How to invest when you know nothing?

[newbietoinvesting]

I'm 30, daughter of a very wealthy family and have always been financially "helped" by my family in the form of gifts or things paid for me (like IVF) or just regularly given spending money the equivalent of my previous salary (again "gifts") when I had a baby and wanted to become a SAHM but couldn't afford to. Whilst the gifts are lovely and I am super grateful, my dad is a bit of a narc and at times uses money to control me. I'd like to invest my savings so that I have something to fall back on, should the help and gifts stop. Without getting into all the detail of how to deal with narcs and whether I should or shouldn't be accepting the help, this is just the back story.

I have around 20K saved from when I was previously employed. I would like to invest this but I have no idea how or where. I'd love to read up on it but not even sure what i should read and how I start learning about it? How do I even go about investing (through an app? Which app?). Where would you invest it?

I'd follow the UK independence flowchart myself, and indeed look at the reddit board it came from for more advice: https://ukpersonal.finance/flowchart/

Basically clear any debts as a priority (do you have any?) and then build an emergency fund. I don't know what your ongoings are but your emergency fund will take a good chunk of your £20k and should not be invested as such, but kept in a reasonably high interest but easy access savings account.

For the remainder after your emergency fund is accounted for and any debts paid off, it depends what you envisage using the money for - if a deposit on a first house then a LISA would be a good option, if it's for your retirement you could look into putting it into a private pension (or using it to make top-ups to your NI if you missed making NI payments as a SAHM). If it's for more of a medium term investment, while it's possible to get a general stocks and share/investment account and choose your own portfolio I would NOT recommend this for a first-timer (if you are really interested in learning about investment and trading you could allow yourself a small amount e.g. £50/£100 to put into a easy trading app like Trading 212 on the understanding you may lose it, just to play with). For the majority of your money I would pick one of the big investment companies, open a basic stocks and shares ISA and let them choose/manage your portfolio for you based on your stated risk appetite. This service comes with a fee but a reasonable one given the returns achievable even on a low-medium risk profile. I have used Nutmeg in the past which is very user-friendly, or I currently use the Big Exchange which has more ethical options. Caution is the name of the game, absolutely do not get sucked into anything Crypto related or which promises unrealistic huge returns.

The only exception to the caution rule I would make is if there is an investment in yourself you can make which would lead to longer-term stability for you - I think given your situation of being highly reliant on family/gifts, even if you don't immediately want to return to the workplace, you have to think what would you do if that tap was suddenly turned off, and the interest earned off £20k plus universal credit is really not going to be enough to live a very nice lifestyle on, or give you and your child long-term financial stability independent of your family. For that you're going to need employment of some kind, so if there is something you can do to further that e.g. some kind of further education/training/qualifications, or perhaps working capital to fund a business start-up or similar, that would be an even better use of the money than investing...

@maxelly thank you for the advice!!
I think I might have explained my situation a bit confusingly. I did work for a few years prior to becoming a SAHM - I have a university degree and a professional qualification, I worked in a large well-known multinational firm, completed a graduate scheme. I could get a job very easily, it's just that I never enjoyed working in that field and absolutely love being a SAHM.
The savings would be for me to use in case the gifts stop. And of course I would get a job rather than claim UC, I could earn easily £60K+ assuming I work full time, which I know isn't always possible with a child, (this was my salary before I stopped working) and I have a husband who earns well too (but not the kind of money where we could afford for me to be a SAHM to let's say a school aged child), but in this situation it would be obviously better to have £25K or £30K in savings than £20K, just in case I don't immediately find a job or I need to pay out an urgent bill etc.

How close are you to being able to live on your husbands income? Are you a few hundred off or a few thousand?

Given what is coming in at the moment including any gifts and support how much can you save each month?

In general, pay off debts if you have any. Keep enough in an easy access account that would cover your expenses for a few months then the rest is potentially available to invest.

How would you feel if your investment dropped 20%? Would you wish you'd put it in a savings account paying 5% interest instead?

In your situation I'd invest at most £20k less 6 months household expenses. For beginners a worldwide tracker fund in an isa is often recommended and they historically have done well except through covid. Check out Vanguard.

I use the Hargreaves Lansdown app - I have my stocks and shares ISA on there plus a few savings accounts. It is very easy to use and they have some good articles to help choose where to put your money.

@GreyBlackBay no debts.

How close are you to being able to live on your husbands income? Are you a few hundred off or a few thousand?
My husband would 100% tell me to get a job as he would want me to contribute to the household rather than stay at home whilst our child is at school.
In theory we could survive on his income but it would mean a drop in standards of living, which he wouldn't agree to. So let's say instead of 1 holiday a year and a 3 bedroom house or flat in zone 3 London (this would be our living standards if no more family help but if I worked), it would be no holidays most years, a 1-2 bed flat or house out of London etc (yes I am aware you can live like that, just saying my husband wouldn't agree to it and would tell me to get a job asap)

Given what is coming in at the moment including any gifts and support how much can you save each month?
I do save about £200-300 per month but then probably not every month as some months I'll have spending that I don't want family to know about (silly to say this, but for example Christmas presents or my husband's 40th birthday present will be like that, because I'm from a culture where women don't really give men gifts).

There is no indication that I'm being dropped any time soon, just that my dad is pretty volatile and can get offended at very small random things, so I'd rather have a bigger safety net than a smaller one.