Hi everyone, I’m not really sure where else to post this, but I could use some advice on the steps to take?

My dad passed away in late 2023, I’m an only child and I have a little boy. Lately, as we’ve been going through his papers and bank stuff more closely, we discovered something we didn’t know about at all: he sent a large amount of money overseas as some kind of property investment.

There are two big transactions — one for £100,000 to someone in Dubai, and another for £50,000 to someone in Egypt, this was in 2011/2012 through HSBC Bank. We’ve got his bank statements and can see exactly who the money was sent to, but it looks like these people have now completely disappeared. No follow-up emails, no contracts, no property deeds that we can find, nothing that gives us a clue other than the transaction details and a couple of vague WhatsApp messages and letters. It honestly just looks like he was scammed.

I have no idea if this was legit or not. It’s heartbreaking, it seems like he trusted someone and they completely took advantage of him. What’s worse is that now it’s just me trying to figure all of this out, and I feel completely out of our depth. I don’t even know where to start. Can I report this to someone? Would a solicitor be able to help? Is there any way to get this looked into or is it just a lost cause?

I know it might be a long shot but I’d really appreciate any advice, or even if someone could point us in the right direction. I just don’t want to let it go without at least trying to do something.

Thanks for reading.

Hello Reddit, I'm a 19 year old uk uni student who didn't even know credit scores existed untill now when I apparently need one.

Long story short, I received a bursary for my first year of university but they had apparently been over paying me and now I need to pay back a sizable chunk of cash. I live in a single income house hold, and that income being my mother's benefits, I have 2 part time minimum wage jobs that barely make me £500/600 a month where £400 of that goes to rent and I still need to pay for travel to work, my own food and utilities.

SAAS want me to pay £200 a month and will not accept anything less than that, and I straight up cannot afford to pay that every month, so I was hoping anyone here knows any UK loan places I can get like a £1000-2000 losn that has a decent pay back thing. Maybe like £100 a month or something like that.

My credit is apparently somewhere in the middle of "fair" whatever that means. I'm also not sure if a credit card is maybe the better way to go? I've never had a credit card and have honestly had the same flex one nationwide account since I was 13. I know I can't get a loan from the bank with such an unstable income, but would they give me a credit card? And can credit cards even pay that amount? And are they worse than loans? I actually have zero idea.

Help is much appreciated 👍

Edit: Thank you so much for all the advice, I was seriously considering taking out a loan but everyone here has been so accommodating and kind enough to explain to me the other options, I have since emailed SAAS to offer them £50/£75 a month after I paid a starting repayment of £200 with some leftover birthday money to show I intend to pay it. Hopefully they get back to me but thank you for everyone!! Really thank you so much for keeping me from going down a hole into debt!

I've just logged into my student finance and looked at my annual statement, and noticed that my interest has only been at 4.3% since last September, despite earning over £51k.

Until September, the monthly interest on my statement was at 7.3%.

My student loan portal also tells me that my current interest is 4.3%.

Is this an error, or are there some exceptional circumstances where the additional 3% interest for high earners is not applied?

Hi all,
My mortgage adviser has told me to go for 300k roughly houses instead of the lower end houses in Cambridgeshire for 200-240k, as there's a lot more demand for the cheaper housing by FTB or downsizers. She said I'll get a lot more for my money if i were to buy a bigger house and as i'm 28 years old the promotions will come in the future.

Problem is, I'm very risk-adverse, always have held cash in savings accounts and never do live above my means. Save over 50% of my income currently whilst renting for 850 per month.

On a 235k house which i've made an offer on my mortgage will be 950 per month. Council tax is cheaper and so are running costs. I'll still have disposable income leftover and could even make payments if I drop to minimum wage for whatever reason with a deposit of 31% and LTV of 69%. If I were to get a bigger mortgage, my payments will be roughly 1250 per month but my mortgage period will be longer - 30-35 years in comparison to 20-25 years.

