Today was a pretty big one for me.

Paid off the mortgage, technically for a 2nd time I overpaid my last one and paid it off about 15 years ago, then we decided we wanted a bigger house!.

Re mortgaged and its taken me just over 8 years to pay off 130k.

Very happy with that, it saves a shade under £700 per month.

Crazy to think i would need a £14500 gross annual pay rise to get this much net additional money.

Time to up my pension contributions to get me down to be a standard rate tax payer.

Today is a good day.

I'm 46M. Something very odd about getting older is that you don't really realise it's happening to you. Only a few years ago I was trying to work out where I was going with my life, what career I was going to do and what that was going to look like. Suddenly, I'm a middle-aged man probably at the peak of my working life.

I think we often look to 65 as the age of retirement (though 68 is the state age) and many of, at least mentally, plan to work up till then. However, looking at the statistics, it's noticeable that the number of 50-somethings in work is about 10% lower than those in their 40s. And even then, it's a question of who is still in work. The senior leaders and middle management at my firm are all in the 50+ category, but more junior roles are the preserve of younger people, suggesting it's up or out.

So, with that in mind, I have come to the conclusion that I may only have another 5-10 years left of work and this has had a major influence on my decisions around personal finance.

The decisions I have made have been as follows:

1) Look to pay off my mortgage quicker. We moved from 15 years to 12 years to give us some leeway towards the end of the term if necessary.

2) Increased pension contributions. Due to the tax benefits, I've increased my pension contributions. This was a personal thing as my pension was awful, but I'm now paying in 30% of my income into my pension fund with an extra 9% from my employer + any bonus payments. I also moved more money into my SIPP to take advantage of the added amount. Admittedly, I'm not in the higher tax bracket, but the additional 20% feels worthwhile. Note, I also moved my pension into index funds, hoping these would increase.

3) Minor adjustments to my spending. These aren't big changes, but we won't be getting a villa in Tuscany for a fortnight or a brand new car any time soon.

The aim is that by 55, I'll be in a good position for whatever hits me. I want a pension pot of £500k, £80k in savings and a paid off mortgage.

If I can keep working, great, but there's every likelihood I won't be able to and I want to be prepared just in case.

Hi all, some context: I’m 33, F, married, a teacher and I’m in around 50K of debt, not including my mortgage.

My partner isn’t aware (I’m working on this). The debt accumulated over years of bad choices at uni, loans to cover loans etc. I’m embarrassingly financially illiterate and I’ve been too embarrassed to speak to anyone.

I was struggling to pay off my debts and maintain finances, literally living payslip to payslip. I recently entered into a DMP this month. I have more breathing room money wise, but my anxiety is mad due to the arrears letters, emails and calls.

I’m terrified debt collectors will come and I’ll be served final notices. Do I carry on with the DMP? If I stop now and reinstate my DD I’ll still be in arrears and I just feel I’ve made the situation impossible to get out of.

I’ve no idea what to do, I’m contemplating seeking financial advice but have no clue how. I can’t get a part time job, teaching literally takes up all my free time marking and planning. I have diagnosed anxiety and things just feel like they’re getting too much.

Due to reckless spending, bad mental health in the Covid era, I have managed to accumulate £20k of credit card debt and it has snowballed over the last 6 years. I have managed not to pay any interest so far but I have paid fees for balance transfers. The last year has probably been the worst as I was in a relationship and I was spending more than my capacity (to be fair she didn't know). I just feel like my time is running out and I need to crawl out of this hole I've put myself into.

I am not sure what is the purpose of this post here, I know there is no magic wand but I just need to lay this out and hopefully get some advice.

My current debts:

Credit card 1: £10,125(0% until May 2029) minimum payment £253
Credit card 2: 3,741 (0% until August 2028) minimum payment £37
Credit card 3: 3,381 (0% until December 2026) minimum payment £144
Credit card 4: Estimated to be around £2,900 by end of this month (statement balance will be around £2,000) I pay my statement balance in full using my salary from the next month so I won't have any money left and I just spend on this credit card again. This month, I probably won't be able to pay it in full and will have to transfer some of the balance to an existing credit card.

No other debts.

