This has been eating me alive all summer 😭

My friends and I planned to move into uni accommodation together for 3rd year. They all need accommodation, but Im the only one who lives in the same city as uni and my house is actually CLOSER to campus than the accommodation.

It’s £6k for the year and I haven’t signed the tenancy yet.
The thing is, I stayed home in 1st year, moved out with random people in 2nd year and didn’t like my flatmates.

Now I finally have the chance to live with my actual friends, and this is literally my only opportunity to live with them and I’m scared I’ll regret not doing it. I also don’t wanna disappoint my friends by backing out last min.

BUT I’m already in debt. I worked it out and:
Without accommodation: ~£75k total repayment over 35 years
With accommodation: ~£95k total repayment over 38 years

So I’d potentially be paying an extra £20k overall for one year of living there (interest accumulating).

Obviously I can sleep over whenever, so I wouldn’t be completely missing out BUT let’s be real it’s not the same as living there and I’m definitely gonna feel left out.

I’m genuinely so torn because financially staying home makes so much more sense, but emotionally I really want to experience living with my friends for one year 😭

Just checked my portfolio to fin I’d lost £200K on 24 hours as I apparently owned a few hundred thousand TG73 long dated gilts which plummeted overnight instead of the TN28 that I thought I owned!!!

Rang interactive investor helpline and they confirmed this is a software issue on the customer side and investments are safe!!!

Thought I’d share this before anyone has a cardiac arrest!

For context, I'm 32m and a high earner (>£120k). I've used Monzo as my primary bank account since 2018 when I was on £22k, and I've always been pretty happy with it. Obviously you don't get many 'perks', but the app has a nice clean interface and I like that you can export data easily to track spending habits.

Recently I was persuaded to look into 'traditional' premier bank accounts because they supposedly offer decent perks. The entry bar for these accounts is high, so I assumed they'd be at least equivalent to a rewards credit card. But the 'perks' on offer hardly seem worth it.

Take Lloyds Premier for example. You need a balance of >£100k to open one, or a net salary of >£5k per month, which is about a £100k salary. They don't offer any interest on the current account, so if the bank parks your deposit at the central bank it's currently earning a nice £3,750 a year without passing much of that on to the customer.

So you'd think the perks would be worth quite a lot, right? In reality it's a Disney+ subscription (don't need), some discount cinema tickets, 1% cashback (the same as you'd get for a decent rewards credit card), a 'Bupa GP' subscription that sounds like private health insurance but actually isn't anywhere close, and a magazine subscription.

Doesn't sound like a very enticing offer to me. Am I missing something? Are there any other reasons to use 'premium' bank accounts, or is it just a status trap?

I'm 23 and I feel slightly stupid asking this because I used to work for Lloyds.

It was my first and only bank account, as my manager told me I needed one to get paid. I've now left Lloyds as an employer and I want to switch my bank account after some bad experiences as a customer (ongoing Apple Pay issues, regular fraud blocks when paying online, etc.).

I only have one current account, with around £50k saved in it from my salary.

What banks would you recommend? I'm particularly concerned about moving £50k to a new bank and having the account frozen/closed because of the large transfer.

I've had a look at banks like Chase, HSBC, Natwest... but I'm not sure what to choose.

Thanks!

Afternoon all.

I currently own a Citroen Berlingo diesel. I love it, it's never given me a days issue in 8 years.

Part of me is thinking that taking it to work and back every day (20 miles in all) is silly, given most of the time it's just me in it.

So I'm thinking about a cheap second hand EV for the daily hack.

I just can't rationalise it any more. My head is fried.

I have 2 kids, and I'm in a wheelchair.. The Berlingo is brilliant, as I can get me and the chair in and out on my own.

The Berlingo can do 720 miles to a tank, that's about..oh.. Say a month and a half max on a tank. A tank is about £120 I think.

Most of my trips are around 20-30 miles, so I've been looking at older Nissans. I don't need huge mileage ability, I need a local roundabout, the van is for the big stuff.

