Where to save?

[Dozeydate]

I have approximately £700 - £1000 a month to save after all outgoings and luxuries. £700 to save on the months where I’d have a lump some to pay out, like car insurance, Xmas shopping etc and £1000 on the generally quiet months.
Where is best to save this? I currently just pop in into a 45 day ISA. Should I be saving else where like stock and shares? I’m not clued up.

it seems to be ISA’s first, then other tax free savings like Premium Bonds, then a limited access account for one off expenses (that pays more than a current account but you can only access every so often).

If you already an emergency fund and you don’t need the money for at least 5 years then look at an S&S ISA. Otherwise a high interest cash ISA would be safer in case you need it in the short term. An emergency fund should cover at least 3 months of your everyday spending although some would prefer at least 6 months.

Have a look at the Rebel Finance School. They offer a 10 week free course online to help with all aspects of budgeting, saving and investing. Well worth it.

Basic rule is to get an emergency fund of 3-6 months expenses in an easily accessible account then fill up S&S ISA allowance and invest for retirement. But there's a bit more to it than that.

I did instant access cash ISA until I had a bit of a cushion then SNS ISA. I also stick a lot into pension but that's obviously very situation dependant.

How is your pension looking? Are you able to increase pension contributions or do you need to access savings before retirement?

Thanks everyone. I do have a bit of a safety net in a savings account but this could always be more. I contribute almost 9% to a pension & have full NI contributions for state pension . The % I pay to my own pension will increase automatically if my earnings increase, which they will, so I don’t want to increase it anymore yet as current it’s looking okay. Of course any savings I make now will absolutely benefit me for retirement or enable me to retire a bit early. I just want to make the most out of the money I save since I don’t really need it right now. However if I keep it in an easy available account it’s tempting to spend it or make rash decisions with.

Meaningful money on you tube/podcast is a good reliable source. I’ve looked at their retirement stuff but they also have some stuff on financial basics the ukpersonalfinance flowchart on Reddit is also great

@Dozeydate if you are looking to ‘bridge the gap ‘ between early retirement and state/work scheme retirement dates then a SIPP would be better as you will get tax relief on any thing you pay in (up to certain limits) ie if you put in £80 (from after tax income) then HMRC top it up to £100 for you. That’s instant ‘free money’. When you draw down from this the first 25% is tax free but the rest is counted as taxable income. The down side is under current rules you can’t access it till you are 57.

If that doesn’t suit you and you need it back sooner then an S&S ISA would give you more flexibility. You don’t get tax relief when you pay in but you also don’t get taxed when you take your money out and can take it whenever you like.