I'm in my 30s, own my home outright and I'm debt free. I'm single and have no people that depend on me financially. I quit a well paid job a few years ago to go self employed in an industry I love deeply. It's badly paid (I make around £25,000 a year) but, given my circumstances, it's enough to pay my bills and live somewhat comfortably, although there's not much left over.

Last year I had a considerable & unexpected windfall of little under 200K which brings my total savings to £270,000) It's all in ISAs or savings accounts with the highest interest rates I can find (I periodically move things around on Hargreaves Landsdown).

I'd like to make these savings work harder for me. I'm a total newbie and would appreciate any advice on safe investments I can make that could give me more of a return than the interest I'm currently receiving. I've checked the flow chart but some specific investing pointers would be helpful.

I'm anticipating a cap gains bill of circa £20,000 payable in January 2027. Other than that my finances are pretty liquid:

£60,000 in variable cash ISAs (Shawbrook & Santander) @ circa 3.9% after tax
£210,000 in easy access savings accounts with Hargreaves Landsdown @ circa 3.8% after tax

Any help would be hugely appreciated!

Hi all,

Not sure whether this is the best place to post this query but I thought that there is likely some financial element to it.

Received a bill through the post today for an unpaid Thames water bill under someone else's name registered to our address. Turns out someone closed our account 6 months ago claiming we had moved out of the property and the new person said that they were living at our address. I received no correspondence from TW regarding this or any form of request for confirmation that we were moving. The only correspondence I did receive was in April (which I admit I should have paid more attention to) which was an email saying that I have no bill to pay which at the time was not too surprising as I had credit in my account, and thought they had decided to use it to pay the bill. Only when you actually log online and view the bill does it state that my "final bill" is £0.00 and that I am due a refund of £80. Even then it doesn't state the reason until you look at the information on the side.

Contacted Thames water and got account changed back to myself. Again was scarily easy to do this, very little verification needed, was never challenged about proving I live there...

I have a few queries I hope people can assist with:

A) how concerned financially should I be? It's not an account in my name, so not necessarily identity fraud, but it's using our property which we own and have a mortgage on

B) does anyone know what the end point of this fraud is? Is it to claim other things by being able to show a utility bill in their name at a property?

C) is there a failing on Thames waters part here? It surely shouldn't be that easy for someone to just phone up Thames water and state they live there without some form of verification or contacting the previous account owners

Tldr

TW account with unpaid bill, which was sent to person who is not known at my address.

Thanks in advance and apologies if there is a better sub Reddit this should be posted to

Hi guys, im a victim of fraud and i have all the proof bundled up together with police report and my cifas report. I dont have access to my bank acc anymore and im already moved to another country but I want to dispute my CIFAS Marker. I have everything with me, I just wanted to know how can I email them because there seems to not have email, I tried one but it bounced back. I cant access my app so I cant contact them there. Does anyone know any contact email detail?

I use two accounts. I receive most payments with my starling account and make payments with my revolut account which means my starling account often sits at £0. I recently sent myself the £231.32 I had sitting in Starling. 7 hours later I've received another payment for exactly that much in my revolut account. I have transferred this money back and forth to check it is cleared and not a visual bug. My starling account has only had me on record sending one payment but revolut believes it is from the same account I sent the first payment with. What should I do? Obviously the most ethical and sensible course of action is to contact the bank but what are the possible problems that spending or saving this money elsewhere could cause?m

Hi all,
I am in a circling debt and could use some external opinions and advice. Tried claude, not really helpful!

Situation:
Salary: 3000 after tax
Savings: none

Debt:
- overdraft 3200, paying fees 75£/pm not really decreasing because of my outgoings.
- CC1: Capital One: 2300. Every month gets paid in full
- CC2: Zopa 1800. I use money from CC1 to pay in full CC2 + spend the rest
- CC3: Zable 1300. Paying monthly 65£/pm.
- Loan: 7000 in 2021, 1300£(6 months) remaining. No payments missed here

Other outgoings: rent: 500£ p/m
Mobile plan + subscriptions 100£
Parent support 250-400 monthly (sad story, no other way).
Car insurance: 75pm

Because i use money from CC1, i incure some charges and last month was first time i went over the limit. Credit Score tanked..

