Mid life guidance
Discussion
Hi all,
I’m hoping that I can find comfort and advice on what to do with a fairly large sum of money.
I am a UK citizen, aged 43, work in Singapore, and have been overseas since 2010. I obviously can’t have any ISAs.
I inherited quite a large sum of money from my mum, and a bit of cash from dad when they both passed away suddenly in 2018. As I’ve just had a child (well 10 months ago) I’ve been putting off making any major decisions.
I already own a FHL in Cornwall, with about £300k mortgage left (I paid £535k for it in 2018 - I’m not sure it was the best idea but I’d just spread mums ashes and for some reason my wife wanted to go house hunting so we ended up with the property...we are treating it as a hedge on uk property prices in case we move back). I also own an apartment in Singapore that is rented out and pays for itself - I still owe about £450k on it.
The inheritance I have in the UK of £170k is currently parked in 2 savings accounts (£85k each) in the UK earning about 1.2 percent (the FHL is making a loss so I’m not paying tax on the interest...), as well as about £60k in an account in Singapore.
Clearly this is not sustainable as inflation is going to kill my savings over time.
What I am thinking of doing is paying down the mortgage on the UK property by about £65k over the next 2 years (I can overpay 10% per annum). That leaves me about £170k. I already have a war chest of about £30k in savings, so I’d like to invest the bulk of the inheritance. This is where I am stuck - Should I be drip feeding in small amounts of cash into a portfolio of equity and bond ETFs?
As I’m already quite old, I want to set up a fund for my son as well that I can pay into now and use on his education or to buy his first place when he leaves school.
I’ve been burnt by shady SJP types in the past so I’m very reluctant to sign up for any investment schemes, but the thought of blowing a,life changing sum of money scares the heck out of me.
What would the financial wizards on here recommend I do?
I’ve already emailed Nic at IM
I’m hoping that I can find comfort and advice on what to do with a fairly large sum of money.
I am a UK citizen, aged 43, work in Singapore, and have been overseas since 2010. I obviously can’t have any ISAs.
I inherited quite a large sum of money from my mum, and a bit of cash from dad when they both passed away suddenly in 2018. As I’ve just had a child (well 10 months ago) I’ve been putting off making any major decisions.
I already own a FHL in Cornwall, with about £300k mortgage left (I paid £535k for it in 2018 - I’m not sure it was the best idea but I’d just spread mums ashes and for some reason my wife wanted to go house hunting so we ended up with the property...we are treating it as a hedge on uk property prices in case we move back). I also own an apartment in Singapore that is rented out and pays for itself - I still owe about £450k on it.
The inheritance I have in the UK of £170k is currently parked in 2 savings accounts (£85k each) in the UK earning about 1.2 percent (the FHL is making a loss so I’m not paying tax on the interest...), as well as about £60k in an account in Singapore.
Clearly this is not sustainable as inflation is going to kill my savings over time.
What I am thinking of doing is paying down the mortgage on the UK property by about £65k over the next 2 years (I can overpay 10% per annum). That leaves me about £170k. I already have a war chest of about £30k in savings, so I’d like to invest the bulk of the inheritance. This is where I am stuck - Should I be drip feeding in small amounts of cash into a portfolio of equity and bond ETFs?
As I’m already quite old, I want to set up a fund for my son as well that I can pay into now and use on his education or to buy his first place when he leaves school.
I’ve been burnt by shady SJP types in the past so I’m very reluctant to sign up for any investment schemes, but the thought of blowing a,life changing sum of money scares the heck out of me.
What would the financial wizards on here recommend I do?
I’ve already emailed Nic at IM
Edited by Zstar on Friday 29th May 16:00
deggles said:
I'd start here, personally. Owning a property that's netting you a loss every month is not an asset, it's a liability. Stop losing money before you focus on looking for gains elsewhere
Trust me, I do think about this a bit...If I put in another 65k, then it becomes self financing. We also missed the start of the holiday season in 2019, and obviously this year has been a bit rubbish for furnished holiday lets (it’s with a management company not AirBnB)
On an average year it should pay for itself, and I can see the domestic market for UK holidays being strong for the next year or 2...We are also worried about house price inflation eroding our ability to buy when and if we move back, so want to keep a hedge against that.
