Bugger me, I seem to have accumulated half a million

[GreatPotato]

I've always had a decent job in my world, but not by MN standards and been a saver (not enough to make me a higher rate taxpayer).

I put aside some cash every month in a cash ISA, premium bonds and paid into savings policies etc. with the idea that I am saving for a rainy day and my eventual retirement. Haven't really paid much attention to how it was accumulating, for which I realise I need a slapped wrist.

Recently some savings policies have matured and I've been the beneficiary of a life policy. Tallying it all up for the first time in years it's all just a few pounds short of half a million!

Now, obviously the bank is not the right place for it, but how in earth do I go about finding a home for it?

I actually have fairly decent pension provision through employer schemes, but I'm thinking this cash gives me the option to retire early without reducing the annual pension amount. I.e. I can wait until retirement age to draw the pensions, even if I'm not working .

Mortgage is paid off.

For me a real case of look after the pennies and the pounds look after themselves. I've never felt that I was scrimping, just being sensible. There's nothing material that I want and don't have.

@Weirdlynormal me personally I'd do a Warren Buffet, Wait for things to crash then buy when everything's low or get something index linked thereafter. I have years in me. It sounded like the OP wanted to do something now

Well done on such savvy saving, it's impressive, but I do agree the title of your post is tone deaf. Something along the lines of "What's the best way to invest the savings I've accumulated?" might have gone down better.

I'm in a not dissimilar position I've never even earnt the National average wage and was a struggling single parent for many many years but I'm cautious, not interested in expensive holidays, gadgets or clothes and saved regularly even if it was tiny amounts. I cleared my mortgage 6 years early and continued investing the mortgage amount as well. I've taken early ish retirement (58) and am looking after dgc. Instead of them paying outrageous nursery costs. We'll done you've earned it but this post will bring out some very nasty, bitter people.

This is a bit tasteless when there’s another post about someone losing their £60 universal credit and wondering how they’ll manage ….

Some posters want to wind their necks in with berating the OP. It's on Money Matters not AIBU. She had a question and wanted answers. Not everyone is poor and it's not always about you or social justice posturing. Well done OP, property or ISAs maybe.

@GreatPotato hello long lost mother. I'm glad I found you. Please deposit my share

@ohdelay

Some posters want to wind their necks in with berating the OP. It's on Money Matters not AIBU. She had a question and wanted answers. Not everyone is poor and it's not always about you or social justice posturing. Well done OP, property or ISAs maybe.

It's the tone of the post..... surely you can see that?

@AdmiralCain you could wait for 10 years though. The difference with WB is that he has constant inflows to deploy for purchasing low. He certainly doesn't sit out of the market for protracted periods.

When is the best time to invest: 10 years ago
When is the second best time to invest: today

Only however the money you do not need immediately. Cashflow planning means the OP could be invested for 30 years, best get on with it!

BTW not picking on you, but it's an issue that stops many people being sensible with their money.

Hopefully you're not sat on cash too Admiral

That amount is too much to DIY.
I strongly suggest you see a financial advisor as they’ll be up to speed on how best to structure your assets and what to invest in.

I feel like your OP is a bit disingenuous... "Haven't really paid much attention to how it was accumulating, for which I realise I need a slapped wrist."...

Seems like reading your updates you have actually put quite a lot of thought into shopping around each yeah and making sure you're on top of your savings - so the tone of "surprise" is a bit humble braggy

Op you need to speak to a certified personal accountant and possibly look to reinvest some of that money and then you can use the dividends of those investments to live off comfortably in retirement.

£500 a month at 5% for 35 years would be £568,000

Beauty of compound interest.

Whilst most on this board probably don't fritter £100 a week, that's all it would take.

Most people don't have £500 to put away every month from such a young age particularly when not earning a higher salary.

@cheeseismydownfall

"I have been putting money away for many years in low-risk savings. I've been able to build up a decent-sized pot (along with a recent life insurance pay-out), and I now am realising that my current savings accounts, premium bonds etc may no longer be the best place for my money. Could anyone give me any advice on what to do next? I'm particularly interested in understanding how I might use the money to enable an earlier retirement."

Tumbleweed whilst OP waits for one reply next Friday

Reply asks how much money are we talking about to be able to advise

@AdmiralCain what’s a GILT please? I’m new to UK saving.

