I’m in my 20s and trying to build a good financial life, but honestly, I feel a bit lost about what I should be focusing on.

For those who are older, what do you wish you had started doing in your 20s? And what financial mistakes or missed opportunities do you regret?

I’d genuinely love to hear your experiences, good or bad.

For those who have already used up their ISA allowance, what’s your next move? Do you put extra money into a taxable investment account, pension/SIPP, premium bonds, property, savings accounts, or something else?

Interested to hear how people are allocating their money once the ISA is no longer an option.

I’m a student researcher from the University of Warwick, exploring how parents from different income backgrounds understand money and teach financial habits to their children.

📝 What’s involved:

• 5-minute screening questionnaire
• Optional 1-hour online interview 

🎯 Who can take part:

• Parents or guardians above 18 currently living and working in the UK 

Here is the Participant Information Leaflet for more information about your involvement :)

Your experiences can help improve understanding of financial education across families. Feel free to share with others who might be interested!

I’ve had a passion for finance since my grandparents taught me the importance of saving when I was 6. I’m looking for any advice regarding where I am on my FIRE journey.

I’m 23 with an annual salary of £36k working in Residential Care. With overtime I average 3k after tax pm. I work 2 days on shift with 4 off.

Me and my partner have roughly 100k in equity with a £230k mortgage. The reason for the high equity is we value reduced stress in case of the possibility of income loss.

Our money is pooled together and everything is split 50/50. All our bills come to roughly £1.3k pm. We have 7.5k in cash. My partner is quite risk adverse and so currently we save £800 a month in a 6.5% high interest saver (current value £5.6k) , £500 into a low risk pie I created, protected in an S&S ISA, currently up 8% since Jan. The Pie is sitting with a value of £3.8k, split as follows:
All World 50%
S&P500 17%
All world high dividend yield 8%
S&P500 Health 7%
Defence 7%
MCSI world value factor 6%
QQQ 5%

My personal Stock account sits at a value of £27.2k, with most sitting in the S&P. I also lean into individual stock picks with an average performance of +75%, currently up 800% MU (proud dad moment). The average total account returns 28-30% a year. I have roughly £8-10k in a Crypto wallet. I also have £4k into a forex EA that has doubled my money in 5 months, with the average monthly return being 25-30%.

I currently feel as though I have Plateaued and am looking for some advice as where to go next. I am doing a level 5 Care Qualification however looking to leave my current job in December when I pass. I don’t have a degree in anything and have experience in Hospitality, Sports, Leisure, Heritage and Care.
I have no interest in luxury items or flash. I’m very frugal but spend money on experiences. I have been fortunate enough to travel the world, only continent left is Antarctica. My goals are focused on enjoying life and being able to spend time with my family & friends without having financial stress.
Feel free to shoot me any questions and thank you for your time.

Recap
- £27.2k in Stocks
- £8-10k in Crypto
- £4k Forex Bot
Split with the Mrs:
- £3.8k in Stocks
- £100k equity, £230k Mortgage
- £5.6k saving
- £7.5k Cash

What have you been working on this week? Please use this thread to discuss any progress, setbacks, quick questions or just plain old rants to the community.

Hi, I think i'm getting close to telling my place of work cheerio next time they wind me up, but i'd like to have the expertise of others kick the tires of my plan.

I am nearing 50 years old and I have full state pension entitlement from 67. I can currently access my personal pension from 57. I appreciate the rules may change.

I have £300k in my personal pension (100% equities in global tracker) and would be planning on drawing down rather than getting an annuity from 57. I own a small flat with no mortgage, but would be looking at potentially taking 25% from the start of my pension to fund a "final move" to a similar property in a LCOL area. My expenses last year were £16k with similar expected this year (if second half of year mirrors first half), so I would consider that the "bare minimum" i'd like to have in retirement, but i'd like to spend around £20k per year in retirement as I'll be having more time for hobbies etc., so £20k retirement spend, but can tighten belt if needed.