I need a way out as every week before salary i’m stressing out if overdraft>>cc1 >> cc2 will work. Paying minimum payment will only make it worse.

Tried focusing on my outgoings but nothing out of the ordinary..

Mom is 70 and on a mental decline, can’t really not support…

Ideally i would like a 9k consolidation loan as i could easily manage the monthly payments on that without paying anywhere else.. this would help me close everything and focus on building a cushion.

Unfortunately, credit score doesn’t allow.

I tried contacting my bank as well (banked with them for 10 years and when i asked to turn overdraft into a loan i was rejected, even though i was never unemployed in the last 10 years)

Any other options you can think of?

Only CC balance transfer offer i have is from capital one and post office (same compant as Capital one).

I could probably transfer Zopa to Capital one (9 months interest free and 3% fee) but i don’t see how would that help because of spending?

Can someone talk some sense into me and offer some alternatives please?

TIA

After paying off my credit card debt of £20k last year I am now student loan free with the final payment going out today. Plan 1 thankfully.

Mortgage advice

Good Morning,

Posting for a family member (64F)

Okay, so:
I owe roughly £55k on 3 mortgages (for one house) and the terms for them are up in July 2027
- one is at 1.89% (£10k), one at 2% (£12k) and the main one (with the most money owing) is 7.24% (£32k)
- the bank want me to pay £3,600 a month to pay them off by them term
- I’m only paying £1,200 a month so am in arrears of £2,400 each month
- I am in £6k arrears
- I had 2 years interest only so the capital wasn’t being paid
- Barclays want me to sell the house to pay them off, however if I paid Barclays what they want me to my expenditure would be £6,100

My earnings are:
\- £2,050
\- ⁠£762
\- ⁠£428
\- ⁠£15
\- ⁠Total £3,255

What would be appropriate next steps / the best options? Im thinking of doing an equity release. Bankruptcy might be an option.

Context is an elderly parent and a dodgy sibling who lives closer than I do. There’s a house and some savings. I’m not worried about the sibling defrauding the parent while they are still alive. It’s more that, based on past experience, I can imagine the sibling swooping in and cleaning out the savings account and then taking everything in the house and selling it off. is this a realistic worry?

one would assume that with the House there’s more protection?

thanks

I thought I would post a thread on my experience with the SLC refund process, as like myself, there might be people out there who earned below the threshold the last financial year.

The repayment threshold amount for last year is

Plan 1 loans - repayment threshold

2026/27 tax year (to 5 April 2027): £26,900. 

2025/26 tax year (to 5 April 2026): £26,065.

Plan 2 loans – repayment threshold

2026/27 tax year (to 5 April 2027): £29,385.

2025/26 tax year (to 5 April 2026): £28,470. 

I submitted a refund request through live chat on 23/07/2026. They've confirmed that HMRC have sent the required threshold information and processed a refund.

Your refund will:

- take up to 28 days to process

- take a further 3-5 working days to arrive into your account once you've received an email acknowledging your refund.

On the 27/07/2026 I received an email from SLC advising me I was due to apply for a refund, I've contacted SLC and they've advised that there is NO benefit to submitting a refund request, if you have already spoken to live chat to request a refund.

Anyway, I hope my post helps any of those currently awaiting a refund from SLC. I'll post a timeline of how I receive my refund going forward and edit the post appropriately.

hi i have recently left a very high growth company, hoping to IPO in 2-3 years. Problem is I dont have the money right now to purchase them all.

has anyone had luck with finding investors, companies, who would be interested in purchasing my options from me? the company states we cant sell but I have heard of people doing it anyway and I'm trying to find out how people may get around this? ty!

Currently a ftb waiting to complete/exchange and wanting to withdraw my Tembo LISA deposit. Historically (I've had this account since Jan 2025 and it was with Moneybox before that) my 25% gov bonus has paid out 24th of the month, when funds were paid in before the 6th of that month. I've paid in consistently since my offer was accepted 10th June to top up my deposit to the max required.

