After mortgage - what next?

[moneypenny07]

I'm due to pay off my mortgage in 18 months time. It's something I've always wanted to do early as it gives me that extra security.

My question is, what do I do next after it is paid off?
Where should I invest my money?
Does anyone think a financial adviser is worth paying for to help me out?
I've always viewed my house as my big investment, but didn't imagine I'd have it paid off so soon so I'm a bit lost.

A bit of background on me:
I'm 31.
Earning approx 50K a year.
House is worth about 250K.
No plans to move any time soon.

Pension - look at how much you are paying in now, how it is invested. If you increase the amount, does your employer contribution increase? Pension gets tax relief added so is nearly always the thing to increase contributing to, but access is age restricted.

You are under 40 so you could contribute to a S&S Lifetime ISA for access at age 60. That may be earlier access than pension.

S&S ISA - are you already putting money there? Increase the amount you pay in. Look at this as being long term savings. You can access at anytime but as it is invested the value goes up and down and you want to avoid accessing it when value is down as that locks in a loss.

Cash - Make sure you have sufficient cashflow to live on and as a cash reserve (emergency fund).

Future upcoming expenses - if you know of a future expense, start a sinking fund where you build up the money for the future expense. For example a car purchase in a few years time.

Seeing an IFA is not necessary, you can learn a lot yourself if you are prepared to put in the time and spend a little. Lots of books on investing, could start with an easy one like The Meaningful Money handbook which has 1/3 of the book about beginning to invest and 1/3 about protection. Do look at your insurance needs - income protection, critical illness, life insurance.

Pension vs ISA is often debated... video about how pension usually wins:
m.youtube.com/watch?v=y-4s1wqwQ7k

Pretty much this.

Pretty much exactly what NannyNick said.
Tho I'd put the cash reserves at the top of the priority list, if you don't already have some.

Pension contributions are subject to a maximum lifetime allowance so it makes tax sense to pay in when you are a higher rate tax payer - if that is where your salary is heading.

I'd have a look at stocks & shares ISA, one of the FTSE tracked ones.

I would suggest an IFA unless you are very risk averse.

Video: When you need a financial adviser
m.youtube.com/watch?v=KlDbMVP9G1w

It does not sound like you are in a position of needing one yet. You need to start investing and making yourself a financial plan.

You could try using the consumer version of Truth to start putting together a plan:
my.truthaboutmoney.co.uk

If you want a more powerful financial planning tool, then VoyantGo is available via Meaningful Academy: Build Wealth course... fairly costly but not thousands like having a Financial Planner doing you a plan could cost you.

If you decide to go the adviser route, then shop around and find an adviser who will do you a fixed price for a plan, then let's you implement it. A lot you can do yourself so you don't need to be paying someone 0.75%+ a year to manage your investments. When you are older, near retirement, then may come the time you want someone else to manage things for you, or you may find that you enjoy it so much that you want to still do a lot yourself.