Published on 12, July, 2020
I'm in the fortunate position of having built up a large amount of savings, and I'm not sure what to do with it.
I could quit work or work less, but (a) work is my downtime, during which I recover from social activities (I'm a self-employed content creator) and (b) I want to maintain a decent income on my last three years' tax returns in case I ever have to move home and pass a rental check.
Buying a home is an obvious answer, but I've looked into this and very quickly became burned out by the social requirements of engaging with agents etc and the stress of making decisions. I'm currently renting a flat and getting quite a good deal on it (no rent increase in the last nine years).
I hate travel as I dislike being in unfamiliar places.
I do my own haircuts, etc, not because I can't afford to the financial cost of having it done professionally, but because the spoon requirement of interacting with the service provider is too high. I can't do phone calls as auditory processing disorder means I don't understand what the person on the other end of the phone is saying, which puts a hard barrier in the way of using many services.
I'm on a fixed daily diet to manage a medical condition. I don't drink.
I like reading but prefer to get books from the library as the need to return them by a deadline ensures I'll be motivated to read them.
I enjoy running and hiking, but beyond the cost of the bus fare to get to my favourite routes and occasional gear replacements, this is free.
I take dance classes but from experience, I lose interest if I spend too much time on this hobby. In the past I tried going to weekend events but found them too exhausting.
I enjoy doing online courses and am considering going back into education in a more formal way, but again I worry the social requirements will be overwhelming. Also, my biggest obstacle to completing the courses I'm already taking is lack of energy/time.
I've spent thousands on counselling, coaching, etc, none of which has been helpful and some of which has been actively harmful to me. My mental health has improved dramatically since I stopped doing all this.
I could pay to get a faster autism diagnosis, but I think I'm already near the top of the NHS waiting list.
I dislike having a lot of stuff/clutter, and find shopping a hassle. Figuring out how to accept deliveries is even worse than doing it in person.
I worry about investing/locking away money in case it becomes inaccessible (phone call difficulties as well as the usual risk of losing money on investments).
In summary, I'm pretty happy with my life, don't particularly want to change anything, and definitely don't want to add anything into it that's going to cause me hassle. But I'm stressed about having money sitting there gradually getting eaten by inflation and feel I should do something with it.
I've already made small changes, such as buying things because I feel like it and not spending too long researching the options to ensure I get the best deal, and being more generous towards friends in terms of buying drinks etc.
What do you spend money on that improves your life? Or how do you invest/use it to give you a feeling of security?
Give me all your money and it will improve your life in many very important ways..
(It'd be a "character building" experience anyway!)
First of all - it’s great that you’ve built up savings and you are very fortunate to be in that position! You also seem to be doing a pretty good job in many areas of your life in myriad ways. Impressive
Having savings should in essence be reassuring rather than troubling, but I see the point you’re making. Buying a property does seem like a good idea - but if you’re not sure and you don’t want to make your savings inaccessible then perhaps choose a higher interest account that provides some access? I think some accounts allow options such a 3 withdrawals a year - but higher interest rates than easy access accounts.
But whatever you decide to do maybe try to change your attitude toward the savings to something that provides you with comfort rather than anxiety. Ultimately it’s a very good thing to have - and much better than not having any savings!
If it was as simple as called a guy to fix a thing that I ask him to fix, that would be fine but its not, as you got to deal with the rhetoric and the quality-of-work.. I can’t wait until robots take over the labour-market.. or better still you can just 3D print your way out of issues..
That is so true! My boiler has been broken since 2015 but I'd rather live in the cold than try to get someone in to fix it.
I know exactly what you mean, my shower has been broken since February, for that very reason..
I am a former tradesman and I agree with you.
None whatsoever, and I would rather live in the dark being rained on and pooping in a bucket for the rest of my life than engage tradespeople.
Property is probably your best option. However, know that new houses are more expensive than they should be, and do not hold their value should you want to sell. Do you have any DIY skills? Could you buy a solid older house in need of modernisation? Do it up, sell it on…
Ahh.. I’m the opposite I wear clothes like armour, I have a hearing sensitivity too, but I just use high-end earphones to block it out..
I do occasionally enjoy wandering through the charity shops, although it's relatively rare they have shirts small enough to fit me. The big stores require going armed with ear defenders and very light clothing to avoid overheating.
Telling myself that was how I got into this situation! Then I resolved to change and made some purchases that have made me measurably happier. Wondered whether there was anything else I'm overlooking.
Money only serves as a short term novelty.I,ve bought everything under the Sun and yet i,m still the same old me looking for stimulation.It is true. It does not buy happiness.
A green corduroy shirt..
I would say it makes a lot of sense to stay where you are when you are getting such a good deal on your flat. The same with work, as you clearly enjoy what you do. Both of these are something many of us struggle to achieve throughout our lives. Autistic people struggle to adapt to change, so it makes sense to stick with what you are happy with.
I'm not sure how secure your tenancy is but if it were to end (for example landlord decides to sell the property) that could be the time to consider buying your own property. You are going to have to engage with agents if you are renting or buying and a lot of the communication can be done by email.