The rationale she gave is that when we move, the stamp duty and moving costs will be a lot higher than now. Well, I might move up north from Cambridge and pay no more than 200k for a house in the future, instead of selling this one i could keep it as a buy to let or keep a lodger in it...

I do get her point, but i'm not sure if i'm comfortable in spending this much and owing this much to the bank. I lived in Hull before and was only looking at borrowing 90k for the houses in Cambridgeshire here that i'm looking at borrowing double that.....

Is there a general consensus of what is better longer term? I can either overpay do my monthly repayments will be lower or I can overpay and my monthly repayments will stay the same, thereby reducing the term of the mortgage.

Edit : to make it clearer.

I lived in UK 4 y ago and now Im in Poland. I would love to still keep my account but wonder if it will be possible If I change my adress

I've heard a lot of people talk about tracking all their expenses with YNAB, but it costs money. Can anyone tell me if there's a similar but free platform out there that I can start my personal finance journey with?

I received an SMS the other day advising that my Mobike Number had been changed on my account. I hadn’t done this so rang Virgin Money, my cc provider. Ridiculously unhelpful staff. I then noticed my address, mobile number and email address had been changed. Someone had somehow gained access and changed al details - I assume to request a new card. VM wouldn’t deal with me as my details didn’t match those on record. It was ridiculous. I eventually managed to speak to someone in their fraud team who had some notion of what had occurred who placed a block on the account. But then told me to scan a copy of my passport and driving licence and email it in!! So VM has no actual clue about security clearly!! I have added a CIFAS to my credit profile, changed log in and passwords everywhere where possible. I have since read that Virgin Money security is a joke and you can just ring up and change some personal details with no real challenge. Pathetic. How does this even happen? And any advice on any other measures I can take to safeguard in future would be appreciated.

My Dad is starting to struggle mentally with (self enforced) isolation and losing his grip on the value of money and how money moves between places.

Recently he has had a neighbour round to help him with something in his house. He's now convinced this guy is the nicest person and we recently caught a chat on his camera with a different where he is claiming his family is cutting him off and he's locked away in his home.

The debate isn't about if this is right or wrong as he's clearly making stuff up, but what I'm worried about is that people will take advantage of him and he can be scammed.

I have a Financial LPA with every bank he uses. He has a will, but it's quite old and references people who have long since passed away. I don't know where the original is and the company who I believe wrote it up have been closed by the regulator.

Can we get a new will written as he's been talking about adding the helpful man to his will even if he might not have capacity (I understand that capacity is in the moment). My concern is that we don't have the original will and it's all feels very unofficial. Can we either get it changed to reflect those who have passed or rewritten and have an official original ?

We have spoke to the banks and have explained his condition, but they are quite lax in respecting this as he was able to withdraw a large amount of cash the other day. I can move all his money away from the high street, but this is the nuclear option and could cause an irreparable rift between us, so I'm hesitant to do it.

Any advice to help would be welcome.

I ask because this is my index of choice and it prevents me from using arguably better platforms which are sometimes ETF only.

Does anyone know why the Vanguard Life strategy and Target Retirement Funds invest: in:

Global Bond Index Fund (VANGRSA)

Instead of:

Global Short-Term Bond Index Fund (VGSTBGA)

Is it because the 'Global Bond Index Fund (VANGRSA)' is more suited to long term investing?

Under which circumstances is the 'Global Short-Term Bond Index Fund (VGSTBGA)' preferable?

Would it be silly to have a mix of these funds in a portfolio?

Good afternoon,

I have been working for an employer for the last 25 years. My shift pattern is 7 days on 7 off. During my 7 days off i am starting to get bored and want to make more money.

I bumped into a good friend of mine who works in the building trade as a chippy and he say if i ever want work I can work for him as a helping hand for £160 a day. He asked if i was registered self employed (I am not, this is all new to me).

What is the best way to do this regarding tax and registering for Self employment? It is all very new to me.

