My wife and I have £180,000 cash and £150 a week small income- what would you do?

Question

In our late fifties with one son and two grandchildren.

Answer 1

To be perfectly honest £180,000 is not a huge amount these days- I do not mean that in a disrespectful way, its 180k more than I have Lol, but what I mean is that its basically the price of a property now days so it would not go far.

I think it depends on you other commitments an financial duties. Do you own your own property? If you do then personally I would sell that, buy a little place in the sun and live off of the 180k.
If on the other hand that 180k is including the price of your property then you could still do the same but you would just have to think more carefully as to how your where going to spend your money wisely and spread it out for the rest of your lives-

If you have worked all your lives for this money then enjoy what you have achieved to the full-
Retire to the sun- Sounds wonderful to me :o)

Answer 2

points to ponder
1/how will this effect your pension later on?
2/do your research, find out how much to hold back for emergencies, extensions, a car and hang it a holiday aswell.

there will probably be better answers and i hope there are, but here is a few of my own.

1/ there is no harm in contacting a reliable financial adviser or go to your bank for advice.

2/ again do your research but have you consider, investing in a house or apartment, renting it leaving it with an estate agent (for a nominal fee) making it as hassle free as possible.
if you are interested here are some points to note

a/ find an area where the renting is reasonably thriving but within your budget and near by

b/ if you buy outright the only overheads you will have are maintenance cost on the up keep of the properity. leaving you with the bulk of the rent received (less tax??). in turn this will increase your weekly income.

c/ properity in the range of between 120000 and 160000 won't be affected by much to a slump in the market (worst case scenario) as to a properity in the 300000 - 500000 would.
but it's more likely to go up in value and therefore if or when you decide later on in life to sell you will have a more substantial amount to life comfortable.
i believe the term is 'calculated risk assessment'

d/ the more research you do and financial advice you receive the lower the risk.

invest a 500? - 1000? into a college fund for the grandkids i'm sure your son would appreiate this gesture and more so later on.

overall make the money work for you £180000 is nothing to sneeze at. with some hard research and intuition you will find a way to increase your income

good luck to you both

Answer 3

My advice would be to use the money to buy a couple of properties with mortgages. Rent the properties out and use the rental income to clear the mortgages. As long as you don't buy really expensive properties you should get a modest rental income after you've paid the mortgages and other expenses. Property is a good bet and by buying two places you will be making your money work that bit harder as you will be clearing down the mortgage and also enjoying the capital appreciation from the properties. A real double edged sword. Once the properties are paid you will have a very nice retirement income and also the option of selling off or releasing the capital out of the properties to either further invest or enjoy yourself.

Answer 4

Try invest in a tax free savings account - this way you get the most benefit out of your hard earned money. Do a long term budget for your needs and also have a wish list. Then work out if you can treat the whole family to a holiday abroad or whatever you may want to do. But best to first look long term and make sure you are secure - but also dont save it all just for the sake of it - you didnt work all this time not to enjoy your retirement!

Answer 5

I would set up enough money in an account to fall back on then I would share my wealth with the son and grandkids. Help them get a house or vehicle or health insurance. Maybe even help them with some bills. Set up a college fund for them. Share the family wealth!

Answer 6

Put some of the £180,000 into NSI bonds for both you and the family as an investment. then treat yourselves to things you have always wanted.

Keeping some in the bank for rainy days. Enjoy yourselves.

Answer 7

treat yourself to a holiday of a lifetime,its your money dont feel guilty about spending it.Im not being heartless but if you left that money to someone else in your wills im sure that person would happily have some fun with it.Get and book a holiday today your both young enough to enjoy it,in a few years your health may not be so good,make the most of every moment that you have.I came into a little bit of money not so long ago and thats one of my deepest regrets not having my holiday of a lifetime out of it.

Answer 8

Go on 90 £2000.00 holidays. Enjoy you life andb travel. Buy your grandchildren some nice gifts from around the world as you do. I cannot reccomend travel highly enough.

Answer 9

Buy a house in a sunny country Spain or possibly Turkey (cheaper) for £30.000 remaining £150.000 will be enough for rest of your life.This includes paying your first class health insurance. If you have a house here, sell it and raise some more cash. Good luck.

Answer 10

Invest the capital in a rental property to generate an income, then live off that income plus your £150pw.