Partner excessively investing for long term

[RugbyMum20]

Is it me or is it OTT for someone in their late 20’s on an average income to be regularly investing into a S&S ISA with the intention of this not being accessed until their 50’s? They probably have a spare £7/800 to save at the end of each month and regularly put about £350 of this into this ISA. For context - 1 child and own house with a Mortgage.

Edited to say he has a workplace pension too.

I’d say very sensible and good on them. Generally people need to start saving earlier / more for their retirement / later life.

Um. Completely normal and sensible. What exactly is your concern?

That they haven’t got huge amounts of disposable income and it would be better placed with a shorter term view for things

I’d say it’s really sensible long term investment plan. He’s being really mature with his forward planning.

Seems a waste of life to save so much for a retirement he might not see. There has to be a balance.

In general I’d say this sounds very sensible, but only if they have a pot of savings for more immediate needs as well

Very sensible. Probably a good idea to save some for the child for university/house deposit/start to adult life and pay some extra off mortgage if there is no penalty for overpayments. What do you think he should do with the money?

Sensible! Well done

Are you married? Then he is saving for you, his child and himself really. If you are not married, and him saving this much leaves you and the child short of money, then my opinion would be slightly less favourable.

It depends!

The main concern I have here is that you aren’t married and they may be investing their money in this way in their sole name to your detriment and that of your child.

Are you working? Is it a joint mortgage?

Where do you think it could be better placed?

How does it impact his monthly spending?

We’re retired now and I do remember times in our early married life when I would have quite liked to spend some of the money he was squirrelling away. But early retirement (and a cruise now and then) has proven him right and me wrong.

Another lesson I learned is it’s very, very important to earn a good income of your own so that you get to make some financial choices too.

So of half of the surplus at the end of the month is going into long term tax efficient savings that will grow and compound over time, and the other presumably is more accessible? Seems like a great strategy to me!!

The OP says he has £7/800 surplus at the end of the month, so half or less than half is going into long term savings. The remainder must be in shorter term savings, or it wouldn’t be a surplus. They also say he’s on average income - so that £7/800 surplus is probably around a bit less than 1/3rd of his net income. Pretty normal I would have thought?

My husband is the same, and I’ve definitely got frustrated with it in the past, but it’s absolutely the right thing to do. We do have different attitudes to finances, but he manages the long term and I manage the day to day now, as that works best for us.

Compound interest - the earlier you save and invest the longer it has to grow. What do you want to spend it on?

Good for him.
We are in our early 50s and about to retire as a result of my husband having behaved like your DP since uni. There have been times when it has driven me slightly insane wanting to look at short term plans, so I do understand your frustration. Now we are about to reap the rewards, I find it easier to accept he was right.

Edit to add that like others on this thread, my income and planning has covered more of the short term stuff. It has always worked well for us.

Translation…you want to spend it on something?

Tbh it’s what most of us should do as a minimum, but most people would rather spend that money than invest.

Sounds like someone who fully understands the power of compound interest. S&S growth, plus reinvesting the growth on that each year, he'll be massively well set up for his older years.

And as you say, it's from the "spare" at the end of the month, and a very reasonable proportion of that, so seems nothing but sensible and hats off to him!

Sounds sensible to me. Or investing into a pension

Incredibly sensible. I wish I’d done it.

I’ve started pensions for my 3 and 1 year old 😂

While it's very sensible, it could also be seen as selfish - you're not married, so all of the pension contributions are just for his benefit, not you or his childs.

What do you think he should be doing with at least some of the money - save for a deposit if you don't have a mortgage yet, move to a better/bigger place, savings for your child and/or your day to day standard of living?

Mainly save to help us move as we both agree we need somewhere slightly bigger. I think the time for more long term investments is when we’ve got our housing situation sorted for the foreseeable.