Hi Ben
Firstly, I am sorry to hear about the sudden loss of your parents and on a more positive note, congratulations on the birth of your child!
Nik will give you a wealth of ideas and explain each one to you, but one thing that is worth remembering is that you would have no capital gains tax to pay on UK assets (except property) so the lack of an ISA is not the same issue for you as it would be for others who are UK based.
All the best!
Firstly, I am sorry to hear about the sudden loss of your parents and on a more positive note, congratulations on the birth of your child!
Nik will give you a wealth of ideas and explain each one to you, but one thing that is worth remembering is that you would have no capital gains tax to pay on UK assets (except property) so the lack of an ISA is not the same issue for you as it would be for others who are UK based.
All the best!
JulianPH said:
Hi Ben
Firstly, I am sorry to hear about the sudden loss of your parents and on a more positive note, congratulations on the birth of your child!
Nik will give you a wealth of ideas and explain each one to you, but one thing that is worth remembering is that you would have no capital gains tax to pay on UK assets (except property) so the lack of an ISA is not the same issue for you as it would be for others who are UK based.
All the best!
Hi Julian, appreciate the reply and the kind thoughts. I’ve emailed Nik some more information - I hope it’s useful!Firstly, I am sorry to hear about the sudden loss of your parents and on a more positive note, congratulations on the birth of your child!
Nik will give you a wealth of ideas and explain each one to you, but one thing that is worth remembering is that you would have no capital gains tax to pay on UK assets (except property) so the lack of an ISA is not the same issue for you as it would be for others who are UK based.
All the best!
Thanks
Ben
JulianPH said:
Hi Ben
Firstly, I am sorry to hear about the sudden loss of your parents and on a more positive note, congratulations on the birth of your child!
Nik will give you a wealth of ideas and explain each one to you, but one thing that is worth remembering is that you would have no capital gains tax to pay on UK assets (except property) so the lack of an ISA is not the same issue for you as it would be for others who are UK based.
All the best!
Is it possible (I suspect not) to set up junior ISA's for kids as an expat, mine hold british passports, but we are non-resident at present. Firstly, I am sorry to hear about the sudden loss of your parents and on a more positive note, congratulations on the birth of your child!
Nik will give you a wealth of ideas and explain each one to you, but one thing that is worth remembering is that you would have no capital gains tax to pay on UK assets (except property) so the lack of an ISA is not the same issue for you as it would be for others who are UK based.
All the best!
Mezger said:
JulianPH said:
Hi Ben
Firstly, I am sorry to hear about the sudden loss of your parents and on a more positive note, congratulations on the birth of your child!
Nik will give you a wealth of ideas and explain each one to you, but one thing that is worth remembering is that you would have no capital gains tax to pay on UK assets (except property) so the lack of an ISA is not the same issue for you as it would be for others who are UK based.
All the best!
Is it possible (I suspect not) to set up junior ISA's for kids as an expat, mine hold british passports, but we are non-resident at present. Firstly, I am sorry to hear about the sudden loss of your parents and on a more positive note, congratulations on the birth of your child!
Nik will give you a wealth of ideas and explain each one to you, but one thing that is worth remembering is that you would have no capital gains tax to pay on UK assets (except property) so the lack of an ISA is not the same issue for you as it would be for others who are UK based.
All the best!
You could open General Investment Accounts for them on the same tax basis as above, providing you remain a non-resident here for 5 years.
I'm only a few years behind you, but not old! 
So I’m back! Unfortunately I can’t open an account with IM due to not being on the electoral roll.
My plan now is to chuck 100k into my brokerage account and start to invest it in the markets. Nothing scary like the big gamble thread, but mainly ETFs for Long term growth. I’ll probably keep 10k for fun investments, but the rest of it would be in some safer products.
I was thinking of going after corporate bond ETFs as they seem to give a good return, and chuck the rest at the MSCI Global plus some sector specific stuff like REITs, which seem undervalued still. Keen to know what people think of that idea, or what strategies others are running to build up a decent nest egg
My plan now is to chuck 100k into my brokerage account and start to invest it in the markets. Nothing scary like the big gamble thread, but mainly ETFs for Long term growth. I’ll probably keep 10k for fun investments, but the rest of it would be in some safer products.
