help me strategise

[humtv]

I have around 70k to invest over 15 yrs. plus an additional 10k pa. I know I need to mac out s&s ISA and will go for a global equity fund. not quite sure what to do with the rest. I am a higher rate tax payer. any thoughts on how to build my portfolio? I am medium to high risk but want diversification.

Do you need to have access to it in 15 years time? Could some go to pension, for retirement?

Already topping up my work pension with employer matched contributions

Depends on your risk appetite, but if I were in your shoes, here’re the things I’d be thinking.

1. Overpay on pension. If existing yearly pension contributions are below £40k, then one can pay into a SIPP the difference up to that £40k limit thereby reducing one’s tax burden being a high tax payer
2. To further amplify point 1, one can also pay more into the pension as you can dip into the yearly £40k limit for the last 3 years. In other words, if one’s not hit the £40k limit in of the last 3 years, one can top up a personal pension more this year to reduce the tax burden
3. Depending on the interest rate one’s paying on the mortgage, might be worthwhile if overpaying the mortgage is beneficial. Eg if savings interest is 4%, but mortgage rate is 6%, one may be better off overpaying the mortgage to have a financial gain by paying off three mortgage earlier
4. invest in an equity fund (medium risk)
5. invest in individual stocks (higher risk)
6. invest in alternative investments (rare books, artwork, rare watches, rare whiskeys and the like - generally low risk if you know what you’re doing, but high risk if you don’t)
7. Use the funds to buy a BTL property
8. Invest overseas in a market that offers higher interest rates (again you need to know what you’re doing and factor in currency rate fluctuations )
9. Park it in savings account under your spouse’s name if he/she is a lower rate tax payer
10. use your spouse’s ISA allowance if not being used already

overall, if I were in your shoes, I wouldn’t put all my eggs in one basket and spread out the investments across a range of different mediums and create a portfolio of investments based on my own risk appetite of what % high risk vs medium risk vs low risk

the above is just my thoughts so please don’t consider it financial advice and maybe use an IFA who can create a strategy that adheres to the financial regulation

Just to add to the PP, it is now actually £60k pa from 2023/24.

Are you maxing out work pension? Huge tax and NI savings so that's what I'd do first, use the full 60k allowance and any available carry forward.

And then ISA.

If the money has come from an inheritance, then consider what the giver would have wanted. Some for enjoyment - spend some on an experience.

Max ISA this tax year, max pension this tax year. Anything else left I would put in a savings account. Rinse and repeat each tax year until all used. Use a GIA if you want, then use Bed & ISA procedure to sell from the GIA and buy in the ISA.