Private pension worth £8000+.

Even invested on an ISA would hive you some intetest and if you chose one, you can make withdrawals from it would be there for emergencies. Some banks have fairly high interest accounts but with most you have to commit for a year at least.

In case this is of any interest ...............

As a teacher, I was advised to pay into a Further Additional Voluntary Contribution policy (FAVCs) to boost my pension. It now seems that was bad advice and I should have been told to invest in AVCs (additional Voluntary Contributions) which was an 'in house' scheme.

A company called It's Your Money are handling all the compensation cases. I saw it on Facebook and ignored it for months assuming it was a scam. How wrong could I have been! I recently received a five figure sum in compensation. I only had to supply minimal details and they did the rest.

Apparently it applies to all public sector workers. If the money was deducted from your salary then it was an AVC and you don't qualify for compensation. If you paid for it yourself, then you may well be eligible. As I said just in case anyone was interested.

Aveline

Is it £8000 a month or a one off lump sum of £8000?

Not a personal experience, but a friend of mine and her husband have invested in premium bonds, £50k max I think.

They regularly have wins which are more than the interest would be if in a savings account and it's tax free.

NSI one-year fixed rate savings pays 4%; absolutely safe,
You'll still own the £8000, plus annual interest £320 .

Better value for you than an annuity.

National Savings and Investments are very easy to deal with, and absolutely dependable.

You need to wise up a little bit about managing your money, income, pension, tax liability in retirement , access to benefits etc. It's really not hard, you CAN do this.

butterandjam

NSI one-year fixed rate savings pays 4%; absolutely safe,
You'll still own the £8000, plus annual interest £320 .

Better value for you than an annuity.

National Savings and Investments are very easy to deal with, and absolutely dependable.

You need to wise up a little bit about managing your money, income, pension, tax liability in retirement , access to benefits etc. It's really not hard, you CAN do this.

www.nsandi.com/

Allira

I'd buy Premium Bonds.
A little excitement every month does us good 😁

I completely agree! The thrill of winning even £50 is great. And it's a far better bet than putting on some nag in the 3.30 at Kempton.

I'd also put in into an ISA as you don't pay tax of any kind on it. As others have said, if you don't need it at the moment and can tie it up for a year or more you'd probably get a better interest rate at the moment.
If you don't need the interest when it's paid you can reinvest it when the investment matures at the end of the period. Some building society accounts (I only know about the Coventry) allow you to take out money once or more during the year without a swinging penalty so you know that it's there in an emergency.
I've had ISAs for many years (in fact since they were called PEPs!) and it's reassuring to know that all the money is available to me when I need it. If you reinvest the income it can build to a tidy sum.

(sorry, meant swingeing not swinging!)

Work ot how long you would need to live to get £8000 in pension eg if you get £100 a Month ie£1200 a year you would need to live approximately 6years. If you only get £50 ( £600 per annum) you would need to live about 12 years to break even

I agree with Allira - that’s the only excitement I get - rubbing my hands and checking the numbers, once a month. Last month, I won £150.

I have a couple around this mark and they really don't offer much a month/year.
I took the 25% tax free option which I used for renovations and then the rest paid each month which is miserly. I wish I had left it in and then drawn it down for emergencies which for some strange reason there always seems to be. I would have paid tax on the drawdown but I'm being taxed, OK, only 20% and not 40/45% like some of my friends but with the cost of living I really don't get much to live comfortably on. If you haven't got full stamp NI contributions maybe look at topping this up. If I live the next 20 years and I'm about to reach 70 next month I will not get what I have paid in.

I had one about that level, and decided it was pointless keeping it for a tiny annuity, so I cashed it in last year. I got 25% tax free, and the rest taxed and sent to me. I put it in a high-interest savings account.

crazyH

I agree with Allira - that’s the only excitement I get - rubbing my hands and checking the numbers, once a month. Last month, I won £150.

Exciting, isn't it!!
I won £125
Don't spend it all at once, crazyH 😀

Statistically across the population the average interest rate from Premium Bonds is, at 3.8%, below interest rates in general. The odds of winning any prize are 1 in 22,000, according to NS&I.

Plunger

Work ot how long you would need to live to get £8000 in pension eg if you get £100 a Month ie£1200 a year you would need to live approximately 6years. If you only get £50 ( £600 per annum) you would need to live about 12 years to break even

Or she could just put £8000 in notes under the mattress and take out £100 a month to spend, in 6 years it would all be gone.

Broke.

Nice moneysavingexpert calculator shows how poor Premium Bonds are.

www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/premium-bonds-calculator/

You might need to zoom in on the image or try the calculator yourself.

Bear in mind that the numbers show median luck i.e. stand everyone in a row who has a £20,000 holding and that's what the person in the middle might win.

You could win more, you could win nothing, so if it's income you want or need then look elsewhere.

Odds of winning:

www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/premium-bonds/

The thing is to calculate what % interest you earn on Premium Bonds over a period of time, then either keep or sell and invest in something steady if you feel dissatisfied.

For one's premium bonds to win most months, one needs close to 50K and unless you were fortunate £8K would be lucky to give you £50 a year.

If you are thinking of an ISA do it sooner rather than later because Rachel Reeves has her eye on that next. I wouldn't buy the stocks and shares ISAs, as they are too risky in my opinion.

I hope you sleep well tonight with more to think about.

Regular monthly savers = Principality b/soc (6month R/S £200max/month 7%fixed), & (Xmas R/S £125max/month 7% fixed).
First Direct (£££ switching incentive) have a ( R/S £200?max/month 7%fixed for a year).
Nationwide (6.5%variable) &Principality you dont need to put in every month, First Direct you do.
You can claim Govt Pension Credit if your total pension/income is low (which will also qualify you for claiming other benefits).
Hope that helps.

Thank you again for all your helpful replies.

You can apply anytime for a statement of your PB wins.

Last time I did this I got a return of around 12.5%. Maybe I'm just lucky...?

I am now looking at more reliable savings though, now my pot is depleting and before my luck runs out!

You can apply anytime for a statement of your PB wins

You can register online and see any wins on there and calculate the interest.

Yes, I think you're lucky 😀

I’m in a similar position - three smallish pots all under £10,000 (plus a final salary scheme which will pay about £150 pm eventually).
I’m going to make a phone appointment with the Pension Advisory Service. I think I know what I want to do, but they may have suggestions I haven’t thought of.
There’s a “small pension scheme” whereby you can take the whole amount out, I think, although you will be taxed on 75%. I’ll never be in a not paying tax position as I have a rental (unexpected joint inheritance) so I might as well withdraw and invest I think.

Update. Drawing it all out and putting it, with additions, into PBs for at least a year. Let see how it goes eh? You have all been so helpful. xxx

Good luck!