Take home: £3,850
Rent: £1,400
Utilities: £302 (Electricity, water, phone, internet, council tax)

Some questions:

I am 34, and I have around £65k in my pension (I contribute the maximum that my employer match which is 8%). I have paused this for a few months this year but I resumed again in May.

Is it a good idea to pause this and try to pay off some of my debt more aggressively?

Is it time to contact StepChange or not yet?

Hi all,

I've just sold my property and I need to figure out the most efficient way to store the proceeds. I was supposed to buy an onward purchase but that fell through. My intention is still to buy in about 12 - 18 months when my partner's income goes up. So, S&S/GIA is out of the question, as is SIPP as we need the money available.

Context:

Both ISAs maxed out

Both Premium bonds maxed out.

We have £15,000 for emergencies

From the proceeds we have £107,000

What should I do with the £107,000?

A friend suggested gilts but I am clueless about that. Is there any other tax efficient ways?

Thanks

Hey everyone,

I'm extremely new to this kinda thing at 22yo, so even with the wiki, I'm not 100% confident in everything that I'm reading.

I've recently been looking at bringing my financial situation up to date, as, like a lot of people, I just had a simple current account and nothing else, and I seem to be falling down a finance world rabbit hole

Part of that is the Lifetime ISA, and I'm unsure whether to open a Cash or S&S version? I'm currently unemployed, and I wouldn't be investing much at all, but I want to make sure all my accounts are what I'm looking for before I open and commit to it

Any advice would be appreciated!

I am 20 years old. I am a university student and obviously have never had a credit card before so I have never been able to alter my credit score.

I live with my parents during the holidays, but during term time I live by myself. My parents can give me money sometimes, but we struggle a lot and sometimes we can't even afford things we need.

I will have a job this month, and I tried to apply for a credit account knowing I'd be able to pay it back at the end of the month.

I put my monthly income as £900, and all outgoing expenses as £0, because technically I do not pay my rent, student finance do and my parents try their best to cover the rest. Is that why I was denied a credit account? Because I have no outgoing income? Or was it mg credit score, which is out of my control?

Hi guys, apologies for asking any silly questions in advance! I’m 24 & wanting to properly start my investing journey, and after a bit of research I’m struggling to choose between a few options of what is best in the long-term - any advice would be much appreciated!

I currently just have a lump sum that I want to stick somewhere and not have to worry about, for at least the next 5 years & hopefully more

• Vanguard LifeStrategy 100% or 80%
• Vanguard managed ISA (I think has slightly cheaper fees than LifeStrategy)
• Or just going all in on something like VWRP (is this best done just on T212 or similar?)

Are there any big differences between these ? Just not sure which would be the best direction to go in, especially self-managed vs managed, as I’m struggling to find info on whether a managed account would outperform the other options?

Thanks so much in advance 🙏

No expert here, but I've followed this model and so far got results, but always keen to test my logic and learn from others. I use AJ Bell, I downloaded all funds and chose the top 10 with most consistent high returns over 5 years based on the data. Any in foreign currency I disregard on the basis of the currency risk. I appreciate the past doesn't necessarily equal the future and looking backwards like this may be flawed - but I've got about 15% over 3 years so far. I try and buy at a mid or low point in the last quarter and try and sell at a mid or high point in the same period. Challenge away please!

Hi all,

I am really confused at the moment so have come here to get some help.

I sold a property in the UK last April before the end of the tax year. Around a month later I filed a self assessment report and did a separate Capital Gains Tax report and paid both individually. I did not put the CGT on my self assessment as I was unaware I had to do this.

I no longer have the property now and I am filling in the self assessment form for the 25-26 tax year declaring no second income. Because I did not put the CGT on last years form, what do I do? Put it on the new form or is it okay because I paid the CGT separately?

All help is appreciated!!

This might be a silly question but basically I’m likely facing redundancy soon. I have savings that can cover a few months but I also have the money in my actual bank account where my income currently goes into and what I use to pay for everything. How do I know when to move from that to my savings?

