Advice - £80k

[Jollyjuly]

I need some help about where to place money for maximum return/least fees.

Following divorce later this year (hopefully pre April but may be after that), I'll have the following:

£31k NSI Prem Bonds
£50k cash (divorce settlement)

My pension is pretty rubbish. CETV about £150k but I'm 58. Currently paying in to a local authority pension but haven't made any AVCs so far. I won't have a mortgage. Probably after bills/food, etc, I will have about £600/mth disposable income.

I've never done stocks and shares. Well, I once put £300 in crypto but that's lost £80 when I last looked at it.

I need an ABC guide as to what's best thing now to do. I think I should probably put more into my pension though would it be worth doing this for, say the next 7 years? Should I make the maximum lump sum payment into it pre April and another post April or just set up a monthly payment?

Should I put some in Stocks and Shares? - not sure I even know the difference tbh.

81k is probably too low a figure for a financial adviser to get involved so any advice where to start would be welcome.

The money in Premium Bonds I would call your emergency fund. It may be a bit on the high side for 6 months of expenses but you might be allocating some to a near future big purchase like a replacement car, kitchen remodel etc.

You have a local authority pension scheme, so that is Defined Benefit. You could look at the cost of buying additional years in that.

You are not using your ISA allowance at the moment, I would use that. £20k per financial year, in a Stocks & Shares ISA, with a simply multi-asset fund in it, nothing fancy.

Pension vs ISA is always a question that comes up, there is no ideal answer to it. Both is the thing to do, it's just a matter of tipping the balance one way and then the other. Personally I would build up ISA so there is a pot of money that you can access pre-retirement or in retirement. Then once that is a reasonable amount, do additional to pension via the AVC if fund choices are good, especially if a Salary Sacrifice scheme and you are a higher rate tax payer.

You could read some books, listen to podcasts and watch YouTube videos about investing. Crypto is not investing at the moment, I see that more as speculation... it is too volatile. Maybe having a tiny amount is suitable if you can stand the risk of loss.

Thanks nannynick - really useful information to kickstart my thinking about what to do.

I'm not an expert but look into putting a bit more into your pension as then you get the tax money back.
We have a stocks and shares ISA with Vanguard which I got as a recommendation from mumsnet. It's the S&P one. They are long term investments but already looking like it's making a healthy return. Obv this can go up and down

whatnumber thanks. Will look at that. I'm shamefully ignorant about investments but have read it's for the long haul. I wonder if my being late fifties means it's not worth it? (As in it needs longer than 20 years?)

Not too late, you can continue to invest even in retirement.

Podcast: meaningfulmoney.tv/UG8 Investing when near/in retirement.