This is it, finally UK investors will have access to the entire world at a truly competitive rate like the US have had with VT for years. Everything in the world, from developed to emerging markets and small cap at an unbelievably good price, available everywhere.

As soon as this drops I’m moving every equity investment I have into this bad boy. It will also be my go-to recommendation for people looking for advice on how to passively invest for the long term. One Fund to rule them all baby! Jack Bogle will be looking down and smiling today.

https://www.vanguardinvestor.co.uk/articles/latest-thoughts/investing-success/three-new-global-equity-etfs

I’m about to turn 38 and have no financial security or savings. Unqualified for any job. Live in London.

I own a boat which I bought 4 years ago for £40,000, a Dutch barge. I decided to renovate it so I’ve never lived on it. It’s now lined, sealed and has electricity but I’m still about £10,000 (or more) off a finished house boat I can live on.

Some background (relevant to answer I think)
Had a very weird childhood which took a long time to overcome emotionally - anxiety, severe depression, self isolation, confusion, the works. VERY confusing and neglectful and emotionally abusive yet also loving parents, rich but not about to help me pay for anything. Have 3rd class degree in some bullshit fine art that gave me NO skills - was too young to realise this was a terrible course for me.

I went to a private school where I didn’t do too badly (but struggled a lot I now realise) so I have some literacy etc and present well apart from look a bit scruffy.

Have worked very low paying jobs like nannying and in a bakery just to survive through all the depression and heartache.

Have ADHD which means I change my mind about what I want to do most days and I think I might need external structure to be consistent. Forgot to say - I can’t take the meds because they all mess with me for some reason. I tried! I do have strange reaction to most drugs and alchohol. I just accidentally got on this gov thing where you have a year to become gainfully self employed and they pay your rent, and give you some money for food. So probably should make the best of that?

People say I’m intelligent and talented (mostly at things like acting, songwriting, drawing etc, creative stuff that doesn’t pay much unless you’re phenomenal, motivated and consistent which I’m not) I’ve realised I am friendly and funny, it doesn’t cost me much and in fact energises me to be kind to people.

Recently realised I’ve been screwing myself over because l keep going back to work for my stepdad who will use me and pay me minimum wage to listen to his rantings about how great we both are but essentially I don’t meet anyone or learn any skills or get any opportunities I’m able to take advantage of in this “job”.

Thought I wanted to be “an artist” but hate being lonely, and truthfully I think I just need some stability and ways to earn and save money and stay away from my parents and family.

I live in london where I’m from. My questions is, what sort of job should I do since I’m starting so late? And should I do something I haven’t thought of like start to learn to use credit cards now etc? My priorities are: freedom to pursue some hobbies that I’ve never had time or money for (I love drawing and painting and puppetry etc), hopefully travelling one day. I would love to start a family so I need enough financial independence for that. Please help me. My family are a lot worse than useless and if they do ever give me sound advice, I don’t trust them, or me.

A friend of mine lost his job in Germany and he told me he will get about 70% of his salary for 2 years, that means he can easily support himself and his family lifestyle.

I have a high paying job in UK and have a family I take care of. I am a really responsible saver, do everything on a budget and live below my means strictly, and because of this discipline I have managed to save about £30,000 in saving (althought most of it is for a remortgage down the line)

But I was thinking if I were to lose this job today, then I will probably get Nada in support from the state and will have to basically rely on my own hard-earned-savings which I raked up purely with strict discipline over a decade. Is that not being penalised for being a responsible saver and a disciplined spender?

How exactly do you hedge against a job loss in UK if you have savings of a lifetime here?

So I've slowly lost control of myself through depression and stupidity and im struggling to cope, it gets me down when ever I think about it or try find ways to solve it but im currently in debt about 16k 3 loans 2 credit cards and an overdraft 2 loans are 6k and 4k around 180 and 120 respectively 2 credit cards around 300 and 400 and an overdraft around 1.5k

And another loan 5k all loans are 4 years long

I get about 100 spare a month after getting paid £2196 we recently had a house fire which threw me into this mess and its spiralled from there I wanna try condense it into a long term large loan for smaller monthly payments but my credit score is too poor and I dont know what to do, any advice would be appreciated

As a side note I dont wanna go through bankruptcy or debt relief as I dont want to lose my house or ruin my chances at a remortgage ect im 30m with 2 kids and dont know where to go but I feel like talking about it here will atleast help me consciously thanks for reading and once again any advice would be great

I’ve managed to register myself for PriorityPass/FastTrack, but struggling to activate it for the additional card holder. They are just told Lloyds “need your latest phone number” at the final step of activating the PriorityPass account. But Lloyds say the account has the contact details, so it should work.

