£100 extra a month - WWYD?

[baizeleaf]

I’m getting a pay rise for something I already do but is now being recognised with a minimum that bonus payment.

What to do with the money?

Split between kids’ accounts
Overpay mortgage
Buy added pension
Open S&S ISA
Let it absorb into general funds and not see the benefit

S&S ISA. Much better choice than overpaying mortgage, as interest rates on mortgages are so low. My mortgage is 1%. My S&S ISA has made 8% this year.

If it was a couple of years ago I would have been able to pay my rent and might not have lost my home and business. However now only thing I would be able to do is try to start paying debts.

@Boombastic22

Always mortgage. Whilst interest rates so low it’s a no brainer not to put in there..

@Boombastic22 low interest rates are also a reason not to put it into mortgage 🤣

@Boombastic22

Always mortgage. Whilst interest rates so low it’s a no brainer not to put in there..

With interest rates so low it’s a no brainier NOT to pay it off! Save the money in a S&S ISA which will most likely pay you at least double if not triple the rate of your mortgage interest. Then if rates rise, use the money to pay down the mortgage later.

How much do cleaners cost where you lot live?!
In my city they're £12-£15 an hour, we need 3 hours a week, so a weekly cleaner would cost us £152-£195 a month.

OP, if I were you I'd split it between pension and mortgage, assuming you already have enough budget for the other stuff you want/need to pay for.

Mortgage

50-50 split between mortgage and pension

Give it to charity. You obviously dont need/want it lol

Mortgage.

ISA is the most flexible in any future circumstances.

Interested to know why so many posters are completely ignoring the S&S ISA option and favouring mortgage when it’s 99.99999% certain to be a worse option financially. Are investment ISAs just not on a lot of peoples’ radars or what is it that people have against them? It’s a very easy decision if all you want is the best financial return but it’s a minority of posters that have said go for that option.

@TrufflesAndToast I suspect it is because they are considered to be complicated financial products. Though in reality they are really easy these days. Picking fund(s) may still be a little tricky but with off-the-shelf options, it really is not that hard.

@TrufflesAndToast
. Its so incredibly frustrating isn't it.

We do both but the amount of people who's don't understand investing is both worrying and frustrating.

I came to it very late unfortunately.

I'm drumming it into my dds!
Whether they get it or not I don't know. But I did read knowing about investing and doing it is a huge difference between poor and wealthy people. Esp if they understand the idea of not touching the actual capital accrued.

Cocaine and red wine not an option?

Cost of living is about to rocket- heating, food, petrol/ id say keep it for that/ save it for that. Do you have general savings? Yes a good pension is nice but so is money for now

Nanny nick

It's taken me two years to learn about it. I inherited an isa.
I was terrified about doing the wrong thing and changing set investments.
I did two years of learning, reading, listening to various podcasts.
I came back to what dh said initially. Index funds.
I'm certainly no expert at all however I'm now extremely confident in my choices and have changed the funds I inherited and I do so now with confidence.

It seems to be working (at the moment shares can go up or down) but for years I'm averaging at least 30%!!

I can't express how worried I was a few years ago and didn't have enough to qualify paying for professional help but did consider asking people for help and to pay etc.

I'm so glad inspite of not even having a maths gcse I persisted.

I wouldn't go for pension or mortgage. The OP already has a civil service defined benefit pension (if I've understood her acronyms correctly) and her mortgage is small given her age and the total value of her house. She's already in a great position on both.

I reckon either S&S ISA (for reasons explained by others) or just enjoying life a bit more.

My FIL died suddenly a few months ago having claimed his (excellent) pension for a grand total of 16 months Mumsnet seems to be pension obsessed but it's not always the answer.

Cleaner!

I began a Stocks and Shares ISA with Moneybox when I got a £40 per week payrise.

2 years in and I increased the risk on some of my investments because it was doing very well. I’m currently making 17%

Can anyone please give an example of an investment ISA? How does it work in principle? Does it mean your money is locked in for a certain period of time? How do you choose and who do you choose? It sounds so complicated to me but I definitely have savings lingering in normal bank accounts that maybe this could be a good idea for me.

Also, can you pay an accountant to give you this type of advice…which then leads me to the question: how do you find a good accountant

I wish there were more threads on pension/investments on here. Being early 30s, I feel financially illiterate.

[quote Newyearoldyou]@TrufflesAndToast
. Its so incredibly frustrating isn't it.

We do both but the amount of people who's don't understand investing is both worrying and frustrating.

I came to it very late unfortunately.

I'm drumming it into my dds!
Whether they get it or not I don't know. But I did read knowing about investing and doing it is a huge difference between poor and wealthy people. Esp if they understand the idea of not touching the actual capital accrued.[/quote]
I listened to an excellent podcast recently about financial feminism and the gap between the number of men and women who are investing routinely is shocking. It exacerbates the gender pay gap into an even wider wealth gap - in very general terms, men earn more to start with, then they invest and make more with it and then they die younger so don’t have to make it last as long.

It’s very frustrating how few women seem to be informed about basic investing, it really makes a humongous difference to long term financial prosperity. It really doesn’t have to be complicated - just open an Vanguard S&S ISA, select one of the pre-organised life strategy funds (options are based only on the level of risk you’re prepared to accept, so a quick and easy decision) then set up a standing order and ignore it while it grows. Of course you can do more and be more hands on but you don’t NEED to know anything particular or have years of skills and knowledge, like so many people (especially women unfortunately) seem to think.

If you’re a feminist there is a lot of really interesting content out there about the impacts of the patriarchy on female financial management and it’s very eye opening. We have been taught that investing is risky, scary, something to leave to the men. It really isn’t and it’s something we should all be doing if we possibly can, even with £50 a month.

@EddyF

Can anyone please give an example of an investment ISA? How does it work in principle? Does it mean your money is locked in for a certain period of time? How do you choose and who do you choose? It sounds so complicated to me but I definitely have savings lingering in normal bank accounts that maybe this could be a good idea for me.

Also, can you pay an accountant to give you this type of advice…which then leads me to the question: how do you find a good accountant

I wish there were more threads on pension/investments on here. Being early 30s, I feel financially illiterate.

I would thoroughly recommend you listen to the podcast ‘her first £100k’. There are loads of other out there but it’s a great starting point. The internet is your friend - read everything you can about the FIRE movement. Investments can be very simple and are so, so important.

S&S LISA - will get 25% from govt on top of your contributions to age 50 (max £4000 per year). You can continue to contribute past then and access at age 60.

Thank you so much @ TrufflesAndToast. I will do.

Mortgage. Once you've paid that off, you'll realise what a burden it was.