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?
MrSolo said:Figuring out how to accept deliveries is even worse than doing it in person.
Do you live in an apartment block or a house? If it is apartments then you could ask the managing company if they could install lockable pidgeon holes big enough for the things you are likely to want, You may need to pay towards these.
This means a delivery could go straight into the unit which then closes and locks. You come to the unit later and pick it up without having to interact with anyone - it will only work for things that don't requre a signature I guess.
MrSolo said:I worry about investing/locking away money in case it becomes inaccessible
For this I would open accounts with a number of banks who have good savings options, invest it across a range to diversify your risk and keep track of when the introductory offers expire so you can move the money to other accounts if they are better.
As for the general social interaction issue for utilities, estate agents etc, have you considered using a virtual personal assistant?
They are fairly easy to find on a search and they can be hired for either piece work or a set number of hours to perform these tasks for you. You would then have one well mannered and capable person chase down the things you need, have the difficult conversations and make appointments for things like property viewings for you.
Property is looking like a poor investment over the next year so I would be reluctant to buy just yet. There seem to be a lot of private landlords selling up due to the government taxing them heavily and making their lives difficult, so there may be a glut of property with little appetite and high interest rates - a perfect storm for a market cottection.
My opinion is that cash is king for now in spite of rising rent prices.
I've cashed out of the UK at the moment having made a lot during the last 6 years from propery renovations and am now doing this in Brazil that is not having anything like the issues that afflict the UK. In a few years I will consider reversing this but for now I get 12% a year interest from cash in the bank so most of my money is sitting there waiting for the UK market to bounce back.
Apartment block. We have lockable postboxes which work wonderfully for anything delivered by royal mail. Every other courier can't access the room the boxes are in, so you have to talk to them over the phone (which I can't do) to work out which entrance they are at and run down there before they give up and leave. The management company has no interest in resolving the situation. I try to only buy from sellers that use royal mail, but sometimes they say they use RM and then it turns out they're actually using someone else. I also buy from Amazon who can deliver a subset of their products to lockers about half a mile away.
Where do you start with getting a virtual assistant?
Where do you get 12%?
With property my primary motivation was to have somewhere I will definitely be allowed to live for the rest of my life, rather than as an investment.
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).