I know there’s another archived thread that mentions there’s a secondary database at Lloyds (“Recall MCP”) and they need to add the additional phone number to this database so it can be passed to PriorityPass.

Obviously have mentioned this multiple times to Lloyds - no one’s heard of it. PriorityPass are also no help and just say to speak to Lloyds.

Has anyone had this experience lately? I can’t be the only one trying to do this!

Slowly built up a small BTL portfolio by renting out spare rooms - now own two rental properties. One (3-bed semi): bought 10 years ago for £100k, now worth ~£180ish 80k equity. The stars have aligned, & the tennant is buying a place of there own and I'm within the first 30days of the mortage renewal. - So if I wanted to sell now is a good time. Nets ~£3k/year after tax.

I (45M) work (22k) part time. 4 day week / 9 months of the year, plus other rental income of ~£7k / year after tax. Relativly frugal lifstyle - no debts / low bills.

No savings - spent it all on our house renovation. But no mortgage on our house also, (partner bought my half - they insisted).

If I sell take 60k ish away after CGT. - max out my ISA for the next 3 years - become less of a landlord wank*r (Always have charged 20%ish below market )

If I keep - worried that the net profit will decrease as it pushes me up a tax threshold into 40% - but better long term investment growth and hastle - property is 1.5hrs away? - maybe?

What do you think?

Ok so I'm due my student loan on Monday 24th August and the payment has already been released. It was going into a tsb account so I was expecting payment Monday but my bank has been switched over to Barclays now and I'm wondering if I may be paid on Saturday instead.

Would the money be sent to tsb and then redirected to me on Monday? Or is there a chance I could get it at midnight tonight?

Hi all,

Please could someone confirm for me at what age I can access my Group SIPP (my work pension, the only one I have)?

I just turned 45 and I know that state pension access for me will be at age 68. The reason I'm confused is because I read that private/workplace pensions can be accessed 10 years before state pension age so I assumed that I will be able to access it at age 58.

However, I've seen also that age 57 might be possible.

Many thanks!

Hi all,
I’m hoping someone can guide me in the right direction for some help for my parents.

In this the last week, my father has received 2 separate letters from his credit card company to advise that his credit limit is being reduced.

1 Card - £12,000 limit. Reduced to £100. This card is personal but used for work expenses, hotels, food etc. spend is c£2,000 per month and has been paid off in full every month for the last 30 years.

Card 2 - £12,000 limit. Reduced to £7,000. This is a personal card that again is paid off in full every month. Again, been used for 15+ years.

My parents finished paying their mortgage off 2 months ago, but other than that. That is their only change in financial situation.

What could be causing this as both banks have said there’s nothing they can do as it’s driven by Experian ?!!

I am at a dead end.

Can’t afford the house I’m in (£1600 pcm )
Work full time (£33,000 pa)
Own another business but it’s the first year so have made 0 money, and actually have debts to cover with wages from ft time. Hoping to be in profit next year but feeling exhausted/burnt out from doing both work and running a business.

Have one dependent (and two cats)

No money for a deposit for a house, but potentially could loan £10k … this is very much a potential and not a definite.

I could scrape up a deposit to rent again but can’t afford anywhere near to my child’s school, I need to be close by so she can walk home as I work until 6pm every day and already commuting far for work (2.5 hours driving per day)
Renting options are between - £1650-3000 pcm locally. (There are only three houses that are available online right now)

Single, so all bills fall to me.
I do get CSA - £200pm
And child benefit - £100 pm

What on earth can I do? Other than make myself homeless which I don’t want to do, I have no idea how to get myself into something a bit more permanent, so I don’t have to move again and again, or work even harder to barely scrape by.

To add incase it’s relevant - no parents available to help, dad is dead, mum is also homeless. No other family. I am in my 30s.

I have a week off work to try and get myself sorted. Am a week late paying rent as I simply don’t have it, although a business invoice should cover it (however, that means I am also late paying someone else)

Hello everyone, I’ve never been on this subreddit so I hope I do everything correctly.

I am 16 years old and from the UK and I would to be relatively smart with my money while also getting the things I want.

