I've just hit my £200k net worth milestone this month, working in law. It took me 31 months to reach £100k and 11 months after that to reach £200k.

Tax Strategy: I salary sacrifice all income above £100k into my pension, which leaves me with around £70k after tax and national insurance. I then place £20k into ISAs and spend or save the remaining £50k.

Investment Strategy: I invest primarily in US index funds (the S&P 500 and NASDAQ) and global equities. I have small holdings in individual equities as well, but these have so far underperformed index funds.

Spending: See my last post for my spending breakdown: https://www.reddit.com/r/FIREUK/comments/1s935ju/ . In the previous tax year, I spent £51.5k. Headline items included £13.0k on rent (living with roommates), £8.6k on restaurants, £6.7k on hobbies, £6.0k on trips, £4.0k on shopping, £1.6k on groceries, £1.4k on the company canteen, and £1.3k on travel.

Net Worth: £213k (28.8% towards my goal of US$1m by 2030)

• Cash: 4%
• Pension: 61%
• Lifetime ISA: 15%
• Stocks & Shares ISA: 7%
• Taxable Account: 11%
• Crypto: 2%

Net Capital Gains: £32k

Investment Allocation

• S&P 500: 71%
• Global Equities: 19%
• Individual Stocks: 6%
• Nasdaq-100: 3%
• Crypto: 2%

I’m not sure if I need a financial sanity check, general  reassurance or a life coach, but am I’m currently contemplating FIRE.  Current family situation: I (M53) am married (F49) with two kids (M9, M12) at good state schools (ie no private fees to pay).

I’m currently contracting (pharma industry, inside IR35 ; approx. £1100/day) but am not enjoying work any more.  The drive has gone and it feels very contractual, getting money for the hours I work with few other benefits. Wife works in NHS but future employment is uncertain.

Financial position as follows:

• SIPP:  £675k
• Direct benefit pension paying at £12k/yr at 67
• Full state pension at 67
• S&S ISA £244k
• GIA £232k
• Single company stocks £125k
• Cash (high interest, short notice) £114k
• Second property valued approx. £260k ; currently rented out to sister in law with minimal returns
• Total net worth of above: £1.64 Mn, plus DB and state pensions

Joint investments with wife:

• main property valued approx. £1Mn, remaining mortgage £44k, intend to leave this to children
• GIA £115k
• JISAs for kids: currently at £9k each
• …also, wife has own ISA and NHS pension

My key question is both can I and should I FIRE? Our outgoings are currently relatively modest (£60k per year net) so financially I think we could make it work. But then again, M9 will be at school and home for another 9 years so it’s not as if I can jet off round the world if I retire tomorrow.  Also, how much should I set aside for children’s Uni fees, first home deposit etc? What happens if my wife has to give up work within the next few years?

Options as I see them:

• Retire now, living off the £1.64 Mn, spending more time with the family and building up hobbies
• Reduce work to 4 days a week, tapering further to 3 in a couple of years, then retire once I’ve hit a target (~ £2 Mn?)
• Continue working, building up children’s Uni funds and continuing to build considerable pension, ISA and GIA pots, with greater safety nets in case of market crashes, wife stopping work, children being more expensive that anticipated etc

I’m turning 25 in less than two months and have recently started reconsidering some of my current saving/investment decisions, particularly with the goal of becoming financially independent (FI) in the future.

A bit of background:

1. Income

I recently started a new job which brings my salary up to around £30k. This is outside London and is pretty good for the area I live in.

I take home roughly £2k/month after tax, NI, student loan and pension contributions.

2. Outgoings

I currently live at home, so my expenses are very low:

• £100/month rent
• ~£200/month food
• ~£50/month transport

I currently use buses, but I’m hoping to get a car once I pass my test, so I expect my monthly expenses to increase fairly significantly once that happens.

3. Current savings/investments

• ~£32k LISA
• ~£2k S&S ISA
• ~£5k current/emergency fund

I know I’m in an extremely fortunate position with being able to live at home and having such low housing costs, so over the past few years I’ve been able to focus heavily on saving. I have been at uni for both an Undergrad and Masters (both living out and Masters paid out-of-pocket), hence why savings are certainly lower than they could be.

Most of my savings have gone into my LISA during this time, which is now maxed out for the current tax year.

Going forward, I’m thinking of putting most of my additional savings into my S&S ISA, as I recognise that £2k is relatively low compared with my LISA and want to start heavily focusing on retirement/ FI.