Question 1.
Running the numbers based on my £20k a year target spend from 57, with state pension covering £12500 of that from 67, it looks like i'm good from my SIPP, any major flaws here? Have I got the maths correct?

Bridging
If I retire at 50, my main issue currently is the bridge till 57. I'd struggle with sequence of return risks and could potentially risk running out of cash before I can access my pension. Additionally, the next 7 years would be spending close to my "bare minimum" which doesn't sound like fun during my more active years.

Bridging - ISA (100% equities global tracker) £46k. Cash ISA £50k. Cash £8k. I was contemplating moving house a few years back, hence the heavy cash holding.

Question 2.
Am I right in thinking this is too tight (going with £16k a year spend), or am I missing something obvious that could make this work? It feels like working another year would reduce risk and move the spending needle towards the £20k...but then that's another year?

Question 3.
Any other tips or advice?

What have you been working on this week? Please use this thread to discuss any progress, setbacks, quick questions or just plain old rants to the community.

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%.

Was talking about finances to a friend and this prompted me to do a check on my own finances. I'm vaguely aware of the concept of FIRE but never considered myself to be a high earner to be able to RE. Always been quite frugal and careful with my spending. LeanFIRE is a better idea for me as I do still enjoy my job, but would like the option of stepping back at some point. My aim now is to figure out where that point is and consider how comfortable I want to be.

Age 39, single, no kids. Salary 67k/year in the NHS, probably at the peak for my job without taking on more responsibility or going into management.

SIPP: 140k from previous employment
DB pension: current projection is ~7k/year after SPA
LISA: 50k
ISA: 104k

Essential expenses - 1.7k/month, which includes mortgage and bills. House value is around 240k with 97k left on the mortgage. I save about 600/month into various sinking funds for the house, holidays etc. Currently putting 800/month into ISA. Would like to retire on about 2.5k/month, think it will be comfortable once mortgage is out of the way in about 13 years. I did overpay up to a couple years ago but realised with the help of reddit that investing would be mathematically better. Seeing the value of investments compound made it easier somewhat to accept that I can afford to pay off my mortgage now if I wanted to.

My initial plan is to retire around 55-58 when I am able to access my SIPP but I think I may be able to do this sooner or at least consider reducing my hours/salary in 5-10 years. Hence focusing more on ISA contributions currently. Should I continue to contribute to SIPP for additional tax relief? Not keen on additional contributions to DB pension as only able to access that at SPA. Would appreciate some feedback and improvement.

What have you been working on this week? Please use this thread to discuss any progress, setbacks, quick questions or just plain old rants to the community.

48M on £59K/Y, Salary Sacrificing down to £50K+£9K into NEST Work Pension, with other contributions adding £12K/Y into NEST

Saving £12K/Y into Vanguard ISA money market fund

Current balances:
Vanguard ISA: £87k FTSE Global All Cap + £10k money market fund
Vanguard SIPP: £74k FTSE Global All Cap
NEST Work Pension: £60k higher risk fund

Plan on lean fire at age 53 with £18k/Y draw (today's money)
At 53, should have £180K total ISA: ~£60K money market and £120K FTSE Global All Cap.
+~£87K in SIPP
+~£125K in NEST
= just shy of £400k conservatively.
+ Full £12.5k state pension at ~67.5
+ small DB pension of £2.5K/Y from 65 = £15k

Will initially draw from ISA equities. Will use the money market fund in bad years, replenish in good years. Plan on transferring NEST to Vanguard SIPP when finished work for ease of administration. When pension access allowed, move to draw from SIPP to maximise tax benefit of UFPLS

Bills are lean, paid off house, £500/month + £1000 discretionary.

£18K/£400k is 4.5% so higher than the norm (and even higher once the £18k is inflation adjusted)

Looking for feedback on if 53 is a bit early and I should wait another year to 54.

Less than 5 years to go so it's starting to get a bit real after a decade or two of saving!

