Investing life assurance payout

[DivisionBelles]

I was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year. Luckily it was caught at an early stage, I was operated on and I'm fine now. I made a claim on my critical illness cover at it's just paid out £90k. I'm not sure what to do with it.

We rent and cannot afford to buy in this area even using this as a deposit. We do need a new car and I was thinking of spending no more than 10k on this. I want to give the DC some money, spend a small amount on fripperies and then invest the rest. Where's best at the moment? Maybe premium bonds might be a start or an ISA? I've never had this much money and whilst it isn't a fortune I'd like to make sure I get some return on it.

Congratulations on your recovery!!!!!

Honestly - I would find a way to buy a house. That’s the single most a important thing you can do for your finances.

Can you look in a cheaper area? If you are paying rent then no doubt you can manage a mortgage each month.

Thank you.

I would love to buy somewhere, but we are in a property hot spot in the SW and even the cheaper areas aren't that cheap. DH was born and bred here and wouldn't move away either. We both have elderly parents and my DM is a vulnerable widow so I need to be close by.

I may be able to get a small mortgage but realistically I don't think we would be able to afford anything much more than £180k and round here that gets diddly squat. We are in a HA property so our rent is quite low. I'm also 48 and DH 56 so not sure how that affects loan terms either.

For tax efficiency, consider whether you are making full use of your pension allowances as well as ISA allowance. Give some thought to the longer term as well as short term spending.