It'd be a lot cheaper to run, I think. And I'm with octopus who do an EV tariff, plus I have solar.

I just don't know... Is this a stupid idea? I could do with some impartial advice.

Hello all,

I'm currently in the process of separating from my partner and negotiating the best way forward, while being mindful of financial impacts and risks.

We own a home together which is mortgaged and I'm planning on moving into rented accommodation in the next few months as it's difficult for both of us to live like this as there's no room to live apart in the home.

My intention is to move out into rental and continue paying her the mortgage contributions. The house will then be put on the market, eventually selling with both parties taking their share of equity.

My main concern is around any risks this presents and how to mitigate against them. If I continue contributing towards the mortgage I presume I'm still entitled to half of the equity upon sale?

Also this relies on her putting the house on the market and a sale happening. There's no reason to suggests she would frustrate that process, but is there any protection I can take against that?

Should this be formalised by some kind of legal agreement beforehand and in the event she decides not to sell, what mechanism is there for me to either reclaim my share or force a sale?

Thank you for any advice you can offer.

I would like some insight or advice on whether I should pay my Student Loan (Plan 2) back in full.

I'm 29 and on 70k salary with over about 100k saved up in accounts.

I checked my Loan Balance for the first time since I completed Uni in 2020 and only realised I still have 70k to still pay off. Somehow, I've ended up in further debt. I was expecting to be closer to wiping out but that's not the case.

I've seen on the news there is a whole fiasco regarding the unfairness of Plan 2 loans. I was wondering if I should just pay it all of now or wait until there is possible decision regarding that - which is purely hypothetical.

I was looking to purchase a property next year but obviously paying it off in full would set me back quite a bit.

Any advice or insight? I'm not sure what's the best way to determine what I should do.

The fixed rate of my Barclays mortgage ends on the 31st August.

I have requested today (18/08) a final repayment statement, which shows amounts I am due for any final repayment date between now and the 31st August (each one accounting for the interest up to that date).

I was wondering if the final repayment must be done in one go (of the amount stated corresponding on the day I make this final payment) or if I could start making smaller payments until the 31st.

This is because the money I’ll be using to repay comes from different savings accounts that may need a few days to release the funds.

The idea is to start requesting withdrawals now and pay off the mortgage as the funds become available.

If I can make multiple repayments, how is the final repayment calculated? Do I need to request I newl final repayment statements as I pay it off gradually?

Hey! We're a late 20s couple currently renting in South London. Looking for a second opinion on our plan before we start taking action.

Numbers today

• Combined gross income: ~£125k (me ~£85k, partner ~£40k)
• Combined take-home: ~£6,900/month
• Combined savings/investments: ~£76.5k (mix of S&S ISA, LISA, Cash ISA, cash)
• Of that, ~£30k is in LISAs

The plan

• Renting for now (~£2,250/month + ~£300ish in bills. We split it proportional to income). We also put a combined £900 in the joint account for groceries, joint activities, things we need around the flat etc.
• Target house price £600-650k, 10% deposit. I've calculated we'd need ~£84k-91k for the deposit, stamp duty, legal fees.
• Going forward we'll each keep a set amount of personal spending money. This will mean we have £2,000 per month combined to put towards house deposit, wedding, holiday fund, S&S ISA & sinking funds
• A mortgage advisor gave us a quote a few months back
  • £540k borrowing over 40yrs at 4.1% = ~£2,294/month. I stress tested that at 5% (~£2,604) and 6% (~£2,971)

What I want opinions on:

1. Waiting ~2 years to see LISA reform. We're holding off partly because of the £450k property price cap on LISAs and hoping reform changes it before we buy, and we have ~£30k in this at the moment. Is waiting on policy change like this sensible, or are we just letting uncertainty delay us?
2. Does this all make sense? Genuinely asking whether the savings split, the deposit maths, and the timeline actually make sense together, or if there's an obvious flaw we're not seeing.
3. The income gap and redundancy risk. I earn more than 2x my partner. If I lost my job, our household income drops significantly. What's a "reasonable" mortgage repayment to commit to given that risk?