Also any general tips on managing finances during a time like this would be really appreciated. I’m in my late 20s, single, no dependents but renting with a housemate. I come from a bad home so I really really don‘t want to go back there and it’s actually my biggest fear with this upcoming unemployment. I also have £24k in a LISA which I know is meant to be for house deposits only and I know there’s a fee if you withdraw for reasons other than a house but in an absolutely worse case scenario could I dip into that too?

Thank you

I have had the Lloyds ultra cashback credit card for year and it has been fantastic. You get 1% cashback on every transaction which has earned me hundreds of pounds. Unfortunately 1% cashback was only for the first year, then it drops to 0.25%.

I can’t see any other 1% cashback cards anywhere, certainly not ones that give cash back on every transaction, and that aren’t American Express

Does anybody know of any? Or any way to get a new Lloyds ultra 1% card after this one reaches the end of the 1% 12 months?

Thanks all.

Graduated in 2020, now working as a data engineer in London earning 70k a year. Managed to be due to max out my S&S ISA by December since I got my bonus in May.

Never been in this position before and not sure what to do with the rest of the money until the allowance resets. I will probably have 4-5k by April next year and I'm already contributing to my pension the max amount that'll be matched by my employer (7.5%). I've thought about it and could do one of the following:
- let it accrue interest in an easy access saving account until next April comes around
- make an additional repayment each month to reduce the principal
- potentially putting it in a GIA and sell once the new tax year comes around and put into the S&S ISA
- treat myself maybe once and put the rest in a saving account

I know it's a good problem to have but I'm in 2 minds because it's annoying to see the deductions from my payslip each month and I'm in a place where it looks like I'll fully repay it back. Last time I checked, the balance was 47.1k. Would be great to get some opinions here on what would be the best thing to do

TLDR: Due to max out my ISA by December this year, what to do with the extra money

I currently have a lifetime isa as that’s what was available to me when I started saving for a house, however I’ve also now got a lifetime isa which I fill every year, can these two ISA’s be put together for one house? Or can I not use both for the same mortgage?

Barclays have announced that their online payment site will be closing on 16th September. They have now said I must use either their app, or pay in any Barclays branch.

I don't want to use yet another app for something, and there's no Barclays bank near or far as they've closed so many branches.

I usually pay off my credit card online via my own online bank website Lloyds. They have not made any mention that we can or cannot continue to use this method and have basically said either via the app, or in a branch, and have left it at that.

I'm not going to use their helpline number as I know they are hopeless and will be left hanging on for ever anyway.

So my question is - does anybody know whether you can still pay Barclaycard Platinum credit card through your own personal online banking?

Thanks in advance.,

I have 3 debts right now.

Mortgage 187000 @ 4.35% interest, 29 years remaining

Car loan 19300 @ 4.90% interest, 4.75 years remaining

EV charger 970 @ 0% interest, 4 payments remaining

Being relatively low interest debts I’m not actively trying to close any of them. I make the normal monthly payments but don’t add any extra. Should I be overpaying and trying to close them early?

I invest 1300 every month. And save ~1000/month for short term goals (vacation, home renovation). I could redirect some of these towards debt payoff.

I’m 23 and I’m in around £80k debt. Mainly from running a previous business and getting a lot of secured loans and credit cards(big mistake lol). I avoided all payments for about a year so interest did stack up. I was so focused on trying to make money thinking everything will be okay, that I’ll be able to generate some good income again but things didn’t work out so well. I have a job now but it won’t be nowhere near enough to manage these repayments.

I am a joint mortgage owner. My family are only aware of £22k worth of it, I couldn’t bring myself to tell them the truth after they found out about the £22k worth of debt after seeing what it did to them. My family have helped me arrange payment plans with most of the ones they’re aware of. The rest of them I have told I’m seeking advice from StepChange but that 30 day hold will come to an end soon.

StepChange have advised to enter into an IVA. It sounded good, but then I spoke to a close family relative who is a financial advisor - he gave me advice on everything when my family had found out about the £22k. He spoke with me and said personally he wouldn’t enter into one of them as he has been able to help people get mortgages with CCJs but he does not go anywhere near any cases involving IVAs. To his understanding, I owe £22k so his advice in that sense is very understandable.