I was thinking of going after corporate bond ETFs as they seem to give a good return, and chuck the rest at the MSCI Global plus some sector specific stuff like REITs, which seem undervalued still. Keen to know what people think of that idea, or what strategies others are running to build up a decent nest egg
Zstar said:
So I’m back! Unfortunately I can’t open an account with IM due to not being on the electoral roll.
My plan now is to chuck 100k into my brokerage account and start to invest it in the markets. Nothing scary like the big gamble thread, but mainly ETFs for Long term growth. I’ll probably keep 10k for fun investments, but the rest of it would be in some safer products.
I was thinking of going after corporate bond ETFs as they seem to give a good return, and chuck the rest at the MSCI Global plus some sector specific stuff like REITs, which seem undervalued still. Keen to know what people think of that idea, or what strategies others are running to build up a decent nest egg
I'm a similar age and have most of my investments in funds (some IM and some Fundsmith). I used to do individual shares but it was just gambling basically so I have decided to let a professional or two do the hard work. If you can't go with IM then can you go with anyone else or will no one be able to let you set up a general trading account?My plan now is to chuck 100k into my brokerage account and start to invest it in the markets. Nothing scary like the big gamble thread, but mainly ETFs for Long term growth. I’ll probably keep 10k for fun investments, but the rest of it would be in some safer products.
I was thinking of going after corporate bond ETFs as they seem to give a good return, and chuck the rest at the MSCI Global plus some sector specific stuff like REITs, which seem undervalued still. Keen to know what people think of that idea, or what strategies others are running to build up a decent nest egg
NorthDave said:
If you can't go with IM then can you go with anyone else or will no one be able to let you set up a general trading account?
I live in Asia so the standards applied to financial advise out here are quite woeful, and the charges are high - try one bank charging 5% on funds on top of the usual trailers...I figure I’d be better off managing my own money then giving it over to some pimply sales kid or wine soaked old expat.I’ve got an Interactive Brokers account so I can trade through that - the only issue is that I need pre clearance from work to trade single name stocks as I work in the finance industry, but I’m not really looking at running that high a risk anyway.
rockin said:
What skills do you see yourself bringing to the party?
I am cheap - that's about it! I do have access to my banks research and stock picks, plus of course the wealth of experience on here - I guess its a toss up between paying someone 2-3 percent a year who is not invested in the outcome, or taking the risk that i may underperform by a greater amount...I am not denigrating anyone on here who works in the advisory space by the way, but I've had some bad experiences before, so I am very very cautious of trusting others with my cash now - especially as expat wealth planning in asia is still a bit of a wild west s
t show, and the local banks charge exorbitant rates, and only do financial planning services for assets over 600k GBP.ellroy said:
Corporate Bond passives? With interest rates where they are, and increasingly likely inflation rises leading to interest rate rises? So buying the market with no concern for duration risk of the bonds within that market? That’s a very, very punchy call.
True - I guess it depends on your view of interest rates and whether they will rise with inflation or if they will stay low to inflate away the COVID debt. I certainly wouldn't be long 100k but its a good point.For clarity - I was considering something like this:
https://etfdb.com/etf/LQD/#etf-ticker-profile
Zstar said:
I live in Asia so the standards applied to financial advise out here are quite woeful, and the charges are high - try one bank charging 5% on funds on top of the usual trailers...I figure I’d be better off managing my own money then giving it over to some pimply sales kid or wine soaked old expat.
I’ve got an Interactive Brokers account so I can trade through that - the only issue is that I need pre clearance from work to trade single name stocks as I work in the finance industry, but I’m not really looking at running that high a risk anyway.
I’ve got an Interactive Brokers account so I can trade through that - the only issue is that I need pre clearance from work to trade single name stocks as I work in the finance industry, but I’m not really looking at running that high a risk anyway.
Check out Andrew Hallam's global expat guide to investing - great read for someone in your situation.
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