The bit I’m unsure about:

For the past few years I’ve been investing through Halifax. With the recent changes to the Halifax brand, Lloyds have notified me that my investments will be moved over and, as I understand it, may initially be held in cash before I have to reinvest through their portfolio.

Because of this, I’m wondering whether now might be a good opportunity to move my S&S ISA to a completely different platform.

I’ve seen Vanguard mentioned a lot on here and am wondering whether moving there would make sense. On the other hand, Lloyds have said I wouldn’t have to pay fees until I’m 27, which is obviously quite a big draw given my age.

So I’m a bit stuck between taking advantage of the fee-free period with Lloyds or using this as an opportunity to move elsewhere.

What would you do in my position?

• Is Vanguard a good option for someone in my position, or are there better alternatives?
• Would you stay with Lloyds until 27 to take advantage of the lack of fees?
• Am I overlooking anything else I should be considering at 24/25?

I’m mainly looking for perspectives from people who have been in a similar position, particularly those who have had their Halifax investments moved over to Lloyds.

Those paying 40% income tax, how do you overcome the frustration that to add £580 in cash savings you must first hand over £420 to the taxman? I want a cash buffer, but instead I put as much as I can afford into my pension.

I'm aware I'll need to give back 20% on the way out when I receive the pension - maybe more if I overshoot on pension contributions, which is a genuine risk.

Age: 42
Salary: £80k
Mortgage plus service charge: £2.2k a month
Pension £120k
Cash savings: £0
I live alone in London.

EDIT: I don't plan on retiring particularly early - I am much more FI than RE.

Hi, I want to be a teacher because I think the job looks well not fun but fulfilling and actually doing something good for the world. The pension scheme is DB and generous-ish at 1/57th of average career salary a year. I am still in school at the moment not uni. I would be happy to move anywhere in the UK so Scotland, rural areas, the northeast to minimise living costs and preserve purchasing power.

My strategy is to max out Stocks and Shares LISA £333,33 monthly (£4k annually). And invest that into vanguard FTSE all world tracker accumulation fund, whilst getting the £1000 pound government bonus a year. And putting the rest of my savings into Stocks and Shares ISA Vanguard FTSE all-world. And than shift more of the portion into bond ETFs as I get older and closer to my FIRE number.

I would prefer to buy a small small flat or tiny house in nowhereville for cash rather than getting a fixed-rate mortgage. I understand LISA doesn't allow you to buy a house without a mortgage so it needs to come out of my ISA pot. I already have 1.4K in my Junior ISA right now, which is a cash ISA earning 3% interest, which I will switch to a S&S JISA now, and add any birthday money or miscellaneous money in there, which should amount to a few hundred pounds a year.

For lifestyle, I don't drink alcohol ever, nor do I eat meat or smoke. I think I should buy all food in bulk and then store it appropriately so it doesn't spoil? I think grains, rice pasta, flour, oats, vegetable oil should be bought in bulk. I don't really have ltos of friends, just like 2. and they are low maintenance friendships. I also don't wear makeup, and I'm vegan so I don't really want deliveroo or fancy groceries.

Thanks for reading!

Finishing work in 3 months at 55. Have £210k in DC pension, plan is to use this to bridge then SP & DB kicks in at 67. Tax code is 1383 (marriage allowance) so was thinking of taking approx £18k annually with 25% of each withdrawal tax free so all £18k stays tax free over the year. Anything obvious I've missed or does this sound good to go? TIA. 👍🏻

I think I want to stop working or at least drastically slow down. I love what I do but I work too much and have a hard time saying no to interesting work - I’m freelance and am offered more work than I can realistically do. And it’s hard on me physically (a lot of time on trains and on a sofabed when working in London, and on planes as well).

I know by many standards we are very well off, but I want a friction free retirement. Until we moved back to the UK we always had to scrimp in order to save. I’m happy we did but I’m done scrimping!! And I don’t know that we are there yet to allow that. I can’t figure out what calculations I need to run to establish when I can stop.

Current circs:

Couple -
61F working freelance and earning about £160-260k per year if I want. I am guessing £190k for the current tax year based on what I’ve accepted so far (I worked too much in 2025).

67M - stay at home dad since age 50. Would love me to be home more, but quite likes the freedom to pursue his hobbies that my income brings.

Assets.

House: £340k, with £165k outstanding on mortgage (taken out at 2.19%, which ends July 27 and I would prefer just to pay off at that point, given that rates are not likely to be that good). We bought a house that made work optional. And we’re perfectly happy in it.

Brokerage c. £800k. Don’t think any is in an ISA simply because we are also US taxpayers and ISAs are not recognized and are taxable.

