Nervousness with money/ inability to handle money

[Fckitdriveon]

Spurred on my some other threads on here , Thankyou to those involved. I have had a long overdue look at my finances and come to you good folk for some wisdom.

I haven’t ever been able to handle money, I’ve always acted like there’s no tomorrow, flash this and flash that, but literally never any money in the Bank despite earning well.

This year my job changed and became more secure 90k and the odd little bonus.

My credit rating has historically been in the gutter, and always had debt up to my eyeballs . No real assets or property .

Recently I have started a business (separate from my job) and it’s got bigger than I imagined it would, I m having large amounts of money coming into my accounts and varying degrees going back out again, how long it will continue for I don’t know, and I m trying not to take it all too seriously , but over all pleased with what I am achieving.

I have paid off all of my debts (loans / credit cards / defaults etc) my credit will remain buggered for a while which I m fine with.

I have got an accountant and set up a ltd company/vat etc , but money makes me super nervous and gives me genuine anxiety. I literally never learnt how to handle money and one minute I m thinking right I m off shopping for Rolexes and the next sitting feeling anxious about all of it.

I have this week set up direct debits for all my day to bills and worked out my outgoings against my income from my day job , and there’s roughly 800 odd spare after everything so I d like to do something sensible with that, that’s brought me some calm but all the rest of it genuinely freaks me out .......

Appreciate this all rather disjointed so I hope it makes some sort of sense .......

[Newky Brown]

You don't mention your age, although you're never too old to start but I would start to look at maxing out your Isa or pension contributions. Particularly the pension as you,d get the higher rate tax relief.

I wish I'd done this when I was younger earning good money, I could have retired by now. JulianPH is the person to speak to.

[Fckitdriveon]

Newky Brown said:

You don't mention your age, although you're never too old to start but I would start to look at maxing out your Isa or pension contributions. Particularly the pension as you,d get the higher rate tax relief.

I wish I'd done this when I was younger earning good money, I could have retired by now. JulianPH is the person to speak to.

Sorry- 37 years young - I try not to think about all the years I’ve wasted having a ‘good’ time.

I got a good pension with my job now although how for many years I will stick it I don’t know. 6.5 percent iirc.

I need to do some reading up on ISAs.....!

[stuthemong]

Messing up your PAYE income/outgoing is tricky. Really you can only get it so wrong, and you see it going wrong as you mess it up (credit card bills climb up etc....).

A business that's shifting volume and poor cash control could be dangerous for you. If you get it wrong, you can get it very wrong. Owing huge sums to suppliers, tax man, etc.. Etc...

My advice, don't worry too much about your day job to begin with.

Find a proper accountancy firm who can act as more of a business partner to you, ask them to keep you on the straight and narrow re cash flow and guidance.

Sound slike an exciting business, make sure you set it up to succeed and not surprise/distract you with cashflow disasters. Ideally hire someone who's really good at this, but use a specialist firm to begin with to get you off on the right foot.

Once you've sorted process and control around the business, then worry about a few hundred a month PAYE stuff. The business is the bigger opportunity and also biggest risk. Focus there IMO

Good luck!

[JulianPH]

Newky Brown said:

You don't mention your age, although you're never too old to start but I would start to look at maxing out your Isa or pension contributions. Particularly the pension as you,d get the higher rate tax relief.

I wish I'd done this when I was younger earning good money, I could have retired by now. JulianPH is the person to speak to.

This is pretty stop on and thanks for the mention.

OP - your company can place this money into a pension/SIPP for you every month and this will save you paying 40% income tax on it.

Furthermore it is deductible against your company's annual corporation tax bill.

Finally, you can't get your hands on it until 10 years before state retirement age, so you can't go wasting it on things you don't really need!

Give me a shout if you have any questions.

[Newky Brown]

Fckitdriveon said:

Newky Brown said:

You don't mention your age, although you're never too old to start but I would start to look at maxing out your Isa or pension contributions. Particularly the pension as you,d get the higher rate tax relief.

I wish I'd done this when I was younger earning good money, I could have retired by now. JulianPH is the person to speak to.

Sorry- 37 years young - I try not to think about all the years I’ve wasted having a ‘good’ time.

I got a good pension with my job now although how for many years I will stick it I don’t know. 6.5 percent iirc.

I need to do some reading up on ISAs.....!

Snap! I cringe a bit when I think of all the money I wasted out on the lash when younger.

The good thing re the pension apart from the tax relief, is that the money is locked away and if you can put in money that you don't "need" every month, it soon mounts up.

[Fckitdriveon]

stuthe said:

Messing up your PAYE income/outgoing is tricky. Really you can only get it so wrong, and you see it going wrong as you mess it up (credit card bills climb up etc....).

A business that's shifting volume and poor cash control could be dangerous for you. If you get it wrong, you can get it very wrong. Owing huge sums to suppliers, tax man, etc.. Etc...

My advice, don't worry too much about your day job to begin with.

Find a proper accountancy firm who can act as more of a business partner to you, ask them to keep you on the straight and narrow re cash flow and guidance.

Sound slike an exciting business, make sure you set it up to succeed and not surprise/distract you with cashflow disasters. Ideally hire someone who's really good at this, but use a specialist firm to begin with to get you off on the right foot.

Once you've sorted process and control around the business, then worry about a few hundred a month PAYE stuff. The business is the bigger opportunity and also biggest risk. Focus there IMO

Good luck!

Some sage advice there !

I do need someone who essentially takes a lot of out of my hands....whilst I am good at what this business is about ....I am totally useless with handling money....

Now how do I go about finding that company!

[Fckitdriveon]

I chatted with my accountant yesterday and shared my fears and i think we are on the same page in terms of the support I need.

I updated my spreadsheets to get a better picture of where I am at.

It’s been quite cathartic , I don’t want to get ahead of myself so my plan for a little while is to do nothing , keep the money in the bank and let the dust settle whilst this business gains traction or not as the case maybe! It’s been only been a couple of months as it is!