Where to put 200K short term.

[ihatethecold]

The money will land in our bank account this week.
I know about 85K being protected should a bank go under.
We both have current accounts with savings ones attached.
Am I right in thinking that a joint account is protected up to 170K?

I need to move it around quickly so it's safe whilst we go on holiday and then look at investing 100K long term in various places.
We will see an IFA in August to look at investments

Any advice?
Thanks.

It will all be protected in N S & I if it is only short term.

This link provides more information on compensation cover if a bank fails.

You're protected up to £1m if the high balance is temporary due to one of these major life events:

Real estate transactions (property purchase, sale proceeds, equity release)
Benefits payable under an insurance policy
Personal injury compensation (unlimited amount)
Disability or incapacity (state benefits)
Claim for compensation for wrongful conviction
Claim for compensation for unfair dismissal
Redundancy (voluntary or compulsory)
Marriage or civil partnership
Divorce or dissolution of their civil partnership
Benefits payable on retirement
Benefits payable on death
A claim for compensation in respect of a person’s death
Inheritance
Proceeds of a deceased’s estate held by their Personal Representative

So a lump sum from a pension should be covered then?

If you have retired, then it's a benefit paid on retirement thus should be covered.

I would not overly worry about protecting it from bank failure. I would worry about protecting it against you or someone else from spending it on things you don't really want.

What is your long term plan for the money?

Not sure long term yet.
We want to change the Child tax funds to an ISA and a LISA.
One child will be 18 next year and doesn't need the money from the CTF so we will get him a Lisa and add to it monthly.

Both going to open an ISA.

We are looking at doing some building work on the house so up to 100K needs to be accessible.

The rest, I've no idea yet.
It's my dh's lump sum after 30 years in the police.
But, I've just been made redundant and my pay out is tiny after 12 years in the same job (tupe process)
So our monthly income after August will be halved Until we both get new employment.

I would initially talk to your bank about if they have an interest paying account it can go in to which cannot be accessed via internet banking.

Making it a bit harder to get at will help stop you or someone else accessing it on a whim. Also reduces the chance of being a victim of internet fraud.

Longer term you are looking to max out tax efficient sayings, such as Stocks&Shares ISA, subject to eligibility. An IFA can go through the option with you depending on what your tax status.

What's the best way to find an IFA?
I've looked online for local ones but how do I know who to contact?

I don't know anyone to give me recommendations, I've asked a few friends but they haven't ever used one.

No account available in the UK pays interest anywhere near inflation, even the reduced rate which is the official one.

You can get a little over 1% on easy access, and scrape 2% on two year fixes. You can get higher with current accounts but only on relatively small sums compared to your £200k. Cash isa rates are worse, waste of time. Think stocks and shares and think long term. Check those attached savings rates too, I bet they are awful.

I'm sure you don't need to protect yourself against pissing it away. Inflation is your real enemy.

Inflation sure is an enemy. Thus why once back from your holiday you need to find something to do with the money which gives you a good risk to reward ratio. No investing is without risk and the more risk you take the bigger the reward can be, but also the bigger the loss. So think about your personal risk tolerance and spread the money around... don't keep all your eggs in one basket!

Ask around locally for recommendations on an IFA.

Sites like www.unbiased.co.uk/ can put you in touch with IFAs in your area... look for someone who is willing to teach you about managing your money.

Thanks. We are not big risk takers but really want to put the money where it can be left for a few years.

You have to invest. Inflation will kill your savings. Electricity bills alone are up 30% in a year.

Carney hates savers and his contract has some time to go.

We want to invest but not sure what to invest in.

Knowing what will perform well is always the tricky thing.

@ihatethecold, I'm on the same boat but I'm not sure what I should be investing in. How does one go about buying stocks and shares? And the question is, how to make it profitable? My friends have mentioned bitcoins? How does that work? 🤔

I have an IFA and have invested low to medium risk.
So far so good. But obviously it could go tits up this year.

A lot of people swear by premium bonds. I'm not an IFA though

Ive got £5000 in premium bonds and have won £25 in 18 months

The stats on Premium Bonds say that they even out at about 1% so not much different to a low interest account, although obviously you could be one of the luckier ones who wins above average (and I bought done just in case I win the £1m!). I wouldn't personally put savings in there long term due to the inflation risk. An IFA will be able to advise depending on your need for income/capital but for medium to long term investments we've gone mainly for FTSE tracker funds.

Inflation 3% or more.

Premium bonds very low. You can get accounts that will definitely pay a bit more than 1%.

I've been looking online doing some research into locking away 50k for a year or 2.

The rates are so low.
Icici bank comes up best for a fixed rate bond at 3.70.

Sainsbury's also gave one coming up on money supermarket website over 3% but when I go on the Sainsbury's website it much lower

3.7% ? Really? I couldn't find that.

As far as I know there are no accounts paying anywhere near inflation except on small sums.

I found it last night on money supermarket website. It would be locked in for 2 years as a savings bond.
My DH was wary because he hadn't heard of the Indian bank before.

Ok. I'm baffled now. I can't find it.
I will need to look on my DH's laptop at the history to find it again.
Very odd!

Ok. I've found the article again.
Then checked the date it was written. 🙄
Never mind. Back to the drawing board.

sigh...thanks for the update.

basically there isn't anything. Carney wants us all to spend spend spend so saving is actively discouraged.