£20000 please help

[sorryghadtochangeuser]

I will currently come into a sum of £20000 and I have no idea how to make it work

I rent my property would love to buy but I don't think that sum will get me on the housing ladder
.

Could anyone please advise what I could do
?

Where is the property? Do you work?

Yes I do but my salary is only £15000
I am a single parent to one dd

Open to all opportunities,
I'm currently in south London

I think you'd struggle with the size of mortgage you'd get on a 15k salary even with a 20k deposit tbh.

Could you use some of the money to retrain into a higher paid job?

Other than that i'd probably invest it atm as a security blanket.

That's what I thought , where should I invest it though ?

Does anyone have any ideas ?

You could invest a few grand in a stocks and shares isa. My sons has went up in value hugely. It's not without risk but the numbers are looking really good. He will get it when he's 16.

Do you have savings? If the washing machine broke tomorrow, could you replace It?
If not, you need to have some money (3-6months of living costs) in an instant savings account.

Once you have that, then think about what to do with the rest. I'm not sure idvrick stockscsnd shares with your level of income, but I'm pretty risk adverse when it comes to money.

I have a stocks and shares isa. I put in £10,000 about 4 years ago and now it’s worth £13,000. As a previous poster said, it’s not without its risks, but the risks are minimal.

Most high street banks will have a stocks and shares isa option.

If you might need the money in the next five years, stocks and shares isn't a great idea. The stock market is quite high at the moment, so could go down. If you want to sell when the market is lower than now, you will lose money.

If it's for the long term, it might be a better option, but make sure you have a few thousand in cash too - maybe split it 50/50 - half in shares, half in cash, or maybe premium bonds if you want to gamble your interest.

Look at your immediate needs - the money is a great security blanket. As SandLand writes, keep some of it easily available so if you lost your job, you can afford to pay your rent and eat.
Do you have any debts - if so pay those off... the debt interest is probably higher than you would get from putting the money in a savings account.
SleepingStandingUp makes a good point, can you use some of it to train for a better paid job? Investing in yourself can really make a difference to your future.
For now whilst you think about what to do, put it in an interest paying current account up to the max amount they pay interest on, as their rate is often higher than instant access savings accounts. Then the remainder in an interest paying instant access savings account (you can get 1.3% currently, it's not a lot but is something).

I’d stick it in a Lifetime ISA. You can put away up to 4k every tax year and the government will add another 25%. You can then use the money as a deposit on a property or when you retire (hefty penalties for randomly pulling the money out, though). As the tax year is to an end in a few weeks, you could put in 4k before April and another 4k after. You’d get 2k from the government.

The rest could go in a normal ISA. A stock and shares option is generally better than cash but stocks go up and down so it only works as a medium or long term investment.

You say

Open to all opportunities,
I'm currently in south London

Does that include considering starting a new life somewhere more affordable, or is that out of the question? I don't normally suggest people make ridiculously lifechanging leaps on these threads, but your words seemed to suggest you'd have a thin about all sorts.

Indeed, depending on the OPs ties to the area, there seems to be little point staying in London when she isn't benefiting from earning a high wage. £15k pa is only slightly above FT NMW. you could earn that almost anywhere with the added benefit of housing being much more affordable.

Look into shared ownership

I was about to suggest shared ownership!

I think that would be shared ownership a long way away from London. But agree, if you’re open to moving elsewhere, you’d get a much nicer quality of life in other parts of the U.K.

Thanks everyone
I've looked into shared ownership but sadly the costs are too high
I am educated to masters level so the thought of re training sounds a bit decadent
My problem is zero support and expensive London childcare

I was wondering if I should buy a house a long way away and rent it out as an income but it's probably not enough money for that

keep some as savings for emergencies and put the rest in a Lifetime ISA. Nutmeg do a good one which is online & has v low fees.

Teacher training?

I'd advise against getting a property elsewhere. Even if you get a mortgage by some miracle, it'd be a cheap property with little rent coming in and a roof repair, new boiler or the tenant not paying for a few months could bankrupt you completely.

What costs were high in shared ownership? The monthly rent/mortgage?

If you are educated, and have zero support - why not make a new life somewhere else?

I'd speak to a financial advisor and invest it somewhere and then just enjoy the feeling of some financial security. You could buy a terraced house up north for about 60-70k if you wanted to go down that route.