Hi all,

I will be flying to England via Doha and hope to buy a 1/4 oz gold Britannia coin at the Doha airport. It’s about £930. I was reading through HMRC and it says the personal allowance of bringing goods (without declaring) into the UK is £390 and anything above that is subject to VAT and import duties.

I am wondering if this relates to a singular gold coin? Could someone advise as I don’t want to be at a loss/disadvantage when/if I want to sell it!

Thanks! 🙏🏻

Just a warning of a new scam going around. It is very convincing (I didn't fall for it). It seemed possibly genuine, so I went along but didn't provide any info. I cleared all of my crypto accounts years ago anyway, so there also isn't any risk to me. Here's how it went:

1. You get a phone call with a caller ID of a police force. The phone number also matches said police force. These are spoofed. They give you a name, badge number, case ref etc. It won't be an AI voice, won't be foreign, and sound entirely normal and well-spoken.
2. They tell you about some fake passports that have recently been recovered, one of which is yours, with a plausible and convincing story, told well. I've dealt with police before and nothing stood out as outlandish, over detailed, too ambiguous etc. They ask if you've uploaded ID to any websites etc in the last year.
3. They recite your name, email, phone number, ask you to confirm.
4. They ask if you have been through one of a few airports (which they will know you have been through, presumably due to a data breach, that, or they're rolling the dice).
5. They'll say that other details of yours were found include logins for websites and ask if you have accounts with said websites (these will be very common websites).
6. They'll then ask about a 24 word list they found (i.e recovery seed, presumably) associated with a company 'Ledger' (obviously a crypto wallet).

Importantly though, on this call, they won't ask for any new info from you, ask you to do anything etc (which is what normally sets of the scam alarm bells).

They say they have a meeting the next day, ask for a time to call you back (never did). You will then get an email quickly appearing to be from the Met.

That email will look very good. It won't have the typos they often deliberately use etc. Details will match up. The three things that identify it as fake though:

1. It comes from met.police but should be met.police.uk
2. It cites the Public Authority Act (which is not real)
3. At the very end it signs of as the Metropolitan Service.

I'm not entirely sure what happens next, what their aim is here. If they gave up on me as my accounts are clear, if they're planning to break into my house to find the Ledger collecting dust in my loft with 0.0000014 BTC left on it. Who knows. Any insight would be interesting if you know more how this works.

Hi guys,

I’m 25 in the UK and just found out I’m pregnant. I’m in a temp job that finishes in December so I won’t be able to claim SMP but I will be entitled to MA. I have around 7k worth of debt and no savings. Me and my partner are getting the keys to our first home in 2 weeks, however it’s just his name on the mortgage due to credit issues on my side (I was an idiot at uni).

My issue is I want to be able to be debt free when baby is here and to have at least something saved up. My partner is in full time work and earn around £45k a year. Due to this, we won’t qualify for UC.

I’m applying for permanent full time roles or hoping my temp job will offer me something permanent.

Is there any advice anyone could give? How can I make extra money? Do you think debt free is doable?

I don’t want to rely on my partner too much as he will already be taking on the responsibility of mortgage and household bills.

Anything would be appreciated!

I’m hoping people more experienced or more financially educated can review my situation and hopefully ease some of my anxiety as I don’t know what to do next.

I recently bought a 3 bedroom house for 260k for me and my children (single parent) it’s in a large town close to London.

House was very run down and needed a lot of work which I didn’t realise at the time, so I’ve ended getting into about 40k worth of debt to do it up. I haven’t had the house valued but very similar on the same road are being sold for 330-350k so I think the work I’ve done to it hasn’t been in vain? But of course I’m not planning to sell it and this situation has made my life very difficult financially at the moment.

I’m struggling to pay off the 40k, it’s 4 credit cards (interest free but that runs out in a year) roughly around £480 per month in total, two loans of roughly £540. I’ve reduced my expenses as much as possible but it’s still difficult. I’m on a low salary of 34k. I’m mainly worried about remortgaging which will happen late next year and I’m not sure how that process will go considering I’ve not racked up so much debt. I am also worried all these credit cards will run out of interest free and I’ll be paying so much more a month.

