I'm not sure if this is /emo/, /£$€¥/ or /job/ but I'm throwing my lot in here.
I've just moved into a situation for the first time in my life where I'll be able to make a start at making savings. I've just finished up with the university student life, and I've been lucky enough to land a job that pays a a pretty high salary (18.5k take-home, not including overtime). It's a job I can do well, and I can see myself putting at least 5 years into it.
The trouble is, I have no idea where to start when it comes to savings beyond immediately getting out of the student overdraft. I have no credit card debt or any other kind of debt beyond the overdraft, into which I am about 1.5k deep.
I don't know anything about investing and I don't expect to learn anything in-depth about it from an imageboard - instead I'm looking for anecdotal advice, stuff that's worked personally for people.
tl;dr
I have about ~£150-200 a week that I can save/invest after I clear my overdraft. What should I do with it?
P.S
Anyone ever gone with Habib bank? My mate said to work with them but I don't know if they're dodgy.
>>7026 If you're flush with cash, first priority is to be shot of the overdraft, and then work towards a current account balance enough to pay living expenses for around six months. Where you go from there depends on what you want and why. Things that will work in the short term may not work in the long term, and options suitable for saving for something specific are different from those for just putting money away. There aren't really any quick fixes. There's always a trade-off to be made somewhere.
>>7026 Pay the overdraft off first - you have very few borrowings (a good thing) but to become relatively well-off you need to make sure you're not paying interest or charges anywhere, whilst you save that much a week. Most overdrafts have charges of some kind.
>>7031 >but to become relatively well-off you need to make sure you're not paying interest or charges anywhere,
So no doing anything silly like buying a house. Or, in fact, anything of any substantial value whatsoever.
>Anyone ever gone with Habib bank? My mate said to work with them but I don't know if they're dodgy.
What do you? Like open a savings account with them? Explain further please.
Not really mate, I'm actually quite content living week to week on very little.
Folk I know have been banging on about their ISAs, LISAs, mortgages credit ratings and what not like it's going out of fashion and I feel like I should sort something out after clearing the overdraft. I'm unsure where to start with it that's all.
Pay off the overdraft first. Stick a couple of grand in an instant-access cash ISA as an emergency fund. If you're planning on buying a house, get a Lifetime ISA - the government will give you a 25% bonus if you use the money as a deposit on a first home. Don't use the Lifetime ISA as a general savings account, because you'll pay a penalty if you make withdrawals for any other reason. See >>7013 for details.
Make sure your pension is sorted. Pension saving is phenomenally tax-efficient and you can often get matched contributions from your employer. Talk to your HR department about your work pension scheme (they're required by law to offer one) and pay the biggest contributions you can afford, preferably by salary sacrifice.
>>7034 You need to think of your goals. Your short term, medium term and long term goals.
Short term: Set up an emergency fund of at least three to six month's expenditure, holidays, etc.
Medium term: saving up for a house deposit, a new car, etc.
Long term: having enough capital to retire, pay off your mortgage early, etc.
The simplest thing to do is set up a regular saver around payday. That way you get used to the money going out of your account and used to it not being there.
Short term: you'll want this to be in cash. As interest rates are so low there's less impetus to shop around, but the most important thing is to get into the habit of saving.
Medium term: Most people will want this also in cash because they won't have the timeframe to cope with fluctuations in value and overcome any falls. For first time buyers there's all the Lifetime ISAs and Help to Buy ISAs where you won't get a much better deal than the government top up. As I already own a home I invest in Prudential's PruFunds for my medium term pot; they're not cheap (1.35% ongoing charges) but their smoothed returns mean volatility is minimised.
Long term: You're talking pensions and equities. Pensions are a wrapper to hold equities in, the same way a stocks and shares ISA is and the same way an investment bond is. They differ in their tax treatment. Join your workplace pension and find out the maximum matched employer contributions. For cheap equities Vanguard have recently launched their index tracker range for direct investing with them.
>>7037 Depends how much you can save. A regular saver of £250 a month is £3k a year, so that's £15k in five years. If you're on your own that's enough for a decent two bedroom apartment if you're not somewhere like London and if you're in a relationship you can pool money with your other half, not to mention you can always scrounge a bit of house deposit from your parents.
If you save £15k in a Lifetime ISA then the government top up will add an extra £3,750 to that.
There's no excuse not to be able to save up for a house. The only person I know who moans about being able to afford a house fritters away all her money despite having quite a high level of disposable income and only wants to consider properties worth at least £400k when you can get decent ones for less than half that in the area.
>>7038 That assumes that properties will still be as affordable as they are now in five years time. It also assumes that the Lifetime ISA will even pay out.
>>7040 I don't know a single person under the age of 30 who bought a house without financial assistance from their parents (or their grandparents dying and getting some inheritance) and I'm from a working class background. Working class people tend to downplay this more than middle class people, but they both benefit from it.
>>7041 "Working class." Sure mate. All your mates who got help from mummy and daddy are also "working class." Just like all the well off cockney bastards who bought houses around Hertfordshire and Essex, but somehow, they are still "working class."
>>7042 Yeah, working class. My dad, before he retired, was a factory worker on about £20k a year including overtime and night shifts whilst my mum was a part-time cashier at Yorkshire Bank. Northern post-industrial shithole, the lot.
I work in an industry with a lot of middle class people and they talk openly about getting financial assistance from their parents, as if it's just a given thing and part of life.
Trust me, lad. All the people I know from a similar background to myself who own a home had help from their parents but they tend to be slightly ashamed of this.
Round my way, a slightly scruffy two-bed terrace is about £80,000. Plenty of working-class people can find a few grand to help their kids out with a deposit. My cousin Chris bought his house when his dad retired from the fire service and got a lump sum. My mate John's parents extended their mortgage - they got a right-to-buy on their council house in the 90s, so they've got a fair bit of equity. Sandra's parents sold their caravan. Mick's dad got a compo claim.
I don't think you actually know any working class people.
>>7043 I'm middle class, own a house and had help from my parents, but you'd better believe I'm ashamed of it. Though I've been informed my share of the will has been reduced commensurately.
Going out and grafting hard to earn a bit of butty is what it's all about.
Nobody is entitled to anything apart from those that can't work for their butty.
Anyone taking a butty will be shot.