Inheritance investment

[guzzywuzzy]

I'm about to inherit circa £55k. Don't feel that money savvy and I have an angel on one shoulder telling me to be sensible, a devil on the other wanting to spend it.

We have a mortgage of approx £225k, fixed for 5 years. No other debts and a reasonable if not excessive chunk of savings that would see us through 6-9 months if DH lost his job.

DH is a higher/top level tax payer, I work PT and pay little to no income tax. Wondering whether it would make sense to put £20k each in a cash ISA and the rest in my name in a fixed term savings account? I'm assuming best to invest my money for 5 years and potentially pay a chunk off before next remortgage.
Any advice gratefully received!

Do you have a pension? Do you have any years that need filling in your state pension contributions?

With your low earnings you could take advantage of your full Savings Rate allowances. £1,000 interest tax free anyway, plus a tapered Starting Rate linked to earnings. Non-ISA savings attract the most interest at the moment. Perhaps look at using a rolling programme of different length terms 1 - 5 years so some money matures each year in case you want some access.

What rate is your mortgage fixed at for 5 years? What overpayments are you allowed to make?

Premium Bonds!

If you have no income you can still contribute £2,880 to which the government automatically adds £720 to a pension. Easy to set up a SIPP with someone like Vanguard.

www.hl.co.uk/help/sipp,-drawdown-and-annuity/sipp/contributions/can-i-invest-in-a-pension-if-i-dont-have-earnings

Free money and invest in a fund like Vanguard 100% equity fund

You could then max out the higher earners pension

Then max out ISA's

And have some fun with a couple of £k or buy a special something to remember the person who died

Often on here there are the Vanguard camp and then the HL camp.

You quote Vanguard then link HL. Is that for a reason?

No, HL link came up on Google and HL is trusted. I prefer Vanguard personally but I can see why others choose HL

Good point! I've just checked and have 3 years to pay so I will definitely start with that! Thank you

Thanks all for the v helpful suggestions, lots to think about and look into.
We remortgaged earlier this year, fixed for 5 years so I'll look into overpayment allowances and impact that would have on monthly payments but I'm assuming locking as much as possible away for a few years would make more sense until next remortgage.
Will take a look at the Vanguard/HL sites too.
Thanks again!