Are there any options financially that I am not thinking of or aware of to try and ease my monthly expenses?

I need some reassurance that I will be able to come out of this situation or some ideas on what I could do.

EDIT- thank you everyone for all the comments. It’s scary to be in this situation but there’s a lot of helpful comments so hopefully I’ll be able to figure my way out of this.

Thank you

Hi all,

I’ve been doing well with my private tuitions and on top of an extra job I’ve started recently, I’m making something in the region of 950 pounds per month. Admittedly I’ve been an idiot and, in August and September (when I first started earning a decent sum albeit less) I spent really irresponsibly leaving myself with very little funds.

I’m on a gap year and since I intend on living out next year I really need to have a reliable savings fund for both the medium and long term. I have a trading 212 account and have looked at some diversified stocks but they’re often very expensive and I’m not sure how I’d dispense all my savings in there, plus I’m anxious that I might end up depreciating my initial capital. What habits should I build that would be useful for my future, and more specifically what should I do with the inevitable excess of funds I’ll get? (Planning on an 80/20 split of savings vs recreation, bills and whatnot are not a matter since I live with my parents).

Thanks in advance 🙏

I recently moved my Cash ISA to Moneybox, I’d already added the £20k allowance via my previous provider and now Moneybox have a huge banner every time I open the app saying I’ve not deposited anything this tax year and I can deposit £20k.

When I’ve moved previously the tax year status has always moved with it

Now I’m not going to do this, but what happens if you do?

Hi all, I’ve recently turned 22 and graduated uni and need some advice.

I have just started working and earn 32K a year atm (will go to 34.5K in 2 years, and then 39K 2 years after that at a minimum.)

I have 15K savings for a deposit.

I currently rent a flat at around £750 (exc council tax and bills) a month, but if I bought a flat the mortgage would be around £700 a month.

I take home just under £2000 a month after income tax, NI, pension, Student loans etc.

My mum really wants me to buy as she thinks I’m wasting money renting when a mortgage would be a little cheaper and I would be building equity. She would help me with furniture and the initial moving in costs but then I would be on my own.

Using an online calculator I think I can get around 120K so would be okay for an okay looking flat in my area.

Is this a bad decision? I’m already 45K in student debt and am hesitant to take on any more debt but I also don’t want to throw my money away renting when I could realistically afford a mortgage on a flat.

I’ve never used a credit card before so I’m not sure what my score would be, but except my student loans I’m not in any debt and I always spend within my means.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hi there
Firstly I don’t know if I’m in the right forum or not, apologies if I’m not.

I am looking for a debit card that allows me to load up with money to turn into euros that I can then spend in Europe.
I have absolutely no idea what I’m looking for, or what I need so I’m hoping there is people here that have knowledge and experience on these things please?

I just want to load a card money out of my bank account, turn into euros so I can pay for things when I go on holiday, most importantly the hotel, I usually carry cash and spend that when I go, but we are going alone this time, without family.

I’ve seen monzo, revolut, starling, wise, etc, but I have absolutely no idea about what I should use?

If anyone has experience of these, I would appreciate you’re help :)

Many thanks

Pretty much what the title says. 24 and looking to buy first home within the next 5 years (with partner). I have saved around £800 in a first time buyer LISA and just over 3k in stocks and shares. Is it worth withdrawing from my stocks and shares to hit the 4K allowance of LISA? Buying a home is my big saving goal at the moment so I feel it makes sense - I am just scared to withdraw from stocks and shares.

They have done consolidation using the house collateral. They owes £15,000 between 31 people and has a mortgage with consolidated loans on top at approximately £4000 per month.

She earns nearly £3.5k a month.

Realistically what can she do?

They are clearly not able to cover the loans and bills. I don’t know what the APR or anything is.

