What to do with £10k?

[d000hg]

I've £10k sitting in my account after taking a dividend. I have not yet maxed out my and the wife's ISAs for the current tax year so that would normally be where I'd put it. On the other hand I have a mortgage (taken out May 2013) charging around 3.5% which allows me to overpay more than £10k each year fee-free.

I'll have more dividends before April but which makes most sense - get the mortgage payments reduced now with immediate effect seems best to me?

[tarbera]

You could get a Life.?

I've £10k sitting in my account after taking a dividend. I have not yet maxed out my and the wife's ISAs for the current tax year so that would normally be where I'd put it. On the other hand I have a mortgage (taken out May 2013) charging around 3.5% which allows me to overpay more than £10k each year fee-free.

I'll have more dividends before April but which makes most sense - get the mortgage payments reduced now with immediate effect seems best to me?

Stop hording and start living, You are a long time dead sir

[SimonMac]

I've £10k sitting in my account after taking a dividend. I have not yet maxed out my and the wife's ISAs for the current tax year so that would normally be where I'd put it. On the other hand I have a mortgage (taken out May 2013) charging around 3.5% which allows me to overpay more than £10k each year fee-free.

I'll have more dividends before April but which makes most sense - get the mortgage payments reduced now with immediate effect seems best to me?

Is the ISA paying more than 3.5%?

[VectraMan]

If you don't use your ISA allowance you lose it forever, whereas if you do the gains are tax free forever. So that might be one case where the ISA would be better in the long run even if it doesn't beat 3.5%.

[Doggy Styles]

Is the ISA paying more than 3.5%?

If it's a stocks and shares ISA it will, longer term, but we are due another PIGS eurozone crisis as payments become due this year.

I'm holding mine back for a little while.

[NickFitz]

On the other hand I am in debt, costing around 3.5%

FTFY. Pay the debt. No brainer, surely?

[Gittins Gal]

FTFY. Pay the debt. No brainer, surely?

Not always. It's always good to have a pot of cash or some liquidity at hand for a rainy day.

[lukemg]

FTFY. Pay the debt. No brainer, surely?

My stocks and shares investments are averaging 11% pa currently - still a no-brainer ?

[jmo21]

If risk averse, find a bank account paying more than 3.5%

I have a Clydesdale one (up to £3000 at 4%), and a Nationwide one (up to £2500 at 5%) where some of my savings sit that beats that mortgage rate.

These may not be available any more of course (Clydesdale opened last month, Nationwide about 10 months ago).

[d000hg]

Stocks are inherently high risk though, for me they are what you do with money left over.

The point about making sure to max out your cash ISA makes good sense since you don't get to go back and change your mind; one could make a case for prioritising the full ISA allowance i.e. a few grand into stocks before you consider mortgage repayments though.

I should emphasise I plan to max out the cash ISA before the deadline regardless. I think I'll go for overpaying the mortgage now and then do the ISA nearer the deadline when I pull out the rest of the year's dividends.