I own my house and it does give peace of mind but there are downsides too. If you are renting any repairs are the landlords responsibility. When it's your own property and something goes wrong then trying to organise repairs can be complete nightmare. Like you I don't do phone calls due to auditory processing difficulties. That makes communicating with tradespeople extremely difficult. Plus I absolutely hate having anyone in the house. If something needs fixing it tends to stay that way for a lot of years in my experience
MrSolo said:how do you invest/use it to give you a feeling of security?
In my case my savings are essential for me to live off, to bridge the gap between giving up work and reaching official retirement age. I can't afford to risk the capital. I have invested in the past but I'm a worrier and don't trust myself not to do something silly (like selling everything during a market crash). Personally I greatly value the security of keeping most of my savings in FSCS protected accounts and it helps me sleep at night.
I obsessively watch interest rates and move money between accounts frequently, to ensure I am getting the best possible rates. You could say that is one of my special interests It is very rare that any phone calls are required, as almost everything can be done online these days. Most banks and building societies have some sort of secure messaging or online chat system.
MrSolo said:But I'm stressed about having money sitting there gradually getting eaten by inflation and feel I should do something with it.
You won't be able to fully keep up with inflation but you can minimise the impact. Inflation is very personal anyway. If you spend very little then your own rate won't be as high as that reported in the headlines. Currently the top fixed accounts pay up to 6.1%, notice accounts up to 5.45% and easy access up to 4.6%. As interest rates are still rising there are a lot of changes, the following websites are useful for keeping up with what is happening.
https://moneyfactscompare.co.uk/savings-accounts
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/savings-investments
The forums linked above can be a good place to go to make sure you're fully utilising the tax breaks on savings (such as ISAs) and pensions. There is a wealth of knowledge on there.
Not wanting to be morbid but as you have substantial savings it's worth having an up to date will. If you want to bequeath some of your money to your favourite charity they have specialist departments who can help you to set up all the necessary documentation.
Autumn_Trees said:NS&I website and put the max amount into private bonds (50K). Every month there is a lottery and you (more often than not) win money. Sometimes £25, sometimes £200 but you can win thousands or even a million.
Just to clarify these are called premium bonds. I have some and they are a bit of fun, although I'm still waiting to win the million
MrSolo said:What do you spend money on that improves your life?
Like you I don't actually spend that much. I enjoy hiking which costs nothing. In the future I hope to feel secure enough to spend more on travel, rather than living as frugally as I do now.
We invest through Freetrade and Moneyfarm. But Vanguard is the most well known.
Can I ask what you do for work?
I just don't spend much. So when landlords / letting agents demand that I earn 3x rent to be allowed to live somewhere, I work enough to ensure I can always pass that test, which means every year having about 1/3 to 1/2 of my income left over. 15 years later it's ended up being quite a lot of money.
I'll look into index funds. What platform is good?
Invest it I say! Stock will give you some security as if it's an index fund (S&P 500 and/or FTSE 100) it will gain in size.
Security for me helps my quality if life by removing stress.
I spend money by buying myself time to do the things I enjoy most.
Good position to be in I must say, would love to know how you did it,byour job & approach etc?
you got it right yourself in your first few lines... buy a home.this is important step to take, and yes its super stressful if you have a really bad solicitor, i advise you to never use a recommended solicitor, and never use premier property lawyers or any lawyer that is part of the simplify group because they are rubbish and take a year to complete the job and then they fail to do the land registry.
but owning your own home is one required thing you need before you can think of retiring as home ownership is the key thing that makes retirement possible... you cannot retire when renting as rent requires too much money and it increases too much all the time. home ownership allows you to have low cost life that makes retiring possible especially once you paid mortgage off and have no big bad mortgage or rent bill to pay that threatens to make you homeless upon failure of paying. so ownership is required for any future plans for anyone.once you have set out everything you need to actually be able to have your life on course to be able to retire in the future without effort, then you can focus on spending on random extras.... like a playstation 5 or something, i find a playstation was a required spending for my own mental health but then again i have grown up with playstations so not having one kinda made a massive gap in my life.
MrSolo said:Where do you start with getting a virtual assistant?
Just search for "virtual personal assistant uk " in your search engine and you will see plenty of companies offering the service.
Note that if you have problems in speaking with them then you may need to get someone to work out your specific requirements before communicating thereafter by email / chat.
You will need to very clearly define what you want if you won't want to talk to them by phone but this means you have to be thorough about your needs which should get you exactly what you are after.
They may even be able to find you a property search assistant locally to take your criteria to narrow down what you can see, then they can do a video tour to avoid you going in person until you are pretty sure the property is a strong candidate.
There are some part time estate agents or former estate agents who will do this service but most are very talkative so having a buffer between you will be helpful.
I'm not sure what costs are like for these services now but why not drop them an email and see if it is acceptable to look further.
MrSolo said:Where do you get 12%?
I'm currently living in Brazil and get this from the 2 banks I have my cash held in. They offer a higher rate for larger balances so I keep about £100k in each for the cash I use for my business (property renovations) which spreads the risks and means if any account is compromised then there is always a backup while it gets sorted.
It isn't that the banking here is risky but they are not the most efficient so if I need a lump sum for a purchase and one struggles to get approval for the release on time for my purchase then I have a fallback plan of the other babk (and a tertiary plan to transfer from my UK account if it all goes sideways).