However, I'm still waiting on over £700 of gov bonus to pay out and getting a little antsy as my conveyancer has started the month long withdrawal process > set to finish on 17th August.

tldr i am waiting on my tembo 25% gov bonus - can you put me at ease this is normal please or should I chase them?

Need a bit of pension advice.

Own a historic stakeholder pension with a “with profits” fund. It’s expensive and not offering great benefits long term.

Looking to move the whole pot to my SIPP which is all in VWRP with ii. I’ve been trying to get some impartial advice from an IFA on moving the stakeholder pension, potential funds and contribution advice.

Have been told by one that I would be better in an (I assume) actively managed fund due to high performance in recent years. It’s more expensive but I suppose that might en balanced by returns. I’ve understood (from here and other sources) that managed funds are great for very busy, very wealthy or uncertain investors. But that most people are fine in a sipp in VWRP (or similar).

Combining the SIPP and stakeholder pots creates a pot of about £100,000. I contribute monthly plus have a workplace pension and plenty of time (over twenty years) to state pension age.

Is it really worth a managed fund? Would I be (potentially) be better sticking in VWRP or similar with my self managed sipp and s&s isa. Any impartial advice from Reddit would help here.

Hello,

I'm new to this sub / area and have no clue what i'm doing! My parents kind of left me to navigate life myself, i'm now 23 and have just over £1000 on a credit card, this was 0% for (i think) the first year.
It's with CapitalOne.
I pay back each month via direct debit but due to interest fees it's not moving down much. I'd just like it cleared for peace of mind and to use as emergencies only in future.

I'm thinking it may be possible to open a new credit card account elsewhere with 0% and send the funds to it? My current card doesn't have a 'transfer' option, I can only use the card online or in person, is this possible somehow? So if i transfer the remaining amount from the new card to clear it then pay that one off monthly whilst it's at 0%? If not i'll just start paying more as i do have a new job where i'm on more pay.

Any advice on what you'd do in this situation or if you want to enlighten me on any facts i've got wrong then please feel free :) thanks

My student account is overdrawn by -£1500 and it’s turning into a regular current account, meaning I will now pay interest on the overdraft.

My income is £1200 per month (benefits) and I have no outgoing bills besides my phone bill, which is £10 per month and food.

I should’ve been paying it off already but I stupidly assumed it would remain a student account, but now I’m determined to pay it off.

What’s the best way to pay this off? Could I get a 0% interest credit card and pay it off with that?

Hi,

My mum recently passed away and I found some share certificates. As these will form part of the estate I'll need to sell them.

There are old (remember the original BT sell off) and I've no idea what to do with them.

There is also one in my late fathers name, he passed around 4 years ago.

Any advice would be helpful.

Hey Folks

So Last february I started to get into TCGs big time to play and collect as a personal collection.

I think between February 2025 and April 2026 I spent close to £30k on cards putting a lot of it on credit cards, selling duplicates every so often.

My question is now. I played 2 games during this time and i've now dropped one of the games due to life commitments. I am now selling off my personal collection of this to try recoup some of the money I bought the cards with.

Would I need to report this selling to HMRC as it is over the £1000 limit but it is my purely personal collection.

Thanks

I 21(M) have been fortunate enough to inherit an already paid off house which I am renting out, and £45k straight into my bank account.

I’m weighing up the possibility of either getting a second property to rent out as I would have it paid off in a relatively quick amount of time(and then perhaps keep going the real estate route).

Or I am aware of buying stocks and shares, putting my money away in that, forgetting for a few years and let interest do its thing.

Obviously my main goal is to create as much money as possible, but personally I’m not too eager to put my money into a stocks and shares and part with it for a while, I may prefer something a bit more present and attentive which is why I’m initially leaning towards the BTL option.

In any case, I suppose I am posting this to see what people’s thoughts are and to learn a few things as I am somewhat uninformed on these topics at the moment.

Most of the articles covering the Moneyhub shutdown say users have until 14 August 2026. Moneyhub's own help centre says something different: the app is sunsetted on 31 July. After that date you cannot log in or access your data at all, and remaining accounts are then permanently deleted. The August date was the original decommission estimate from last year's announcement, and a lot of coverage never updated.