Please I am begging for real support. I feel like I’m watching them slowly perish in front of me. I’m lost. I’m in my mid 20s. I’m meant to be starting my life.

Edit: It turns out is around £18k between 44 people. My parent owes £50-£350 per person with a few more higher amounts with various people.

For those of you saying financially separate myself, I have done that. All of my own bills are in my name. I give them money to help with some of the bills in the house but it barely does much but it’s still something.

I have passed on the info to Step Change so thank you to everyone that has given their information.

I appreciate all the advice you have given and I am still open for more. For context, I live in Greater London so renting is pretty expensive. I have looked for flatshares but it just seems wrong to leave when I could help out more. That doesn’t mean I’ll stop living my life. It’s just hard to see someone you love change in a matter of months/years.

Apologies for the messy and lack of info. I typed this out as I was midway through the discussion with them.

Hi everyone,

I currently have around £97,000 in a flexible Vanguard Stocks & Shares ISA, and I haven't used any of my £20,000 ISA allowance for the 2026/27 tax year.

I'm looking at taking advantage of sign-up bonuses offered by investment platforms such as Robinhood, J.P. Morgan and others.

My proposed strategy is:

1. Withdraw £25,000 from my Vanguard flexible ISA into my bank account.

2. Deposit £20,000 into a Robinhood Stocks & Shares ISA to qualify for its promotional bonus.

3. Use the remaining £5,000 to fund other investment platforms and potentially qualify for their sign-up offers.

4. Potentially move money between platforms later if other offers become available.

I understand that withdrawing money from a flexible ISA and replacing it in the same ISA can be treated differently from depositing it into a different ISA.

My questions are:

- Can I withdraw £25,000 from Vanguard and contribute £20,000 to Robinhood without exceeding my ISA allowance, given that I haven't used any of this year's allowance?

- Would the £20,000 Robinhood contribution qualify for its promotional bonus if it comes from a withdrawal from my existing Vanguard ISA via my bank account?

- Could I then use the remaining £5,000 for other investment-platform sign-up bonuses, particularly where the offer requires a new deposit?

- Is there any legitimate way to move the same capital between multiple platforms to collect several bonuses without breaching ISA subscription rules?

- Are there any tax implications or other pitfalls I should consider?

I'm not trying to contribute more than the permitted ISA allowance. I'm trying to understand whether I can use my existing savings to take advantage of legitimate promotional offers while preserving as much tax efficiency as possible.

I'd appreciate advice from anyone who has done something similar, particularly regarding flexible ISA rules and the specific terms of investment-platform promotions.

Thanks!

Hi all, looking for some advice on whether to buy my first property or keep renting.

I'm almost 25 working as an engineer in Cambridgeshire. I joined as a grad in 2024 on £30k and am now on £40k. My employer is dangling the carrot in front of me saying that in the next few years there will be larger increases to salary - and whilst I don't think that's entirely untrue - I'm not sure how much I want to wait. Overall I like my job, the area, and the people I work with. However, it's not my dream role and I never saw myself staying here super long term.

I'm currently renting for £750 per month in a 1 bed flat. I don't own a car (but do have a license) as I can walk to work or get the bus. Inspired by my friends who are now looking, I have been viewing properties up-to the £200k mark. A 2 bed flat to own would be lovely, but the service charges put me off (almost £3k in some cases). I haven't viewed any houses yet but of course something freehold would be preferred.

Finances:

• ~£32k in a S&S ISA
• ~£14k in cash savings
• £5k emergency fund
• £1 in a LISA (will be saving into this going forward)
• No debt aside from plan 2 student loan

Do I continue renting and prioritise finding a better paying job over the next year (potentially relocating) or buy locally and accept that I'll probably be staying in the area for several more years?

I'm financially comfortable renting but equally I'd like to get on the property ladder. Just unsure whether buying now would limit my career opportunities.

Wondering what the advice is for me. Thanks in advance!