U.S. IRA (pension pot) Mine c. £1.15M. Husbands c. £80k. Treated the same as UK pension pots for tax purposes. Except no lump sum withdrawal.

Pensions: husband currently drawing £1250 monthly in US state pension
Me - I will receive two years short of UK state pension at 67 (£225 a week ish). And £3000pcm US state pension if I wait to 70 (in today’s money). Or about £2300 if I take it at 67. I could take it next year but the discount is unacceptable. I’m healthy so plan to wait till 70 unless something changes.

Between US and UK pensions, we will have a chunk of our retirement income covered. But the benefits die with us so we need to be prepared for when there’s only one of us left.

UK SIPP recently opened. Currently at £190k. Expect to be at £300k plus growth by 27/28. Can’t take the 25% lump sum until such time as I have sufficient tax credits to offset US taxes due on that lump sum. Being able to withdraw £75k tax free to pay almost half of the mortgage balance appeals as an idea, but it may be a couple of years away. Otherwise I’ll have to cash out stocks.

Other income: when my mother (85 and in poor health) dies I will receive an income of about £12k per annum from a trust. I’m also slated to inherit capital but think it might make more sense to decline and have it go straight to my son - hate to give HMRC two bites at that money.

Future goals:

we want to travel a lot. We are already part way there with at least two family holidays a year but time is the challenge while I’m still working.
We’d like to be sure that our son receives at least £800k net (assuming it doesn’t get eaten in care costs) after all taxes are paid when we’re both gone. We can partially accomplish this by handing him excess income (as we have started to do).

We have done almost all major work to the house. We’ll need a new boiler, windows, and doors in the next year or two but then it should be very low maintenance.

Our car is low mileage and only 4 years old. We might need to buy one more before we stop driving. But maybe not as it’s a Volvo.

We would like an income of £70k net. This covers all living costs plus travel assuming no mortgage.

I am struggling with how to exit work. Not sure I want to entirely. But what income level makes the most sense? What would get us to our goals? Can I just stop at the end of my existing commitments? I really haven’t figured out what calculations I need to run…given my high income level the last three years, my goals for retirement have shifted. I now see the option to have a friction free retirement that didn’t really feel possible three years ago.

Sorry for the length of this!! Any advice on where we stand, and ideas for managing our goals would be greatly appreciated.

We earn a combined £180k salary (£120 and £60k) and have just over £1m on paper, and I genuinely can’t tell if we’re doing well or just look good on paper. My partner and I have never had our finances looked at by anyone outside our own spreadsheet, be honest, I can take it.
Us: 36, baby coming soon, based in the UK, own a second property abroad. Plan to retire at 55yo if things go well.
Cash isas & savings - £56k
Investments- £80k (£8k bonds, £16k company shares, rest invested in global index (vanguard emerging markets, sp500, FTSE all world) , 2k in gold etf.
Pension: £220k mine (20% monthly contribution) and 170k partner (15% contribution)
Properties: £110k second property overseas (no mortgage)and £800k (our home £410k mortgage left)

- should we overpay our mortgage as it’s quite big?
- are we holding too much cash?
- with our salaries, should we contributing more towards our pension?

Tell us what you’d actually change

For me I'm seriously considering using a decent portion of my DC pot to buy an annuity, especially if it continues to increase by the time I get to access my pot next year.

Edit; this is based on £100k, so it's easy to work out an effective % rate

I’m trying to work out a sensible amount to invest each month rather than just accumulating more cash, and I’d appreciate some opinions.
A bit about me:
28 y/o
NHS Doctor - gross pay £60k on average. Comes to 3.5-4k net pay (after pension at 10.7% and PAYE, NI).

Currently have
\-15k in savings in a Cash ISA earning around 3.6–3.65%
\-4k in S&S ISA
\-Also using regular savers paying around 5–6%, although these have monthly deposit limits of 650 (which I am able to do)

No major purchases planned immediately, but I’d like to keep a decent emergency fund and potentially have money available for a house/baby in the future
I’m comfortable investing for the long term (10+ years) and would most likely optimise my Stocks & Shares ISA.

I am able to save 1.5k per month after expenses.

**Main question is what would you suggest in terms of calculating proportions of saving and investing?**

I’d particularly like to hear from people with NHS/public-sector pensions: **how much do you invest outside your pension each month, and how did you decide on that number?**
Not looking for specific fund recommendations so much as how to think about the split between **cash, S&S ISA and enjoying my income now**.

Apologies if not detailed enough, this is my first real post on this page!