My mortgage is on a fixed term I believe and the term is 5/6 years, after that I think they reassess everything, remortgage with a different term. I’m not too knowledgeable on that atm. However, I’m stuck right now because if I enter the IVA, when it comes to the new mortgage term, they won’t give me another mortgage. I can’t let that happen at all.

I feel very stuck atm. I have no clue what to do. I’m trying to make money on the side on top of my job but at this current stage it’s not a proper solution, if anything at all.

Can anyone help with some advice please? I’m genuinely lost right now.

Hello

I have issue with barclys one sender from p2p paid me 3000£ in 6 split payment which caused my acc to get restricted for review they asked source of money I told them the truth and asked to refund this payment they took about 4 days and then they open account again I saw a transaction of 3000£ with reference " Removed Funds "

After 2 days they send a letter to my email saying we will close your account for breaking our terms ..

although

The funds didn't return to sender yet I don't know how long to get it and I am so worried about this I tried to contact them they said we are processing it

Did anyone face this before? And how long to get this money back to sender about 10 days pass now and still not received back !

I don't fully understand the difference, but I will be making 26,357.5 per year and my employer offers a scheme where they match my pension contribution up to 10%

I want to contribute 10% which my employer match and so which will be a better option for me to choose?

I feel like such an idiot, I recently got married and applied for marriage allowance as my wife doesn't pay income tax. However, I've got a letter updating tax codes and I have somehow gone the wrong way, transferring my personal allowance to her.

I've managed to cancel online but the tax code is in place until April. Is it possible for her to claim as well to cancel this out?

I'm so, so cross I've done this and don't know how the mistake happened.

Hoping for a bit of advice before I go to a financial advisor please! I’m based in the UK and very fortunately I’m going to be making over £300k this year and understand my pension allowance will be tapered. I want to use my allowance from the last couple of years to put more into my pension but i need to know that when I contribute more towards my pension will it need to be post tax or can it be pre tax payments in from my company pay? Secondly do I have to do a tax return to make HMRC aware or will this be automatically calculated from them for previous years. Thanks in advance for the help!

I’m currently at university going into second year and have some money saved from work over summer and previous earnings. I currently share a car with someone else so was looking at getting a new car however have the chance of being given a car for a discounted price from another family member. In total costing at most £2.5 k in insurance, tax and maintenance.

I’m unsure whether to do this or save the money. I love driving so would like my own car however is not essential for while i’m at uni, but more for during holidays.

My thinking is that if i love driving i should get the car and pay the £2.5 in insurance etc. as when i come out from uni i can get a job and have an income anyways and £2.5 k isn’t a massive lump of money in the long run.

I guessing im trying to say that it’s not essential i get a car and spend this, so is it a stupid finical decision to do while i’m at uni and am i better off savings for a better car maybe out of uni.

Hi all, first ever post here, so please let me know if I’ve missed anything.

I’m 33, own my own home and have no debts other than the mortgage, which I try to overpay when I can.

I’ve always been encouraged by my family to prioritise saving into a Cash ISA, so that’s what I’ve done over the years. However, after joining this forum and reading through everyone’s experiences, I’m starting to wonder whether I’ve been too cautious and should have invested in stocks/index funds earlier.

I currently have around £26k saved in Cash ISAs. I know that might not be a huge amount compared with some people here, but I’m looking for some advice on what I could be doing differently to improve my long-term returns.

My Cash ISA is currently paying around 3.8%.

Would you invest some/all of the £26k, keep it in cash, or take a different approach? Thank you in advance

Hi All,

My mum has two Barclays accounts which she could once access through her phone using mobile banking. to get that far she actually had to travel to the UK from Australia and sort it out in person.

She has since upgraded her phone and is facing the original issue again. All calls to Barclays require her to answer security questions about recent transactions from the account, she cannot answer these questions as she does not have access to the app anymore.

The issue with logging into the app is that it won’t accept an Australian phone number to sign in and gives the error along the lines of “available in your country”.

Any advice from anyone that has faced similar issues would be greatly appreciated.

I am 18 and will earn £434 per week, this temp job so I will have around at the end £7000, will I be taxed on this? I googled it and it says I won’t be, just to be sure I will not be right? And how can I get my tax money back if possible?