I actually don't believe that anyone who has been that financially astute for 35 years, and has moved money around for the best deals and to make sure she stays within the £80k per institution (which is considerable work as you have to know which banks are owned by which) could have done all that and still failed to realise how much money they have. The sort of person who does all that knows exactly how much money they have and where it is. You have to keep track of it as you are moving it around, especially as it accumulates in value.

However well done, hope you get some good advice from people more qualified than myself!

@ohdelay

Some posters want to wind their necks in with berating the OP. It's on Money Matters not AIBU. She had a question and wanted answers. Not everyone is poor and it's not always about you or social justice posturing. Well done OP, property or ISAs maybe.

It's not the actual post that jars, it's the title. Money Matters is full of posts from women worrying how they're going to feed their kids right now because of the UC reduction, NI increase, rising energy bills and "Bugger me, I seem to have accumulated half a million" is tone deaf and stealth boasting.

OP short term, look at NS&I - there's no limit to how much you can save/invest so the normal £85k limit doesn't apply.

All those piling on to the OP. This is the money board so anything to do with money or lack of it surely belongs here.

They didn't go onto a thread where another OP was worrying about their lack of money to boast. They started their own thread.

the message that you can simply save £500k on a decent, but not stellar salary without thinking about it too much simply by being a bit careful with money is not helpful.

This is what i'm confused by.

@JingsMahBucket Gilt refers to UK government debt. The UK government borrow money off people and are so good at paying it back their Bonds are seen a 'gilt edged' and called gilts.

You tend to buy a collective investment fund with these in.

@OnlyFoolsnMothers

For me a real case of look after the pennies and the pounds look after themselves. I've never felt that I was scrimping, just being sensible how utterly ignorant, a person on £18k a year won’t be able to amass 500k- seriously well done but get over yourself

Actually they might. When I was on far far less than £18K/year I was able to start to save in an endowment policy a mere £36/month that ultimately eventually paid off my mortgage with money over that double glazed my house. But that was a policy of 25 year term from a very long time ago when interest rates were high. I also had a similar sized pot from that era and the two together left me comfortable a few years ago meaning I could put more away now I earn a little more than that in more risky savings that are earning substantially more than they would in a bank. So yes I might have the same sized pot too were I OP and started on a low salary.

We don't know OP's age and quite likely she had similar arrangement and has a few years till retirement (she doesn't say her age, but anyone 60 this year, for example, would have assumed on leaving school they'd retire this year but now has to work a further 7 years to pension age.

Obviously @OnlyFoolsnMothers you're young enough to be rude about this, but I suggest you pop a few ££ away and you too can reap the rewards many years later on.

I was fully supportive until the op said For me a real case of look after the pennies and the pounds look after themselves.

If you saved £100 a month for 40 years without a break, at a 5% annual rate of return (assuming you're investing in index trackers vs the bank and that inflation doesn't take off massively).. at the end of that time, you would have £152k. Which is a lot of money. But still nowhere near £500k. Let alone being like the op who not only has £500k in the bank but also a good pension and mortgage paid off.

The real trick here is that you earn lots of pounds, save lots of pounds, have a loved one with lots of pounds, buy a house that likely appreciates in value by more pounds, and then miraculously end up with lots of pounds.

Which is lovely for the OP. And I hope she finds a great financial advisor. But also, does reflect on her good fortune as well as hard work.

@ohdelay

Some posters want to wind their necks in with berating the OP. It's on Money Matters not AIBU. She had a question and wanted answers. Not everyone is poor and it's not always about you or social justice posturing. Well done OP, property or ISAs maybe.

@QueenoftheKarens

I read the post as OP being genuinely shocked that the amounts she socked away came to this much. I don’t think she intended it as a boast. It’s been 30 years and with the power of compound interest etc it’s possible to accumulate this much as an ‘average’ person seeing that the national median income is 30K.

It’s a forum. People can post anything they want. She’s not a politician or Instagram influencer to need to be ‘tone sensitive’ to an audience.

@futureghost

I actually don't believe that anyone who has been that financially astute for 35 years, and has moved money around for the best deals and to make sure she stays within the £80k per institution (which is considerable work as you have to know which banks are owned by which) could have done all that and still failed to realise how much money they have. The sort of person who does all that knows exactly how much money they have and where it is. You have to keep track of it as you are moving it around, especially as it accumulates in value.

I agree. There's no way you get 35 years into saving this amount each month without knowing what you've accumulated - if nothing else you should be looking at your annual statements. Load of nonsense to say you didn't know OP - you had a pretty good idea.