After a few years of saving, and a previous redundancy payout that helped, I think me and my wife are in a position that we can retire in the next few years.

Not sure if frowned on but running the numbers through Gemini seems to show that the plan below works but as AI likes to err on the positive side of things I wanted to ask those that have actual experience of this.

Both me and my wife are 51. My wife is looking to retire at 53. I'll keep going until 55.

Currently we have:

365k stocks and shares isa - aiming to get this to about 450k by 55 (various index trackers)

108k cash ISA (4.6% fixed for 2 years) - aiming to get this to 150-160k by 55

291k Defined Contribution pension pot with 4k being put in monthly for the next two years (this is my wife's) - aiming to get this to around 450k by 57 with compounding and the additional two years of further contributions.

Defined Benefit pots available at various phases:

10k available from 55 (wife)

27k available for 65/67 (me)

Both have full state pension entitlement

Target spend around 55-60k per year. No mortgage/other debt.

Cash ISAs will act as the main income for 55-57 at which point the 10k DB pension kicks in along with a 12k draw down from the DC pot to supplement the ISA draw down (also possible 25% tax free lump sum to top up cash reserves depending on the market at the time).

This should keep us going until 65/67 when remaining DB pots kick in along with the state pension - this should give us a guaranteed income of just over 60k without having to touch what's left in the ISAs or DC pot.

Any advice gratefully received on the broad outline. Anything standing out as fundamentally flawed?

Thanks

Hey community, needed some advice. I have a large pension that I currently manage in HL SIPP. I have been very aggressive in using US shares from past few years which has helped grow the pot.

I am relocating outside of UK for work so am curious on.

any cheaper options as I am pretty much investing in U.S. stocks. May look for less aggressive in future.

Any specifics thst I need to be aware of ? I am presuming that I cannot add more to the pension fund moving forward.

Any general advice ? I am going to be speaking to HL this week

I’m 35 and have spent the last 5 years working in tech startups in product leadership, currently in a senior role in AI.

I don’t hate my job when I’m doing it. Day to day it’s mostly fine, I like the people I work with, and my career is going well. But I’ve developed this persistent feeling of “ergh, work” that I can’t seem to shake, over the past year or so. And it takes a lot of my headspace when I should just be enjoying myself.

More than anything, I feel overwhelmed by the idea of doing this for years to come. As I’ve climbed the ladder, work has gradually taken up more of my energy and headspace. Exercise has always been a huge part of my life and my main hobby, but I’m increasingly neglecting it. I feel stuck in a rut where work is slowly crowding out the things that actually make me feel good.

Financially, my partner and I are fortunate:
~£850k invested
~£200k home equity (£250k mortgage on a ~£450k house)
~£40k cash
£1,400/month mortgage
Partner earns ~£100k and isn’t feeling the same way
No debt other than the mortgage
No kids, but likely in the next couple of years
We live pretty modestly relative to our incomes and save around 50% without feeling like we’re sacrificing anything, so financially I know we have options.

I’m trying to decide whether to:
- Quit and take 3–6 months completely off.
- Find a lower-stress/lower-paid role. But I worry I’ll regret this or get bored.
- Stay put and try to get myself out of this rut without making a drastic decision. Make some changes to regain balance.

My hesitation is career momentum. I’m working in an area of tech that’s very relevant right now, and I worry I’d regret stepping away at this point if this turns out to be a temporary phase.

But there always seems to be a reason why now is a bad time. And with kids potentially coming in the next few years, I wonder whether this is actually the best opportunity I’ll have to take some proper time out and reset.

I’m not looking to retire. I’m wondering whether we’ve built enough financial security that I should actually use some of it to buy myself time and headspace.

Anyone been in a similar position? Did you take the break, find something less demanding, or ride it out? Looking back, are you happy with what you chose?

Hi people! I'm not very good with investing but have been doing ok so far (I think). I was reviewing my vanguard stocks and shares ISA, and it looks like I am a bit UK heavy and want to make sure I'm protected enough in case of a bubble. AI is contradicting itself when trying to get advice so I was hoping to get more points of view here.

Current profile:

Life strategy 60/80/100% (mainly 80% and I will consolidate these): 58k

Climate aware 80-90% 5k

Cash: 10k

I put in 52k and now I'm at 73k. This is not money im touching and I have a normal day job, I'm 38. I don't really have a pension age goal, my life is a bit too unpredictable for that.This is a mid-term investment from selling my share of a house I owned with my ex, I expect to need most of this money within 5-10 years for a new home deposit.

Let me know if this is enough information.

I would appreciate any opinions and advice!