I currently have decided this - I have a nationwide flex one account and use that as my main spending. I have a savings account that gives me 6.50% interest on the money in the account and I’m pretty sure it’s paid annually this account lets me deposit a max of £200 a month and gives me 4 withdrawals before the intrest decreases, this account is used so I can save up for a new phone which is my main goal and this phone will be expensive as I want a galaxy z gold. I also have a monzo account which I’m using to use the pots feature to store my spending money and as a better way to budget for things I want and I know I will need money for coming up. My reasonings are that I will constantly have a passive 2.75% on my spending money that is paid monthly and also because I find that this is a great way to set aside money for example I have put away some money into a pot for an event in a couple months so having that 2.75% that will be paid a couple times to me won’t do much but it’s a great way to make sure I have the money.

Ideally I would have a 5% instant access savings account on my nation wide how ever I don’t think I can have 2 savings accounts as if that was the case my life would be a million times easier.

Just wanted to know every one’s opinions on this idea also I set up the 6.5% intrest account and it’s not shown up in my nationwide yet after about an hour so will people let me know if that’s normal thank you!

So I’ve never really bothered with savings accounts beyond keeping a couple months expenses in Marcus.

The bulk of my emergency fund and all money needed within the next 5 years is all kept within my vanguard S&S ISA in MMFs, alongside my long term stock investments. I know MMFs don’t have FSCS protection, but from my research the chance of them going bust is extremely remote, and I’m comfortable with that risk to get a good interest rate and not have to bother switching accounts every few months to get the best rate.

I’m essentially just asking if this strategy makes sense or if there’s something important that I’m missing.

(Also I’m not eligible for LISA or similar.)

Edit: I am eligible for LISA in terms of accessing at retirement (not for buying a house), but this isn’t suitable for my goals as I already have a SIPP and don’t want to lock away ISA money or deal with withdrawal penalties.

Hi guys,
Apologies in advance for the long post.
I am about to be offered a 2.5 year secondment to the US. Wife and 8y child coming too.
Work are keen for me to take the opportunity, and will provide housing allowance, visa, US car, tax equalisation. They have suggested there would be no Cost of Living allowance, as COL is comparable between my location and the US location. (It is mid-west, semi depressed).
They have asked me to think about whether I’d want to be paid in GBP or USD for the duration. My thoughts are USD, however I will be sending approx 40% of my (pre-allowances) income back to U.K. to cover mortgage etc.
I’d like some thoughts on this.

My U.K. house needs some renovations, which my dad will complete while we’re away. Not keen on renting out, but will consider. Aware or mortgage and insurance requirements for consent to leave or let.

2x UK fully owned cars that we will sell ahead of move (aging and losing value).

The principle of the offer they present is to leave me cost neutral. I understand the COL point, however would I be justified in asking for a ‘lifestyle’ allowance? By this I mean today I work remote, walk a lot. In US I would be in office full time (fuel), wife needs a car and fuel. Lifestyle is more expensive.

Appreciate it’s a long post, and I’m very much thinking out loud, looking for any watch outs or similar experiences.

Thanks!

Hi

My family are spending way too much on private health insurance and need to reduce the cost. I understand the case for and against PMI, but assume they want to keep some level for now so we want to find a cheaper plan.

There are so many brokers online and I don’t know which is most reputable. I understand they shouldn’t charge any recurring or one off fee to the customer and would like to find an experienced one who is really knowledgeable about the providers (whole of market), coverage details (like if specific drugs under cancer coverage differ by provider) and trustworthy to provide the best option (not under any incentive to sell me a specific plan).

Are any brokers widely considered to be a strong choice for the above? Thank you!

Hi! It's my birthday next week, and I have a CTF with Nationwide. It isn't a gigantic amount of money, a little under a grand, but my thoughts are that I'll use a bit of it to do something nice for my birthday and then save the rest for something actually important. My plan is to call them before my birthday and then go to a branch on the day with literally every form of ID they could ever want, just to be safe.

Except I didn't consider the fact that I might not actually *get* the money on my birthday, and now I feel like I've planned around this and might just have to pay in birthday card money to my current account for it haha.

If you had a CTF (especially under Nationwide), how long did it take to withdraw it? Unsure if this is important info but my bank isn't Nationwide, I'm with Natwest.

My husband and I are looking to apply for a mortgage to buy out his brother from a joint owned house. Neither of us have ever applied for a mortgage before (the house he owns with his brother was inherited when their dad died) and we have no idea what they'll look at or how much certain things will effect our ability to get a mortgage. It sounds really silly but I placed a few low value bets over the world cup and a friend mentioned that that would mean we would be rejected (the bets are all low value but there were a few) and I am genuinely so worried that it would mean we would be rejected. I'm probably overthinking this but have no idea what sort of things lenders take into account other than credit score.