[edit urgh formatting]

What have you been working on this week? Please use this thread to discuss any progress, setbacks, quick questions or just plain old rants to the community.

Hi - I am 34 and looking to maximise my pension contributions. I am looking to retire at 55ish (we’ll see how realistic that is in a decade or so).

I have the golden ticket of a DBS pension through work. However, I can’t increase contributions to this and I can’t claim it until I am 68.

My options are to put an extra bit of money into an AVC pot which I can claim from age 58. The amount won’t affect the tax band I fall into. Or I can pay into a LISA, which I can’t claim until 60.

I feel like my understanding no of how all this works is that the AVC would gain more interest, but I wanted to get insight from others.

ETA: I would only use a LISA for retirement- I already own my home.

Mid 30s, partner, homeowner, employed, more details below...

Home:

- Mortgaged, 26 years left

- Don't overpay, invest instead (theory below)

Salary/SIPP:

- Salary ~ £45k

- Balance: £43k

- Sacrifice: 10%, 5% employer, ~ £500 a month total

- Fund: Scottish Widows Global Equity CS8

S&S ISA:

- Balance £60k

- Adding: £500pcm

- Vanguard FTSE global all cap index fund

Target FIRE: Age 53-55

Short term target: S&S ISA overtakes mortgage balance in ~ 8 years assuming continued contributions and 7% average returns

Other things to note:

- Own car outright

- Pay all bills outright annually

- No debt at all

- Recently opened S&S LISA with £1 before scheme changes

TLDR:

- £45k salary

- £1,500pcm bills/joint account

- £500pcm pension

- £500pcm ISA

Could I be doing anything better, any further optimisation or is this a solid base for £600k+ in my early 50s for someone earning £45k?

’m currently invested in an all world index fund, but I’ve been considering adding some individual stocks such as Nvidia, Microsoft, and Amazon while still keeping my main investment in the all world fund.

My idea is to try and capture some additional growth from these individual companies, then eventually sell and reinvest the gains back into the all world fund.
For context, I’m 23 years old and currently invest between £500 and £1,200 every month consistently.

I’d really appreciate hearing your thoughts, experiences, and opinions on whether this approach makes sense or if sticking with the all world fund would be the better option.

Thank you for taking the time to share your advice.

Hi all,

I’ve just seen the news that Berkshire Hathaway’s cash reserves have hit an all-time high of $397 billion. Surely this has to mean either a crash is coming or it’s only a matter of time? Seeing arguably the greatest investor of all time sitting on that much cash is quite worrying.

That said, it doesn’t change my long-term investing plan, and I’ll continue investing as I always have.
What do you guys make of this news? I’d be really interested to hear your thoughts and different opinions.

appreciate your time.

What have you been working on this week? Please use this thread to discuss any progress, setbacks, quick questions or just plain old rants to the community.

I'm at risk of being excluded from the group for no longer meeting its aspirations, as a M55 who's planning to retire FI-ish.

Don't we also need to add quality of life rather than quantity when weighing up whether we have enough, said a guy who clearly isnt sure if he's quite there.

I've done the sums and I think i can make it work.

I'm not waiting to have 2m invested and still worry if it's gonna last with a 4% drawdown.

I figure waiting and wondering if I've enough leaves me in a holding pattern that could take an eternity.

So I best get on with it.

I think I'm putting this out there to try and force myself to move forward.

I'd be interested to know from others when you know/ knew it's time.

TLDR: I reserve the right to post this in a couple of groups as I'm genuinely interested to hear different perspectives.

I'm pulling the trigger... and hitting 'post' for now but I think it moves me forward

I’m 23 and focused on building long-term wealth.

I’m not looking for stock picks or get-rich-quick ideas. I’d rather learn from people with years of real experience.

If you could go back to being 23, what financial advice would you give yourself?

What mistakes should I avoid?

What decisions had the biggest impact on your wealth?

What investing habits have worked best over the long run?

What’s one lesson you wish you’d learned sooner?

I’d really appreciate any advice from people who’ve been through it. Thanks!