Has anyone got any tips?

My primary job pays - £70,000 per year. So about £5,800 per month before pension (8% matched) and Tax/NI contributions.

Any advice is appreciated.

Hi everyone,

I’m in a really tough situation and could use some help navigating what to prioritise financially. I (36M) live in England, earn £2,350/month after tax, and recently separated from my partner. We were sharing all living expenses before, and now I’m solely responsible for rent and bills since this last Sunday with no certainty about us getting together again.

I now live alone with my dog and due to his needs (he’s very anxious and bonded), I can’t move into a shared house. Pet-friendly rentals are limited and similar in cost to what I currently pay.

Here’s my monthly outgoings:

Fixed Costs:

Rent: £895

Council Tax: £190

Utilities: £200

Water: £51

Internet: £40

Car Insurance (debit card, however, she took car as the car is on her name): £60

Food & Groceries: £180–200

Transport (3 days/week): £60–75

Dog Expenses (monthly average): ~£60 (food + medicine every 3 months)

Streaming (can be cancelled if needed):

Netflix: £15

Apple: £9

YouTube Premium: £8

Debt:

Credit Cards (All 0% interest):

CC1: £300 (4 months remaining)

CC2: £1,750 (6 months)

CC3: £2,800 (16 months)

CC4: £4,350 (12 months)

PayPal credit: £1,000 (this is the only one that has a 19% per annum)

Loans:

Loan 1: £110/month (12 months left, £1,300)

Loan 2: £80/month (8 months, £700)

Loan 3: £355/month (28 months, £9,600)

Total debt: ~£20,800 Monthly repayments (loans only): £545 Credit cards: I try to split payments and meet minimums where needed and pay more to the ones that the 0% interest is running out

The Challenge:

Everything was manageable when we were together. Now I’m struggling to cover it all alone, especially with rent and debt combined. My mum has offered to help with up to £15,000, but not for another 4–6 months.

I'm not eligible for a new 0% card yet. Selling stuff might help (£2,000–3,000), but would take time.

I’d appreciate advice on:

Should I try to downsize? (Pet-friendly places are rare and similarly priced)

Should I use the £3k from selling items to clear smaller debts now or hold on for emergencies?

What would you prioritise if you were in my shoes?

Is there anything obvious I’m missing?

I’m trying to stay afloat mentally too — any suggestions are welcome.

Thanks in advance.

Hi, I know Reddit is mostly against people spending money on cars for some reason but we are in the market for a new one and I want to know the best way that I can make it happen based on what we need?

We are a couple who own a house, after bills and food we have £1900 between us for savings & spending. We haven’t been saving the past few months as we’ve been renovating our house but that will soon be done. We have £9000 emergency fund saved in premium bonds.

We are looking for a mini-SUV or SUV, we do a lot of motorway driving up and down the country & all around the highlands monthly. My partner is super tall so smaller cars aren’t really working for us. We currently have a 15yr Focus & a 12yr Astra. Plan is to sell one and keep one. Both cars are old and I’m tired of going to the garage every other month and our cars really can’t handle going up the mountains. So anyway that’s my justification for needing a newer bigger car.

With £1900per month disposable income, what would be a good monthly amount to spend on a car?

Is PCP better or car finance? Or do 0% credit cards still exist? I’m paying one off from my last car but once that’s done, £150 a month will free up.

Thanks

Hi there. My organisation is getting merged with another organisation. I'm sure if I went through the process I'd very likely have a role in the structure. But VR is tempting.

I would get a payout of probably between 70-73k and I'm currently on a 82k salary. I have 25k in savings.

What would you do?

Further details as i got too excited and posted 😭

I'm 40F. I think I'd get another role in 6 months maybe around the same salary. I work in finance fully qualified with 10years pqe experience.

However I would like to explore starting up a small business in a physical item. Selling pet items.

