We want to be wealthy! A thread to share ideas on how to achieve financial independence

[ilyana]

I asked a question in another forum about how to get wealthier and improve my lifestyle and financial situation in my late thirties, and I got some really helpful advice.

Several posters were keen to set up a thread to talk about topics we don't get taught about at school, such as investing in stocks and shares, lucrative side gig ideas, and air miles on credit cards, and so here we are!

This is a positive thread about encouraging other women to aim high and reach their goals, so please only contribute with positive, relevant advice. Of course, questions are very welcome too!

Well, you see, I found that to be not quite true. It’s more than having the capital to play around with. It’s having the discipline and the financial education that helps more.

It starts with buying the best you can. Say, a jumper. If you get one (or several) from Tesco or primark, for, say, 30, you end up spending much more for very little quality. In 2 years they are shapeless and bobbly. Buy a £100 cashmere one and it’ll last you years. Think price per wear. Same with shoes, whatever.

But of course even that requires you to have the capital. Because it is probably a worse scenario than that. If you buy a £30 jumper on credit and then only make minimum payment on the credit you are probably still paying for it 5 years after it has fallen apart.

Thats why I usually argue for paying off high interest debts being double value. You not only get the benefit of the money you had used to service the debt, you also start to gain from the investment of that money.

(And personally I’d buy the cashmere one, but on Vinted and in the summer, when it’s only £10 😄)

Inspired by this thread I have just bought my first Premium Bonds and am researching Vanguard ISA's. My savings aren't doing much sat in my account after all.

You've all spurred me on to be more money savvy, some of the posts here are inspirational. Thank you.

@TooMuchTimeOnMN That is great. Vanguard ISA is really easy to use. Picking a fund is probably the hardest part. Generally I would say that the longer the timeframe until the money will be accessed, the more the equity percentage.
I have mine setup so I automatically add to it every month. Easy to setup once your account has been setup and linked bank account verified.

Recently investments have gone down so people who started 1-2 years ago are finding that their investment is worth less than if they had left the money in a savings account. That is how things go sometimes and you need to be prepared for that. Investing is for the long term, minimum 5 years and ideally much longer.

For money you need in the next few years, keep it in a savings account. For money you will not be needing for a decade, or longer, invest it and be prepared that investments go up and down in value.

Surprised SSAS pension hasn't been mentioned before. For company directors it's worth looking into.

Fascinated to read all this. We manage a nice life (lots of free time) on a smallish income (£17k). Managed to pay the mortgage off a few years ago and have about £60k in S/S ISA and a year emergency fund in premium bonds. Interested in increasing our passive income. The ISA is growing nicely, but I don’t consider it a source of income. We had a nice little FBA business that was fairly low maintenance, but it requires a lot more attention to run these days - bit of a hostile environment. So swerving that into consignment stock in a couple of shops I’m in touch with. Probably less lucrative, but a lot less hassle. Not sure BLT would be as passive as I’d like. So have my eye out for a decent opportunity.

I’ve always done account switching, cashback wheezes, selling stuff etc and while the gains are small, I’ve set them aside as seed money for a bigger project. These small amounts have grown into a paid off house and savings/investments. So always worth doing.

I'm interested in that as well, have you looked at ESG funds? There's things like investing in community solar intiatives too. Has anyone got any other ideas?

I agree.

The fastest and easiest way to get rich over time is by increasing your income, not by decreasing your outgoings or by your investments (which depends on your disposable income anyway). You can and should do all 3 but the one that will make the most difference is the first.

I have actively chased higher pay by moving jobs ever so often and acquiring skills and experience to justify the next jump.

Funnily enough, I do work for a US firm with an office in the UK. Because they pay more, at least 20-30% more than a UK firm. I get that without even needing to work in the US. You are worked harder and the time zone difference means more evenings are taken up but I reckon the higher I earn, the earlier I retire.

@blueshoes the US firms do pay more than the equivalent UK firm. From people I know if you did transfer to the US you could double or triple your salary. The cost of living is much higher there but you'd still be better off.

The other option is UAE which is tax free but may not fit with one's ethics.