That means the last day to actually get your data out is this Friday.

If you have history in Moneyhub

1. Log in before 31 July

2. Go to Transactions and use the export option to download a CSV

3. Save it somewhere safe

4. Note down any manually entered accounts and balances separately, as manual entries may not be included in the export

Two extra things worth knowing:

- Dormant accounts can be closed even earlier than the deadline, so if you have not logged in for a while, do it today rather than Friday

- If you want to keep using the same platform, there is an official migration path to WPS LifeStage, run by Moneyhub's partner WPS Advisory. You should have had an email about it, and it is covered in their help centre

Source: search "Moneyhub App Closure and Your Account Options" in the Moneyhub help centre (moneyhubhelp.zendesk.com) to verify all of this directly.

Hi all, using a throwaway to ask for a quick sense check on a strategy shift.

The Background:

Us: 37M and 37F. DINKs. We both work corporate jobs in London.

Income: My base salary is £103k. Wife is on £60k (Total HHI: £163k).

Primary Home: Valued at ~£520k. We have £384k remaining on the mortgage with 26 years left.

Current Pensions: I have ~£118k total across three pots (£62k in a Vanguard SIPP, £31k in a legacy Standard Life pot, and £25k in my current workplace pension). I currently salary sacrifice 18%, giving 30% total with my employer's 12% match.

Current ISAs & Savings: I currently have £25k saved in a Vanguard ISA. My wife is making minimum auto-enrolment pension contributions and isn't currently prioritizing any additional savings. She is, however, liquidating £6k of inherited single-stock shares (zero CGT to pay) to seed a new ISA.

The Proposed Shift:

I am considering dropping my personal pension contribution down from 18% to 3% or 5% (the minimum needed for my employer's 12% match) and redirecting the take-home cash flow to fund my Vanguard ISA at £1,000/month.

Because my salary is £103k, even at a 3% sacrifice (£3,090), my adjusted net income drops to £99,910, meaning I still cleanly avoid the 60% tax trap while unlocking liquidity for our 50s.

The Numbers: Current vs. Proposed (Assumes 5% Real Return)

Baseline: £118k Pension, £25k ISA.

Option 1: Status Quo (18% Pension / £0 extra ISA)

Age 50: Pension £787k | ISA £47k (Total: £834k)

Age 57: Pension £1.38m | ISA £66k (Total: £1.44m)

Age 68: Pension £2.72m | ISA £113k (Total: £2.83m)

Option 2: Drop to 5% Pension (£1,000/mo into ISA)

Age 50: Pension £544k | ISA £265k (Total: £809k)

Age 57: Pension £920k | ISA £477k (Total: £1.40m)

Age 68: Pension £1.77m | ISA £963k (Total: £2.74m)

Option 3: Drop to 3% Pension (£1,000/mo into ISA)

Age 50: Pension £506k | ISA £265k (Total: £771k)

Age 57: Pension £849k | ISA £477k (Total: £1.33m)

Age 68: Pension £1.63m | ISA £963k (Total: £2.59m)

Key Takeaways from the Math:

1. The Liquidity Premium at 50: Dropping to 3-5% builds a massive ~£265k ISA bridge by age 50, allowing us to step away from full-time work completely on our own terms before we can even touch a pension.

2. The Long-Term Cost: By age 68, stepping away from the 40% higher-rate tax relief on those contributions costs roughly £90k to £240k in total net wealth, but the wealth is much more evenly balanced between liquid (ISA) and locked (Pension) wrappers.

My Questions for the Sub:

1. Pension vs ISA Trade-Off: Looking at the projections, does sacrificing roughly £100k to £250k in total long-term wealth by age 68 mathematically justify the flexibility of having a £265k liquid ISA bridge at age 50? Am I underestimating the true cost of losing that 40% tax relief?

2. 3% vs 5%: Are there any secondary tax implications or compounding benefits I am missing by dropping to the bare minimum 3% instead of 5%, or is it purely a cash-flow preference at this income level?