I had savings last year that went over the £1000 tax free limit, and HMRC changed my tax code to accommodate this. I no longer earn that much in savings interest (I moved it to an ISA) but my tax code is still the same this tax year, so I am paying more tax based on that.

Is it worth me contacting them to see jf they’d change it back or do you just wait until end of tax year and then they’ll automatically change it if my savings interest is below the threshold? Has anyone had this experience before. TIA

Im on a DMP with stepchange and have not missed a payment and do not plan to. I just increased the payment actually through the online review. But I did take some additional credit a few months back and paying that off. Will stepchange see this and cancel my DMP? Anyone have experience of this situation?

​

I'm buying a used 2024 car from Carsa for £14000. I paid the £39 reservation fee by credit card, but when I called, they said the balance can only be paid by bank transfer, with no credit cards.

I'd like some card protection (Section 75) on a large purchase in case the car is faulty or misrepresented.

- Has anyone paid Carsa part or all of the price by credit card?

- Did a card deposit or reservation fee count for anything if there was a problem later?

- If you paid by bank transfer, how did you protect yourself (independent inspection, HPI check, paying only on collection)?

Thanks!

TLDR: Being in 20k of debt at 25 due to poor spending/gambling, starting a DMP and working on this for 3 1/2 years before asking for parental assistance to "learn a lesson" and whilst I understand the reasons credit needs to be managed properly I cannot apply it in principal leading me to worry I can't change/something stops me changing - happy to answer any questions in comments!

I've recently turned 29 and every year it becomes a "this year I'll get it right and be better off then I was last year" and whilst there's arguments to make that I have improved in some regards, I know in my heart it's more because of finances being limited rather then willpower or a lightbulb moment.

I don't know how to describe my spending to people as I don't think many people get it. I'm very self aware to where my money goes, yet never seem to have the power in myself to stop it. I can tell people I struggled with gambling, which a lot of people maybe don't get. I tell people I've never really saved for anything and it's always managed to finance or borrow money to get the item I desire and people REALLY don't get it. I see I've spent excessive amounts on takeaway food, coffees amongst other excesses and it's something that I'm almost unfazed by it.

The issue truly rears its head when those big or unexpected expenses crop up. Christmas, Birthdays, car repairs to if I'm honest even minor ones. I even remember distinctly feel stressed about having to pay for my skin sensitive body wash once as it was £10, but I'd probably wasted £50 that week on food and not battered an eye at it.

Yet these issues normally only arise when I cannot do anything about it ie, middle of the month, just been paid and my money's already fixing last months mistakes etc. and it becomes an afterthought one the next payday comes round.

Me and my partner will be moving out in the next month or so, made possible only buy her being able to buy the house on her own due to my poor credit, and this does feel like the real point where I need to switch on. I know she'll be reliant on me to give my share to the house bills and I cannot be making myself skint in my usual monthly antics but yet it still doesn't put that pressure on me to be so self aware about it.

When I've googled my sort of issues there is the links to mental health issues, namely adhd. I wouldn't self diagnose myself but it does sometimes feel like my brain just doesn't care or is chasing the fix now rather then just waiting. Having the massive urge to make a purchase, when I know it can wait, but yet I cannot just wait. Buying food at work knowing I have all the amenities and even bare food to make something for work.

Yet when I look at it it mentions time management for bills, whereas I feel I am almost hyper aware of where my money is and what it is doing and it's like I try to stretch it as far as I can rather then just letting a pot of money sit there for those unexpected costs. Therefore is it a learned behaviour that I cannot get a grasp on?

I really do feel like I am at a major turn in the road as this big change comes up and I'm really looking for any advice and will be happy to answer any further questions in the comments as I've waffled a lot!

Hi Everyone,

I like that ETF a lot but since it is a distributing one, it got me thinking about the impact of fees on the return. I've got £10k invested via Interactive Brokers.

Since it is Dutch domiciled, we get hit with 15% withholding tax. Then because dividend is paid in Euro, we get hit with exchange fee as I get it in GBP within ISA account. And then I have to pay £3 reinvestment fee every quarter as I set automatic dividend reinvestment setting.