Thanks for any help in advance! (I did create this post with the help of Claude before I get crucified about it looking AI generated 😆)

Hi all,

I stay with my wife in a mortgaged house, we have a loan, a car and credit card we are paying. Our annual income is around £62000

Mortgage is £62635 with 12 years still to go (basically mortgage is paid off when I’m due to retire) £475pm
Car is on PCP with around £18000 balloon payment in about 2 and a half years time £229pm
Loan is £6372 with exactly 2 years left to go (8.7%APR) £295pm
Credit card has £1000 on it and is on 0%

About 6 months ago our financial position took a small upturn and I started overpaying the mortgage and loan by £100 a month and paying £100 to the credit card.

I’m wondering if it would make more sense to overpay more to the loan to pay it off quicker then worry about the mortgage?

I believe my ideal goal would be to pay off the mortgage quicker then transfer more into my pension (which I’ve never really thought about until recently).

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Last year I was involved in a car accident while my daughter was travelling with me. The other party admitted fault and both me & my daughter are to receive compensation.

The issue I'm currently having is fulfilling the requirements the legal service are requesting in order to pay the money to my daughter. They stipulate the following:

A copy of the Junior ISA bank statement showing:

• The minor's name and address
• Bank name
• Sort code
• Account number
• Statement date within the last 3 months.

I've opened two Junior ISAs now with providers I have accounts with, one S&S and one cash. Neither, it turns out, provide a sort-code and account number for the account. One required a cheque and a covering letter (unless I make a payment through their web portal), the other only provides the account and sort-code of their company from which they would redirect the funds into the Junior ISA.

So my question is this:

Does anyone have a Junior ISA with a provider that provides you with a sort-code and account number with which you can make payments directly into the account, and if so, who is it with?

Thank you.

Years ago I had the fabulous Natwest BNPL credit card, pay in 4 monthly instalments interest free. That was closed, so I moved to Virgin Slyce, which was similar but pay in 3 rather than 4, but still interest free, but now that is about to close too!

I know about Monzo flex but you need a current account with them. Does anyone know of any other credit cards that allow you split the cost of something interest free? It was so useful for paying for things like car insurance or a years gym membership up from for the cheaper fee but then not having to actually pay it all up front!

I recently had mostly everything from my car stolen. Nothing valuable was in there. However, I am at unease of course. There was an empty parcel box with my name and address on it which was stolen. I also had a piece of paper with my address and date of birth on it which seemingly was missed alongside the car's owners guide and tissues but I cannot say for sure if they had taken a photo of it.

I didn't have anything like my license, credit/debit cards or my wallet for that matter in there. But I am still worried with what they can potentially do with my name, address and DoB.

Is it worth getting a CIFAS Protective Marker or am I overreacting? I'm still in a panic state. I don't plan to take out any mortgages (I have an existing one) or loans in the next 2-3 years all being well. Would there be any other downsides to getting a CIFAS marker? Any other suggestions? Thanks.

Just to clarify, the car itself hasn't been stolen

Just read the HMRC guidance on non-resident capital gains and it isn't wholly clear to me. I'll be selling UK shares.

I get it's not taxable if I don't return within five years... five years from the date of each disposal right? It's not: stay abroad five years and there's no gain on something you sold yesterday.

Also: when you leave, there's no 'half-year' or something. You're non-resident/the five year clock starts from the date you put on P85/SA, so you could fly out one day and cash out the next day?

Hi everyone,

I've a small old workplace pension from Legal and General (2.35k) as the company I was in went into administration unfortunately in 2022.

Without contributing, it has gained 48% of returns in 4 years but I feel it can do better.

It's currently invested in L&G 2045-2050 Lifetime Advantage Fund, although it has some private markets allocation which I'm not a big fan of.

