Hubbys inheritance....

[pillj123]

Hubby is due for roughly £180,000.
Right now work is mega bad....he is a construction engineer...refusing to look further afield than East Anglia.He is self employed,living off company overdraughts right now.
We have a mortgage of £ 90,000...on a really low interest tracker.
What would you do to make this work for the future....we have no pension,he is 51....and I am too poorly to work more than low wage very part-time..
Would you buy a rental property or two..?,and clear outstanding debts?
Any ideas would be really useful...as I seem to be the one who is wanting to investigate all options.
P.S........yes of course I would give it all away to an owl charity if I could!
PPs........now back to the question....it is genuine!

[EvianBaby]

Id pay off the mortgage and keep working. With the rest id stick it in a savings account. You wont be able to retire on 90k. You could buy a buy to let but i doubt it would make you much income but if you found a good buy it could be an investment for the future.

[pillj123]

Redhelen...thanks,that sounds sensible,I mentioned our tracker mortgage as his mortgage adviser with Barclays suggested keeping it going as it is at such a low interest rate....however...thats just his point of view..

[puternut]

Maybe speak to an independent financial adviser

[pillj123]

Thank-you Evianbaby...interesting that you both agree to pay off our mortgage.Yes,redhelen it is interest only.Not sure exactly what we are paying off each month...but its only around £200.
I appreciate your input ...and yes I hope he finds work soon...or it will all just get eaten up in living expenses!

[pillj123]

would you bother getting an independant Financial advise to give advice?I think it would be very revealing to see just where hubby has debts...he's a bit secretive...and always seems to have debts.

[pillj123]

thanks Puternut!...your answer wasnt there when I made my last comment!

[Ratty2E]

If for some reason the gods smiled on us and we suddenly in receipt of that sort of money, paying off the mortgage would be the first thing to do. Once your house is paid for (and as long as you don't secure any other loans against it) you'll always have somewhere to live no matter what life throws at you. After that I would pay off any debts because they are only costing you more money the longer they go on. Depending on what was left you could use the rest as some sort of investment for the future by either investing in property or in setting up a new business etc. The most important thing (to me anyway) would be making sure my home was secure.

[NOX]

Pay off your mortgage and debts then buy some rental properties is a great idea- 2 bed terraced houses rent the easiest, try for a respectable area , you'll at least then have a simple income for your dotage.

[EDDIE51]

Some on here seem to be in 'cloud cookoo land' he is due £180,000
Pay off a £90,000 mortage ( remember they are paying intrest only so the entire £90,000 has to be repaid) and the business overdraughts and how much would be left? Probably well under £50,000 !
What are you going to buy with that? even a 1 bed flat is a very poor area is more than that. To get a property to rent would mean getting another mortgage at a much higher rate than the present one.
pillj123 pay off the mortgage and the overdraught plus any other debts then at least you have a garanteed house and are debt free. Then see if there is anything left and have a decent holiday.

[Old_Geezer]

No expert but I'd clear off the overdrafts. It is expensive money. That said get professional advice about personal money and the company's money, there may be legal/financial quirks which make the putting of more personal money into a business less beneficial than might first seem to someone like me.

The mortgage, well it depends. Mortgages tend to be cheap money, so the question is whether, if you paid it off, you'd find yourself wanting to borrow later for something. Only pay that off if you know the £180k is enough for all your needs. Or maybe pay some off ?

As you have no pension you may wish to consider sorting out a (future) income at this point. If you want to try the renting market then fine, but that is a personal decision on what you invest in. I'd suspect it wasn't a bad choice at the moment. But be aware of all the CGT nonsense that comes with it.

Otherwise get a broker and advice on investing in the market, find out where to split your imminent wealth into various opportunities. Or even set up a pension fund.

[MartinBev58]

I agree with what everybody has said here.
The only addition I have is check you are not committed to the mortgage for a certain time.
I inherited some money an April one year and it was more than enough to pay off the mortgage.
I went into the building society and they advised me there would be an early repayment fee.
The lady went through the figures and I was better off by about £500 by investing the money and keeping my house mortgaged until February the next year.
I took her advice.

Martin

[pillj123]

Wow.....such excellent advice....I appreciate every one of you who cared enough to help.I know it does sometimes take time to type..so thank you for ALL your thoughts.Each one adds a special something to the melting pot..I cannot pick a favourite!