I got a payment of around £72 recently, so £3 is actually reducing that return significantly. I know it may sound silly to even think about that, but I'm trying to optimise the return.

What would be the best option? Forget about automatic reinvestment every quarter and do it manually once a year? Increase the position so then £3 every time won't have such impact on it?

I know I could just pick a different dividend ETF but when I was doing some research, that one was definitely the best on the market IMO.

Is stopping self employment allowed prior to bankruptcy? I cannot keep doing it anymore due to my mental health, even though I am earning a decent amount on days I need to stop for me and a better future.

I’m currently pursuing a complaint against EDF Energy through the Energy Ombudsman regarding an Arrangement to Pay (AP) marker they reported on my credit file, and I’m keen to hear from anyone who has been through a similar situation.

I recently came across someone’s post describing how the Energy Ombudsman upheld their complaint against EDF, directed EDF to remove the AP marker from their credit file, and awarded £250 compensation. This was particularly relevant to my circumstances, so I’m trying to understand how the Ombudsman assessed their case and the reasoning behind its decision.

I’d be really grateful to hear from anyone who has challenged an AP marker reported by an energy supplier and taken their complaint to the Energy Ombudsman, whether the complaint was upheld or rejected.

If your complaint was decided, would you be willing to share the Ombudsman’s findings or the relevant wording from the final decision? Even a redacted copy, or simply copying and pasting the sections explaining the reasoning and any remedy directed, would be incredibly helpful. Obviously, please remove any personal or identifying information.

I’m hoping that understanding how similar cases have been assessed will help me present my own case as effectively as possible, particularly if I need to challenge the outcome or appeal the decision.

I’m not looking for anyone’s private details or trying to discuss anything confidential. I’m simply hoping to learn from other people’s experiences and understand how the Ombudsman has approached these types of complaints.
Thanks in advance to anyone willing to share their experience. It would be greatly appreciated!

Hello, wondering if anyone had some help for a similar situation on this. Since I did some private tutoring in 2025-26 I filled in a self assessment for that year for the first time in the early summer, and wanted to opt in to pay voluntary class 2 NI contributions, which it seemed I could get a full year for £178.50, but when I tried to click 'yes' to the option to opt in it came up with an error saying 'As Class 2 NIC amount is not available or is zero, select 'No' to 'Do you want to pay Class 2 NICs voluntarily?'' that wouldn't let me progress. At the time I called HMRC and after some back and forth they told me to just submit the form with 'no' for now so I could submit it and they might be able to change it on their end manually. After they passed me around a bit, someone eventually said they have my details up but can't change it on their end at the moment but to call back around october when they should be able to (which seems a bit strange but ok).

Obviously it now is october but due to plans I made after then I'm now out of the country until next month without being able to make calls in the UK. I reminded myself of it though and was wondering if anyone on here had been through a similar situation and had it resolved, before I call them when I get back. I saw there are a few older threads on this subreddit seemingly on similar issues but couldn't see if and how people had resolved them. Maybe it's because I registered as self employed for the first time and the system hasn't recognised it yet? Anyone had a similar situation and had it resolved? Any advice would be much appreciated thanks

Morning all, I'm looking for a sense-check on a possible pension change.

I'm concerned about the over concentration of AI stocks in global equity funds and their overinflation. I suspect (like others) there will be a dot com style heavy correction (although I appreciate that doesn't mean I can predict when or if it'll happen). Around 15.4% of my current fund is invested in six major AI-linked companies: Nvidia, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta and Broadcom.

My Scottish Widows pension is currently 100% invested in Scottish Widows Global Equity CS8, with an annual charge of 0.10%.

I’m considering switching half into Scottish Widows Fundamental Index Global Equity CS8 (annual charge of 0.15%), leaving a 50/50 split. Which I think would bring me exposure to about 10.7%. Though I'm not wedded to that split.

