mine is at the top of the market at 2% and afaik that's not even offered to new customers, Martin Lewis says we should be cycling savings through several different loss-leading current accounts that have for some years now paid far better interest, you will probably net about 4% on the whole amount.

£15k won't make much in shares. In any case you will probably under-perform the FTSE and wish you hadn't bothered. Maybe put it in a stocks and shares ISA.

Don't try to start up a business or invest in anything risky, just keep it to safe investments and then use it for a deposit on a house.
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by tomicb
I'm in the same situation except I have £17,000. I'll probably spend ~ £2000 on travel and going to interviews.

I had thought of doing a masters but that will use most of my savings = waste of money?

Then I had heard about investing in gold but I don't know where to start.


Yeah I did a masters and it was a waste of money tbh
If you're planning on buying a house in the future I'd suggest getting one of the new mortgage ISA's that the government are doing and start shifting over the money from the Tesco and BoS accounts. As you're only allowed to put in a set maximum amount each month it's probably best to start sooner rather than later so that you have a decent amount in there when you want to buy a house. That's definitely what I'm planning to over the next few years so that in 4 or 5 years time I'll have enough for a mortgage
Try with a certain fraction of the money saved investing in an asset which has income potential.

In time you will be financially independent.
Original post by ConnorBR
Hey guys,

Apologies - I'm sure this type of post is written almost weekly, just thought I'd explain my situation and see what opportunities are available.

I'm currently on a placement year at IBM, I'll be starting my final year in September. Over the years I've been able to accumulate around £15k in savings and I'm really unsure what to do with it. I hate knowing it's just sitting in my bank as opposed to earning some interest/profit.

I'm fairly business-minded, always thinking of ways to invest, profit etc etc. I gave Ebay/Facebook/Craigslist arbitrage a go but didn't find it sustainable - Yeah, I made a bit of money... but it wasn't worth the hours I spent searching through websites.

I've had a few ideas to create a blog/website and profit via affiliate links, Clickbank etc however I don't have the time to create content at the moment, so that's kinda out of the window.

I have some in an ISA currently. I don't want to add the rest into an ISA purely because I like having "financial security", if anything goes wrong I want to have some money available, so ISA's are out of the window.

Any proven methods guys? - I'd love to toy with shares but I'm not too clued up. I've also heard that £15k isn't going to make much money, so it comes down to whether the risk is worth the reward! (if any)

I'm sure I'll get a few people say "parents money" so I'll state now that I've earned this all through jobs. I've been working since I was 16.

Thanks guys, I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Connor


Hi, I know this is kind of irrelevant to your post but I just wanted to ask you about your IBM placement, I'm thinking of applying to do my placement year there so I just wanted to ask you when you submitted your application.
Thanks in advance
Original post by Reue
It's hassle if 1 part of your standing order web pauses, causing the whole thing to come crashing down with a bang and associated account fees.

Personally I've never bothered with any of these accounts requiring various deposits/transfers etc just to get a special rate. I'll stick with my First Direct account, the potential loss in interest on other accounts is more than compensated by their faultless customer service.


Eh, I do that and nothing would really come crashing down if it something stopped working. I get paid into a Nationwide FlexDirect, then the day after pay day £500 goes to each of my two TSB accounts, then the day after that the £1000 is transferred to a Santander 123 account. The only fee is £2 a month from Santander and the only bad thing that would happen if a standing order stopped working is (worst case) I lose a month's interest on an account. Even that's a hard scenario to envisage though.

So from current accounts I get 5% on £6500 and 3% on the £1000 or whatever I have in my Santander (up to 20k). I could add more but I can't really be arsed. Obviously we all have our own priorities, but I would say that is better than customer service considering all my banking is done online anyway and I haven't even spoken to a bank employee in about 5 years except to arrange some mortgage stuff.
(edited 8 years ago)
I have standing orders between like 5 or 6 banks and have done this for 2-3 years now and never had any problems.
Reply 116
Original post by SimiTaiwo
Hi, I know this is kind of irrelevant to your post but I just wanted to ask you about your IBM placement, I'm thinking of applying to do my placement year there so I just wanted to ask you when you submitted your application.
Thanks in advance


Hi SimiTaiwo,

Sure thing, no problem at all. I applied for my placement in November 2014 and was asked to attend an assessment centre in January 2015. I'd apply as soon as possible though :smile:

Cheers
Reply 117
Original post by SmashConcept
Eh, I do that and nothing would really come crashing down if it something stopped working. I get paid into a Nationwide FlexDirect, then the day after pay day £500 goes to each of my two TSB accounts, then the day after that the £1000 is transferred to a Santander 123 account. The only fee is £2 a month from Santander and the only bad thing that would happen if a standing order stopped working is (worst case) I lose a month's interest on an account. Even that's a hard scenario to envisage though.


What happens if your company payroll is delayed (has happened to me several times in various companies), You don't get paid, £1000 is taken out of your Nationwide account which then goes into unauthorised overdraft, Your credit score takes a hit and as a result you narrowly miss out on a mortgage application you are in the process of making. This mortgage refusal then also shows up on your credit record and you are unable to apply for another mortgage for 2 years later. House prices go up in that time and now you're £20k down when trying to purchase the same type of house.

An extreme example.. but not beyond the realms of possibility. Personally I'd rather not take the risk for another few quids worth of annual interest.

Original post by SmashConcept
but I would say that is better than customer service considering all my banking is done online anyway and I haven't even spoken to a bank employee in about 5 years except to arrange some mortgage stuff.


My bank (First direct) is all online too.. yet I've still needed to call them for various things including reclaiming lost money when a company I had paid went bust. You might not value customer service much until you actually need them.
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by decgreen
invest it in property. My mum is a property developer and people invest money so give her say £10k and she buys a house with money also from other investors too and rents it out. she gives 5% interest each year but is very competitive compared to the banks, so find an investor and invest it


How does your mother profit from this? Does she just keep the excess profit? How much does she reinvest?


Posted from TSR Mobile
What happens if your company payroll is delayed (has happened to me several times in various companies), You don't get paid, £1000 is taken out of your Nationwide account which then goes into unauthorised overdraft, Your credit score takes a hit and as a result you narrowly miss out on a mortgage application you are in the process of making. This mortgage refusal then also shows up on your credit record and you are unable to apply for another mortgage for 2 years later. House prices go up in that time and now you're £20k down when trying to purchase the same type of house.

An extreme example.. but not beyond the realms of possibility. Personally I'd rather not take the risk for another few quids worth of annual interest.
Well my Nationwide account stays above £2500 (ideally it would stay exactly at £2500 but I'm lazy so I have some money in there not earning interest). So I would need to not get paid for 3 months for my standing order to force me into unauthorised overdraft. If that actually happened, while I concurrently somehow forgot to cancel my standing orders (again for 3 months), I'd have bigger problems than getting a mortgage application refused.

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