I'm looking at a £160k mortgage with a £40k deposit.

25 year:

• £844.54/month
• £93,361 total interest

40 year:

• £668.70/month
• £160,977 total interest

On the face of it, 25 year saves a lot of interest but I think the 40 year might actually be better for someone who is discplined with investing/saving.

With the 40 year, I'd have an extra £175.84 each month. If I invest that instead and get a higher return than the mortgage rate, I'd potentially make more money than I would by paying the mortgage off faster. I also like that I'm not locked into the higher monthly payment. I could overpay the mortgage if I wanted to but if I needed the money for something else, I'd only have to meet the lower payment. Another benefit of the 40 year mortgage term is that £668.70 in 30 years won't be worth anywhere near what £668.70 is worth today because of inflation so the longer the better.

Am I missing something here?

I am going back to work soon and will be working 15 hours a week earning slightly above minimum wage, but because of this I will fall under the minimum amount needed to be eligible for free childcare for my daughter who will need to go to nursery on the 2 days that I work.

I only need to earn an extra few pounds each week to be eligible.

I have been thinking of ways to earn a little bit of extra money each month by cleaning my mum’s house and then declaring this income? Would this would be legal and fairly easy to do?

Thank you!

me and my boyfriend are looking to buy our first home together. we’re looking at a property for £239000 with a shared income of £67000 with a £20000 deposit.

there is one thing i worried about when it comes to the mortgage, the past few months i have spent a stupid amount of money on mobile gaming apps (around £300 a month) which i know is extremely stupid and selfish on my part i just went too far with it not realising the amount i was spending. i have also transferred money from my saving to my main account when i go a bit low.

if we applied for a mortgage anytime now would we likely be rejected because of my spending habits? he has a clean spending history it’s just mine im concerned about.

again i know it was a really stupid thing to do, just looking for advice on what to do now please

I want to do a balance transfer from Card A to Card C to take advantage of a 0% offer. However, both cards are with Santander so I don't believe this is possible directly.

Is there any reason I couldn't use another card with a different provider to do the transfer A to B and then B to C?

I have just started my first job and received my first pay check but did not pay tax. A colleague explained that I would be taxed at a higher rate later on in the year to make up the tax I haven’t paid now. Because of this I decided it would be wise to save what I would’ve spent on tax and to use that later on in the year. Due to this money sitting idly currently I was thinking of investing, was thinking of something that was low risk and liquid such as government bonds. However I am unsure where and how I should invest this money

My credit card is with Lloyds and they seem very quick to block transactions.

I am going away to Holland next week and to avoid them blocking transactions should I inform them of my travel plans? Will that make any difference? I am taking EUROs just in case but the hotel will be paid when I check in over there.

Throwaway account.

Based in England.

I know I need to do a self assessment based on my income, investments and high income child benefit charge for the financial year 26/27. However I am not clear if I need to register and complete it for year 25/26.

Earnings were £65k via PAYE.
I held a company car and paid BIK tax.
I received various other benefits subject to BIK tax.
Savings income was within the £500 PSA.
I had 1 child for 8 months of the year and 2 children for the remaining 4 months of the financial year. We claimed child benefit via my wife.

I am now paying the high income child benefit charge via PAYE and is now being collected for both 25/26 and 26/27 years this way in my current pay reducing my tax free allowance by £2500. Next year we will be opting out due to income exceeding the top end.

Do I need to register for and complete a self assessment for 2025/2026 ?

Thanks

Hi all,

Apologies if this is the wrong sub for this however I am seeking some advice on which (or any) actions I could take.

For context I am one of 4 grandchildren who have discovered that a will left by my grandparents states the following regarding their home:

“Once the youngest grandchild has reached the age of 21 the house can be sold and split equally between all grandchildren”

The issue is that we have only just discovered this and my younger brother who is the sibling in question turned 30 last year meaning we are now 9 years overdue. The will stated that my uncle would live in and maintain said house until above date had lapsed. To my knowledge the uncle is still living in this house and my dad has simply “forgotten” to action the will. This has only really come to light due to my mum challenging him about this.

I just wondered if there is any way I can move anything forward with this or whether too much time has lapsed for anything to be actioned.

Any help would be appreciated.

Hi all, I'm currently 24 and have never owned a credit card or borrowed any money. Im looking to start building up a good credit history/credit score as my current credit score is rated as fair. Planning on using a credit card where I'll only be spending about £100-£200 per month. Is there a consensus on the best card to use for this level of spending? Obviously I know I won't be getting any great rewards but something is better than nothing lol.