How would you invest £65,000 for an immediate return?

[HelloWorldLovelyDay]

Hello wise mumsnetters,
I've recently come in to a £65,000 windfall. I'm early 40s with no pension, no savings and will be welcoming a a child into my life next year (with no maternity leave as I work in shorter-term contract roles, and no partner or family support). Yes I realise none of these are ideal circumstances.

My question is, how would you invest this money in a way that is safe and enables a return on my investment that could fund maternity leave and childcare, while not running down this amount? I'm hoping this is possible.

In the past I've always loved the idea of investing in property. I love DIY and interior design and have made improvements to the flat I live in with little to no money. But I realise this that £65,000 won't go far and that buy to let is not looking like the great investment option as it was in years gone by (I think in theory I could use this money to get a buy to let mortgage for a property of around £260,000).

I also love the idea of setting up some sort of business or buying some land for a small farm or glamping business (again not super realistic for £65,000). Or some other type of business like learning carpentry and setting up a tiny house business (difficult as I'd need to rent a space for this).

I currently work in tech but have only just started earning decent money in recent years. And after multiple IVF rounds and work on my flat, I've only just broken even, which is why I don't have savings. Staying in my current career is a safe bet on the one hand but I also long for the chance of be my own boss or have a secondary income to fall back on. And I don't want to waste the chance to invest the £65,000 wisely in a way that might be able to change my life for the better.

I'd welcome any advice.

Whatever you do DO NOT invest in a BTL property. Most private landlords are dumping properties as fast as they can at the moment due to tax rises and the cost of bringing them up to the standards now required.

(Like an idiot) I got pregnant while working as a contractor too, so no maternity leave. But I was pleasantly surprised how much statutory maternity pay I was entitled to. As long as your NI contributions are up to date you'll be able to claim.

Depends, how much other cash do you have stashed away? From what you've said it doesn't sound like you do. In my opinion taking £65k to get a buy to let, having to take on a mortgage AND it requiring work/development. No emergency fund to cover rent voids and maintenance costs - totally insane.

You've said you want an immediate return to fund childcare etc, you likely don't have enough to achieve that goal. Putting it into a savings / cash ISA at 5% will mean you get just over £3k a year from it.

OP do you own your own property? If not I would make my priority building a deposit.

Where please? And is this a fixed term?

@NotDonna think this was probably the one year fixed rate bond offered by NS&I - no longer available.

I’m another who thinks doing a BTL is mad atm.
You get 20k allowance per annum for an ISA which is tax free when you withdraw. If you want 100% certainly not to lose money then use a cash isa rather than stocks and shares. MoneyBox have cash isa paying 5.09% atm but have a look around. You may prefer instant access or to lock it away for a year. You can put £20k in before 5th April then another 20k after April. Another idea is a LISA if you’re looking for a house deposit and don’t already own a home. Again this could be a cash lisa rather than stocks and shares especially if you want to withdraw before 5 years or so. Martin Lewis explains LISAs very well.

someone I know well just bought a 3-bed flat in Liverpool for 165k with expected monthly rental of 1600-1700.

I doubt it will fetch tha a month, even for a student rental.

I would put it in an ISA for a couple of years in your position.

But... you could but a ready-renovated 3 bed property in the North East for that sort of money which would rent for a shade under £500 pm.

Go on RightMove and look at 3 bedroom properties in Hull. You could buy 2 X btl properties for about £110-120k each that would need £55-60k deposit, plus stamp duty plus solicitors fees. You could find ones that don't need anything doing to them to let, or just need painting and fresh carpets/laminate. Set yourself up as a limited company, easy to do on the internet. Buy the houses through the company. Buy over 25 years interest only and you'd be paying a mortgage of about £350 on each one. You could let them out for £650 pcm. You'd need to get gas electric and EPC certificates, also good to get PAT checked. Get a deep clean including cooker, Then issue How to Rent government guide, photos of each room get tenant to sign, put deposits in protection scheme. You can get an EA to photograph, market and vet tenants for about £400 each house. EA will ring you with a list of people who want to rent from you. You have to pick which of the applicants you'd prefer. The Mortgage Works offers best mortgage rates for company btl ATM. PM if you need any help. I could recommend good EA who could find tenants for you. You could make £500-600 pcm once you let them. If they are void you have to pay council tax as well as mortgage. At end of year you'd have to do a self assessment return. The cost of the mortgage payments can be deducted from profits if you buy house through company and so can expenses like gas, electric, EPC, PAT testing, any maintenance you have done after a house is let, and EA fees and accountancy fees at end of year.

You could clear between £10-12k a year. If you let houses out within 2-3 months of completion on them.

OLD THREAD ALERT.

Max out on premium bonds tax free income every month.

Childcare wise, the Government will be funding 15hrs free childcare a week for 9 month olds for a working parent from September 2024, then 30hrs Sept 2024 which should help. This is for 38 hours a week if use all hours.