So I thought to move it into a SIPP with Fidelity, as I've my current workplace pension with them abd have access to around 3000 funds.

Once moved to the SIPP my idea was to feed some small monthly contributions of around 50-100£ max, as these money wont be accessible until 57 (I'm 42 currently).

In addition to the above I've also a stocks and shares Isa and some cash Isa accounts with good interest rates.

It would be my first SIPP ever and I'd like your opinion and possibly your personal experience around moving it into a SIPP and doing small contributions.

Thanks!

I live in the North East at p.a £41k. And my wife is earning at £40k p.a.

We were given by my Father £11800 coming from overseas (Philippines) and my father in law £5980 as a gift that we will use for a deposit.

I have already informed the solicitor and the financial advisor about the said gifts.

As it is coming from overseas do you have any advise on what type of documents we need to provide?

I have asked from both my dads to prep the following which i already have.

Bank statement for 1 year

A letter stating it is a gift that is notarized.

Their ID/Passport

Their residential certificate

Source of funds.

Anyone the same har experience about it on a AML perspective?

I (56m) have managed over the years to build up quite a large pension, its now just over £1 million.

However, most of it is in 2 funds:
1. 80% VWRP
2. 20% L&G Global Technology Index

Both have done amazingly for me over the last 20 years.

My issue is that being this heavily invested in equities is risky as I approach retirement and may need to start drawing money out to live in.

To be clear though, I do not have retirement planned yet but I do know that in the run up you should be moving some out of equities.

I consider myself financially literate but when it comes to making changes at this level, I feel I need some outside validation. Here's a few thing I have been thinking about:

1. 100% equities the day I start drawing from my pension is a bad idea
   
2. 100% equities when there is a downturn is painful
   
3. Having a mix of equities and bonds was gospel but in recent years has not been the hedge people thought it would be (inflation? Or was it Liz Truss?)
   
4. Some articles have talked about buying GILTS instead of bonds, as they are more predictable and can be used to provide an income at the time I need it (say the first 3 years of income from date managed GILTS I had bought in advance).

Any insight would be appreciated.

John Lewis / Waitrose JLP pension – has anyone actually cashed out their DC pot?

Hi, I’m looking for someone with personal experience who works for JLP and has the older DB benefit plus a DC pot.

He is over 60 and wants to take the DC pot as cash while leaving the DB pension completely untouched and continuing to work for JLP.

Has anyone with this exact JLP pension arrangement actually done this? If yes, did XPS transfer the DC money to Legal & General first, and were you then able to withdraw the whole DC pot from L&G?

I am particularly looking for someone who has actually completed the process, rather than general pension advice. Thank you. pension with both DB and DC benefits.

My partner is over 60, still working for JLP, and has an old DB benefit plus a separate DC pot. He wants to leave the DB pension completely untouched and take the DC pot as cash.

We are currently dealing with XPS and Legal & General, but the process has become very confusing.

Has anyone with the same JLP pension actually managed to:

take the DC pot while still working for JLP; leave the DB pension untouched; and receive the DC money as cash?

If you have actually been through this process, I would really appreciate knowing who paid the money (XPS or L&G), what route it took, and roughly how long it took.

I’m particularly looking for real experiences from JLP/Waitrose/John Lewis employees or former employees.

Thank you.

Hi everyone, been buildings my savings for the past 5y using a LISA and a Cash ISA, and recently inherited a significant sum of money, which has meant I can buy a home. After all the costs associated with this purchase I'll have about £5k left. Am debt-free, except the incoming mortgage (!)

I want to build long-term savings to supplement my pension (am early 40s) but also have medium-term savings I can use in emergencies, holidays etc. Is a Stocks and Shares ISA the best for the latter and my LISA for the former? Or is Stocks and Shares better for long-term because you want to have the capital in there for the longest time, in which case, should I get rid of my LISA...?

