Near-Term Goals. Am I approaching it right?

[alexandra123]

salary 95k
finishing college 2025 with hopefully a PhD in maths
mortgage cleared dec 2025
pension pot 125k , putting in 5% my contribution and 6% employer contribution
savings : 0
children : none
age:51
married: engaged



outgoings monthly from 2026 onwards:
save : 3200
myself :1100
Tv licence :13
house insu :20
mgmt company :50
garden loan :410 finish july 2026
parents life policy :210
openai chat :23




I have been working hard to clear the mortgage over the last 5 years. Mortgage is being cleared 10 years early.
I want to buy in Gran Canaria Mogan within the next 4 years and after that I want to start working on the pension pot. I would like a small mortgage of around 50k or thereabouts to get me a <=250k holiday home.

goals:
year 1 save = @3200*12=38,400
year 2-4 save = @45000*3= 135,00
total 173,400


I would like my savings to start working for me. I was thinking of investing my monthly savings and hoping for >=10% return on 3-5 year investment. I was looking to start in the stock market - all very new to me, but I was thinking of splitting the money between
MSCI World ETF (EUNL)
iShares EXH1 (Defense)
Rheinmetall AG
VanEck DFNS (Global Defense)


Basically, I am looking for some advice on how best to achieve my goals of buying a retirement home and getting their quicker by using the stock market and then working on the pension pot.

I dont drink that much, I hardly go out and that is due to parent caring responsibilities, college and a full time job. So I really want to start unwinding and enjoying my life when college is over and when family responsibilities come to an end as I am going through this the last 20 years now. I would also like to retire early but I dont have a year in mind and my current pension pot, says that I will get back 800 a month when i retire.

 

[Persia]

I wouldn't buy a holiday home in Spain, rent instead. You're tying money up in a largely unproductive asset.
There are a lot of threads advising same on this site.

 

[Fibbernacci]

You're heavily weighting to defense. For the Mogan idea I'd be thinking of leaving the cash invested in blue chip stocks a d renting off the dividends. A place in Mogan could be some 300-400k and possibly not a good idea unless you were going to be there for a lot of the year

 

[ClubMan]

children : none
age:51
married: engaged

Are you likely to have children, adopt, or become a step parent etc.? If so then that may have a big influence on any financial plans.

pension pot 125k , putting in 5% my contribution and 6% employer

It might be an idea to put more into your pension. And to check that it's invested appropriately (most likely a high/all equity fund/index tracker) and the charges are competitive.

 

[conor_mc]

I was thinking of investing my monthly savings and hoping for >=10% return on 3-5 year investment.

Even 12-18 months ago with stock markets growing in the 20%pa range, I'd have said this was an unrealistic expectation.

Today, even more so. Your timescale of 3-5 years is too short to get an average return of 10% - you could just as easily be hit with 3x minus-10's as 3x plus-10's over the next 3 years.

Well done on clearing your mortgage btw. Your next best step to financial success is to forget about purchasing a holiday home (rent if desired, as advised by others above) and max out your pension contributions. Is your 125k pension pot with your current employer or a previous one?