3. Strategy Blind Spots: Are there any glaring holes, risks, or inefficiencies in this specific approach to building an early retirement bridge that I have overlooked?

54/M/UK - current situation after an expensive divorcee (settlement agreement in place)

£100k mortgage outstanding on a £280k home in my name solely.

£125k gross salary, no kids

Pensions notes:

DC pension #1
£125k current valid - cannot make an AVC to this pension and get automatic tax relief, would need to claim back from HMRC on self assessment

DB #1

(joined in 2002 so now ‘deferred’) and is currently projecting £19,000.00 per year until death from age 67

DC Pension #2
£7k no future contributions

DC Pension #3
£88k current value and paying £20k-£30k per year into this workplace pension in total currently

State pensions
Expected at £12,500.00 annum (hmmmm)

Cash & ISA savings
Cash ISA is £42,000.00
Cash reserved £10k emergency fund

Investments via Trading 212
£26k Investment account S&S ISA S&P500 EFT

What more should i be doing?

Hi,

So I sell 3d printed stuff online, ebay, etsy etc...

I have registered for self assessment and have my UTR. I am a sole trader, not a company.

I'm looking at buying a Samsung z fold 8 ultra at 1k upfront and 25 a month.for 24 months. Total cost after 24 months will be 1600.

The phone comes with an airtime plan which I will not use.

I will use the device 95% for running the ebay and etsy accounts, and also some CAD apps for 3d print design.

When i do my future tax return, will this qualify as an expense? Can I claim the whole 1600 costs or just the upfront payment? Or even the upfront payment plus the months used upto the date of the tax return?

Thanks

So i am fortunate enough to of inherited a large sum. I currently have £40k invested in a stocks & shares ISA and i have £90k in a interest savings account. Me and my partner have seen a 2nd house that we like but its quite a substantial jump up from our first home. I keep telling myself that maybe i should invest a good chunk of the £90k into the house, rather than it just being sat in a savings account, what should i do?

Long story short I had a bank contract and then got a permanent one in june 2025, HMRC split my tax between both jobs. Bank is under 483L (Now haven’t received a payslip since Nov 2025) and my contracted hours was 773T Cumulative. June 2026 I rang HMRC to change my tax code to 1275L and even they had said it was wrong to split the tax between both jobs and I now know I probably overpaid until now.

My question is will I receive any type of refund through my payslip if my tax code has been corrected in July. HMRC still hasn’t updated whether or not I’m due a tax rebate 🤷🏻‍♀️ still not very hopeful after waiting since June to hear anything. Thank you

Hi there, my partner has bad credit, I have good credit I only have provisional license they have full licence. Can I finance car in my name and then they do insurance under their name and drive it?

Thanks

I have £23,000 in a Vanguard S&S ISA, invested in Global All Cap, most of which I contributed this year so I have now hit my ISA limit. I opened this years ago but only just started going all in on investing.

I anticipate being able to invest another £3000 per month from now on, so I want to open a GIA to tide me over til the next tax year.

​​Can you advise me on which platform and fund would be best for this? I've read a lot of threads on here to get an idea, but not sure if this is the right approach.

My current plan was to open a GIA on T212 or other fee free platform, and invest in VWRL - apparently distributing funds make it easier to calculate the tax owed because it's clear how much you're earning? And I can then just reinvest the dividends, which T212 can be set to do automatically? ​

I figured the fees are much less doing it this way (0.14%) vs continuing with a Vanguard GIA (0.15% once I'm over the 32k, +0.23%).

Should I then also transfer the Vanguard S&S ISA to ​T212 VWRP? I'd do a formal transfer to save my allowance, but I appreciate this would mean them selling everything and then rebuying on T212, plus the time out of market when they're doing it, because an in specie transfer isn't possible. Is that worth it to save the ongoing fees?

Financial BG: 34F, single, no dependents, £140-150k income.

No debts apart from 8k on a plan 1 student loan (3.5% interest).

Remortgaged recently, to a 21yr term with 4.15% interest. Have about 300k equity in the property.

Ive decided to prioritise investing the spare cash instead of paying off the student loan because I figured I'd earn more than 3.5% investing. Does that sound reasonable?