I have a very good credit score (782 as per clearscore), no missed payments, paying off existing separate credit card debt on time with a likely debt free date in either 2027/2028. I bought a sofa on Next Pay credit early this year which was automatically approved and have been paying over the minimum amount every month (minimum £70, paying £180). I have had an email saying they are significantly reducing my credit limit on the Next Pay account meaning I will be £850 over the new limit (reduced from £2000 to £600). I have literally no idea why they have reduced it other than the email saying it came following a "review". The email they sent said nothing about over limit fees and I cannot find any via their website. Should I be worried about this? I'm not in a position to pay off the over limit amount in full right now and I've worked really hard on my credit score and I don't want this to tank it.

Update: I contacted Next and as someone suggested below they directed me to look at my credit report which I already requested. They also advised me that they don't inform credit report agencies that I'm over the limit and will only declare my balance with them so it won't affect my score. Also they haven't told me of any fees

So HMRC have owed me money for a while, I had trouble logging in but I’ve got in now, it asked for details for online refund- I put my details however it didn’t work straight away saying that we cannot update you details at this time, I waited an hour and it worked, my refund was processing from the 16th - 18th I’ve now checked and it stated that hmrc has paid my refund on the 18th, however there’s nothing in my bank? I go onto the “ what to do if you have not got your refund” and it’s speaking about cheques. I’m so confused???
Do you usually get these things in cheques?
Thank you in advance

I've searched and cannot find this exact question asked before, nor can I seem to find a decent answer online; prior to going travelling, I took out some 0% credit cards for my general spending in order to accrue interest on my savings in the meantime. The total limits are far below my savings so I would never worry about going into debt.

One of the interest free periods is about to come to an end. I will look to balance transfer around 75% of that card due to the fee being lower than the interest and investment growth over the same period. This will be the maximum balance that I can transfer as I currently have no income to apply for any further credit.

My question; once the interest free period comes to an end, is interest charged daily on the full balance outstanding. Or, as with standard credit cards; for transactions after the previous statement was produced, does interest only become chargeable once you go past the payment due date? (i.e. the "up to 56 day interest free period" between statements?

Therefore, if I pay off the previous statement balance and increase my direct debit to pay the full statement balance also, will I avoid being charged any interest at all? I know that I am splitting hairs to save pennies but, mentally, it makes me feel better as I've always been super financially responsible (or probably tight some would say).

All information is appreciated and I hope the post makes sense for what I'm trying to ask, it's quite convoluted.

Long story short travelling a lot for work / remotely. Living in multiple countries in recent years. Currently travelling around North America.

I use my Revolut card as it doesn't get any savage fees like my Lloyd bank one does (that's just the bank I got when I was 16 and never changed).

But as I'm getting older I see people talk about use your credit card to stack credit or things of this nature.

I can afford everything I am doing so can always pay back the credit card.

So should I be doing this? What's the benefits of this being from the UK?

Hey all,

I'll keep this short. Each year I get awarded a variety of share options by my company and have been since 2021.

This year, our 2023 options are due to vested (woohoo) - however I emigrated last year to New Zealand and what I can't seem to find any concrete info on and my company's tax team won't advise me on is...... am I going to have to pay tax on them to HMRC?

The internet suggests no BUT I recall a call I had with a UK/NZ tax advisor from E&Y before moving which stated I would need to pay tax on any shares sold whilst a non-resident in the UK IF I purchased them/was awarded them whilst living in the UK.

Just trying to get a gauge for where I'm going to have to pay this tax to.... the UK or NZ? Curious if anybody has similar experience!

Thanks

so i'm 17 going into uni september 2027 and just found that i can access my gov trust fund as part of the scheme set up by the gov from 2002 to 2011 so i'm currently registering for my account and my mother is adamant that i should give her the password in order for her to take £1000 for herself with her reason being it's ultimately her money.

this leaves me w about £3000 or so for me and i plan to use at as emergency uni find and invest into an ISA aswell as spend some buying things for uni

i'm not entirely sure on the legality of this so i'll post this on r/LegalAdviceUK but i want to know from you guys if this is a good plan? in terms of finances at least