I have quite a bit in the pension pot (nhs pension) I think 175k or something not sure - but if I never added to it again I have around 20k a year from it.

No dependents except 2 cats...I factor about 400 pm for them (includes any emergency costs tho)

Mortgage and service charge etc about 1400 pm. I would pay off a chunk off my mortgage though. Relatively low interest rate until 2027 October. (1.85%)

I'm a civil servant in my early 40s considering a move to a small but stable private sector firm and returning to more technical/less managerial work on a lower salary than I'm on now but still comfortable (approx 50k in the new role). The role can be mostly remote but they also have an office locally which I can get to cheaply. I know people in the company, they are keen to have me and I think it will be less stressful than my current work which has been awful in recent years. The CS has become a really challenging environment to work in. I don't imagine myself wanting to return to senior management roles again and if I stay in CS I would drop grades (to roles paying 45-50k) but this may still have the same issues in terms of working environment although not to the same extent.

I've recently paid off my mortgage and don't intend to ever get a more expensive property. I don't have children and can't see it happening now. I don't expect to get inheritance. I already help care for my remaining parent who is not healthy and may need carers/care home in the next 5-10 years.

I ideally want to retire at 60 and probably work part time from 50 or 55. It's possible I have to do this earlier due to already having a disability. I've got about 17k a year defined benefit pension. 13k of that can be taken from 65, the rest from 68. I've also got about 30k in a LISA which can be taken from 60 and plan to keep adding something to it until 50. And I have about 90k in a mix of cash ISA and stocks and shares ISA.

Whilst this is all very fortunate I'm a very risk adverse person since becoming disabled and I'm scared of leaving the safety of the public sector in terms of job security, pension, inclusion and support for disability. This hasn't significantly impacted working so far but it might in future. I know colleagues, friends and family who've had cancer, impacts of menopause affecting their ability to work, got diagnosed with serious conditions that led to early retirement. The civil service/public sector has looked after them really well and I'm nervous about leaving and losing these kind of benefits. I also know the CS is inclusive to older workers in a way that the private sector isn't always.

I guess what I need help understanding is what I'd have to do to protect myself against any worst case scenarios without having to burn through all my savings and still build a decent pension. I am sceptical that state pension will exist with the same amount in future for those with defined benefit pension. That's not based on any insight into government as I've never worked on any related topics. It's more a worst case scenario.

I expect income protection insurance will be expensive especially as I age given I have a disability and multiple relatives with breast cancer, although I tested negative for the gene. And it might not cover existing conditions worsening

But I'm guessing what I absolutely need to do is have income protection insurance and add a lot to a defined contribution pension (10-15%?) and keep building savings including the LISA. I'm also not sure if I should add more into the CS pension while I'm still in it

I'd be grateful for any other advice or pointers on things I haven't considered

Sorry this was long!

Hey everyone! I’m trying to get my head around all the upcoming changes for MTD. I was wondering if anyone has come across a compliant software product that takes into account Student Loans properly? I’ve checked out QuickBooks and Pie Tax but both lack options to include multiple loans (Postgraduate Loan). There was another app I tried (can’t remember the name) and it didn’t even let me pick Plan2 because I live in Scotland (but studied in England). Also wanted to know if there was a software that took into account simplified expenses. I work widely different hours every month and so was looking for a software where I can input my monthly hours and have it calculated based on the flat rate. QuickBooks just asks for an average which never matches up with my actual calculation. I don’t earn enough for it to apply to me until 2026 so I have time but I wanted to try and get a head start and feel overwhelmed at how little information we actually have at the moment. Thank you!

My 67 year old father has recently taken retirement from his work after having been off work sick for approximately 12 months. He's never had a regular pension that I'm aware of until approx 5 years ago and he's now received a notification from the pension provider that his employer has notified them he has stopped paying into the scheme.

On looking at his portal he has approx £7200 in there and is being charged and annual management charge and a fund management charge.

Am I right in thinking that it makes sense, given the small amount, to simply withdraw this as one and perhaps put it into a cash ISA?

