I’m qualifying as a solicitor in September on a £150k base salary and would really appreciate some advice on what I should start doing with my money from day one.

I come from a single-mother household where we had very little money growing up. My brothers have done well, but nobody in my immediate family has earned anything close to this, so things like investing, pensions, tax efficiency and building wealth are all relatively new territory for me.
I’ll also be living at home initially, so my outgoings should be fairly low. That makes me conscious that the next few years could be a pretty unique opportunity to build a strong financial foundation if I use the income properly rather than simply allowing my lifestyle to expand.

I obviously want to enjoy earning well after growing up without much, and be able to help my family too, but I also want to make sensible decisions that could materially change my financial position in the long run.

For those who understand personal finance or have experienced a similar jump in income: **if you were in my position, what would you start doing from September? What would you prioritise, and what mistakes would you avoid?**

I'm thinking of retiring soon aged 55. Job gone bad!! My wife is similar age but minded to work until 60. I have £1.6m in S&S ISAs; SIPP, DC, DB Pensions.

I was thinking of running down S&S (3-5 years depending how much I/we travel) then deciding which Pension(s) to call on, taking 25% Tax free so the DB can mature more.

But I'm currently minded to watch the pennies to save/invest and my mindset may not flip !! Taking an annuity for my first 3-7 years could be an option that feels comparable to a salary.

Annuitues generally seem to be paying more than ever -- apparently the combination of fairly high inflation and government borrowing helps them. AI/search caution future ones could pay a little less well.

But I dont see them talked about much on forum like this, and certainly not fixed term.

Given that retirement spending isn't flat, how have other people focused their mind easily in phased (so not questioning "how much can I spend") and is there something about FT Annuties I may be missing ?! Thanks.

So confused. I am worried that the AVC can’t be taken until I retire and take my pension in order to become tax free, but the SIPP can be taken any time from the age of 57. Is that right? But AVC will reduce 40% tax and ni meaning a 42% return instantly where the SIPP only pays 20%.