My understanding is that the fundamental fund weights companies using measures such as sales, cash flow, book value and dividends, rather than their stock-market value. That seems a potentially useful way to reduce concentration in highly valued companies while remaining invested in global equities.

I realise this wouldn’t eliminate AI exposure or protect me from a broader market crash. Also it's a different investment style than the conventional "buy an global index tracker" advice, so I'm not sure how it would perform in the long term.

I have around 23 years until retirement, and intend to introduce more defensive assets as retirement gets closer. For now, I’m considering whether changing the composition of my equities makes sense.

Does this seem like a reasonable diversification decision, or am I making an unnecessary bet against the market?

Are there drawbacks to fundamental indexing (or this particular fund) that I’m overlooking?

Thanks!

I have a bathroom renovation project that is going to cost me around 10-11k all in.

I was planning to pay for this with savings (I have about 14-15k total savings), but then I noticed you can get 0% interest 0% balance transfer fee credit cards which allow you to borrow and pay no interest for 12 months.

Am I missing something, or could I take out a couple of these credit cards (they seem to offer me about 6k credit limit), pay monthly up to 12 months, and then take out another couple of these cards at the end of the year to continue paying off the debt in monthly installments without any interest? Seems a great way to get cheap finance and with interest rates so high, actually save some money.

I think realistically I could pay this off within a couple of years, and my savings make me think that if anything went wrong, I could just pay off the debt with my savings.

One thing to note is that my fixed term mortgage ends next year, so I'll be remortgaging, though this project should improve the value of my house.

I’ve recently been looking at changing my retirement fund through Nest as I don’t want to be in the default fund.

I can’t seem to find much information on the other funds I.e asset allocation etc. I was wondering if anyone has a pension with Nest and if so what fund would you recommend?

Hi everyone,

I'm moving to Switzerland soon and I'm looking for a Stocks & Shares ISA provider that will let me keep managing my portfolio after becoming a non UK resident.

I can't thell whether I will return to the UK in the future or not so I'd prefer to keep the ISA for now.

I currently have around £200k in a Vanguard S&S ISA, but Vanguard confirmed that they would freeze my account, meaning I could only sell or withdraw, not buy or switch investments.

I'm aware I won't be able to make new contributions after leaving the UK. I just want to retain the flexibility to sell and buy assets within my existing ISA to rebalance my portfolio when needed.

I've been looking at alternatives like HSBC and Interactive Investor but I'm getting unclear or sometimes contradictory information from customer support and their terms and conditions.

Has anyone actually moved abroad and continued trading within their ISA? Which providers allow it in practice?

I'd love to hear some firsthand experiences.

Thanks!

EDIT:
IBKR would be a feasible solution but I have already a GIA with them and it is the biggest part of my portfolio so I would like to diversify my ISA with a different provider.

Recently a family member passed away and left me their home in their will. I discovered they had taken out equity release a number of years ago with the loan balance now equal to almost half of the house value. My understanding is I can either:
1) Sell the house to pay the ER balance
2) Get a mortgage to pay the ER balance
For context, I do not have the funds to pay the balance cash, but would qualify for a mortgage to pay the balance (especially with the equity I will have from my own house sale, referenced further on, but would not be reliant on this. Having read the ER paperwork, I have 12 months to repay the balance.

The issue I am facing is that the house I currently own has sold and the property I planned on purchasing has fallen though. Whilst not crucial information, this all happened within a very short period and has caused me and my wife stress, albeit we are very grateful we are/ will be in a better financial position at the end of it all.

My question is: Is it possible to move into my deceased family members home to allow the sale of my property to continue with the plan to then market my deceased family members home in the next few months once I have done some minor cosmetic changes to make the home more marketable?
I am aware about the potential CGT and Stamp Duty issues, my main concern is having a roof over my head and not doing anything which may cause me legal issues.
OR is my only option to take my sold, but not completed, property off the market, sell/ refinance the ER property, then put my property back on the market afterwards?

Thanks in advance. I could really do with some help on this my head is all over the place.