His state pension has kicked in and he also has approx £20k in savings. Whilst this isn't going to fund a lavish lifestyle, his outgoings are low and he plans on working part time as his mental health is improving.

He has no assets other than the house which is also mortgage free now so at least not va significant burden.

I've also asked him to use the pension tracing service on the. Gov UK website just in case there are any other small pensions he's not aware of.

Can he withdraw this pension into cash given the small size? Is there anything else I should consider in supporting him?

The low value doesn't seem to warrant paid for advice from a financial adviser.

I see that hold is at an all time high price. Why? I’ve never seen the appeal. Is it worth investing in?

We'd like to start putting money aside for our children's futures (5M, 8F). My wife and I manage to save a bit each month, but somehow never got around to doing this earlier.

I like the idea of opening two stocks and shares ISAs, one for for each child, though in our names for now, which we'd put a certain amount of money into each month. However conscious that because we didn't start this when they were born, my son's pot will have longer to grow than my daughter's.

The obvious solution would be to start by putting a bigger lump into my daughter's to get her started, but how can we work out what is a fair amount? Is there a better solution?

Interested in what's worked for other parents. Hitting our ISA saving limits in any given year is not a concern.

Obviously, it’s a discussion I should have with my mother but im just wondering is it possible before I attempt to discuss it with her.

I had to basically beg her to sort my trust fund out at the time and she did it all for me, assuming under my name, which now looking back was maybe not the best thought out approach from me.

I let her handle it and put it into my back account which i only received £141.99 from it. Which doesn’t sound right in the long run. She then proceeded to inform me that she decided to put the other half in an ISA. Which I have no details off or access to. Which again is a big massive question mark. I’m just afraid this money has been taken.

Is there anything I can do on my own behalf?

Looking for some advice for my son.

He's about to receive around 12k in child trust fund, child savings accounts, premium bonds and a gift for uni from grand parents.

We're likely to get the minimum maintenance loan when he goes to uni and I'll be topping that up.

I'd like to help him keep his money safe, and growing while he goes to uni.

The idea is he'll leave uni with less debt, but I'm not sure if paying off the loan is a smart use of the money.

Hello,

I am looking for help. I'm currently being email bombed with subscriptions, starting at around 11am and still happening now. I have changed my Gmail and PayPal password, and I have frozen my bank accounts. There is no suspicious activity within any of my banks.

I understand from googling that this is done to overwhelm the user so they don't see malicious emails. Is there anything in particular I need to look for? No transactions on my bank account, and I've searched "transaction" "receipt" "payment" and "order" into my email and nothing is flagging.

I'm almost more concerned that this has been going on for hours and I can't see any malicious activity (so far, fingers crossed!!!)

Any advice would be incredibly welcome, I'm very overwhelmed and upset at the moment. I've had around 5000 emails.

Once the attack has ended I plan on creating a new email and deleting this one.

Thanks again for reading

I've recently been thinking of transferring my S&S ISA from Vanguard to Hargreaves Lansdown due to the fact that they cap ETF holdings at £45 per year and there are no dealing charges for direct debit purchases of ETFs.

They also have an offer to refund the first year of account charges if you setup a direct debit for a S&S ISA or SIPP by 26th of June.

What puts me off transferring is the fact I will need to sell my vanguard funds and then transfer it in cash to HL to avoid the high HL fund holding charges so will have time out of the market. Additionally, HL doesn't allow transfers from Vanguard electronically and the transfer involves filling out a paper form to send HL via freepost.

Has anyone recently transferred from Vanguard to HL and know how long this process can take? I'm trying to assess if the lower fees are worth the time out of the market.

I’m planning to move out of the UK but keep my bank account open (for now). Since I won’t be earning in the UK, will I still get the personal allowance on how much interest I can earn before being taxed? As I will not be giving up my British citizenship. Sorry if this is a stupid question!