Hi, posting on here because I got some amazing advice in December when my mum died suddenly about finances.

I jointly owned my mum’s property and just before she died we had just borrowed the cash to start a renovation project. We are in the north where houses are cheap. Anyway after fees etc when sold I will receive around 90/ 95k.

I am to use this money to attempt to gain some sort of freedom in the future. Originally I was considering doing the house to up to rent and everyone on this forum told me not to and invest the cash. I have toyed with renting it / selling the house to buy more houses in a LTD company to start a portfolio but I think the easiest thing will be to just invest it each year in my ISA.

Reading all the figures on here blow my mind so I just wanted to run my figures past people to see how likely it is I will be able to retire early( say 60) / and work significantly less in my job or even better leave the profession at say 50 and so something else. Also any advice on how I can achieve this.

I am from a very working class background, my mum was a single mum who brought me up completely on her own with 1 wage and always struggled, hence I was never taught financial literacy so I have learned about investing myself- albeit only in my late 30s which is quite late.

Anyway the facts/figures -

I am 41 - 2 children aged 1/3. Kids ISAs maxed out each year by partner’s parents.

Mortgage- myself and my partner ( not married) currently have around 160 k left on the mortgage. House is worth around 375k. The house isn’t owned equally she has a bigger stake than me due to putting in more initial equity.

Partner - works 3 days as a teacher. She has significant savings/ family money in her own right but I do not want to rely on this. Given my background I have always tried to make sure no matter what eventuality I am financially fine independent of anyone else ( maybe this sounds negative but seeing my mum struggle on her own has had this effect) . Her wealth in the future is a bonus. To add day to day her savings are not accessible. She earns around 2 k per month.

Teacher with DB pension. I earn 52 k per year ( works out around 3050 pm after tax pension etc ) I took a big pay cut last year and am at the top of the pay scale of a normal teacher with no management position. I did this because of my children.

Pension DB - As of yesterday my statement read 16,700 built up already in today’s money if I take it at 67. I have been teaching for 17 years. So if I continue to teach this will build.

Cash- 7.5 k in an account gaining 4.5 percent pa.

S and S ISA. 24.5k ( up 37 percent since I started investing in Jan 2025). Mainly in VUSA and a whole word ETF ACWI- but I do have 5k in Nvida.

Credit cards -6 k interest free I used towards my car.
Car bought using this and cash- 22 plate.

I think that’s it. Like I said no where near the figures on here that high earners put on but I hope I can get some advice on what to do to reach my goals or how I am doing.

Thank you :)

Early forties, goal to make work optional in 8-10 yrs.
Two single digit young children.

French national, UK Settled, third country passport for me and family.

Renting in London by choice (yield of probably 3.5%).

Assets and debts mainly in three countries:

Non-EU:
- £200k global ETF
- £100k land
- £50k mortgage
- £25k DC pension
- £5k wife DC pension

France:
- €700k house, rented, €700/ month negative cash-flow (income minus mortgage dividends and house expenditures)
- €600k mortgage, <2%, 22yrs
- €100k non mortgage debt (MBA and other consumer loans et 2-3%) - €1,300 down payments
- €130k Assurance vie
- €1,000/ month DB pension

UK
- ETF ISA: £80k
- Cash ISA: £20k
- DC Pensions: £230k
- DB pension: £250/ month
- Spouse DC Pensions: £80k

Income from salary: £250k pre-tax, wife £110k

Pension contributions: ~14% employer and 6% myself.
Spouse pension contributions: 10% employer and 5% herself

Not a particularly frugal life: private school for the kids, 4,500£ rent, holidays, etc.
We save just enough to pay down debts and rely on equity mortgage payments (~£2k/ month) and pension contributions for wealth creation (plus return on financial assets).
We maximized ISA allowance last year by paying international debt with international assets. This should allow us to use ~25-35k of our joint £40k ISA allowance if replicated going forward.

I’d consider work optional when I can generate £10k/ month of passive income.

Tax wise it’s too complicated to explain here, but I’d need to strategically move between countries in a certain order to minimize taxable income once living from passive income.

Can I coast my way to optional work without significant changes in lifestyle (which spouse wouldn’t support anyways)?

How could I strengthen my portfolio allocation? Do you see any obvious risks or opportunities?

Any words of wisdom and pointers would be hugely appreciated.

Thank you!

I just want to set and forget and not constantly tinker with it.

Even though slightly more expensive I've been advised numerous times to go vanguard so there is no option to buy random stocks and shares.

Physiological speaking VWRP and chill is better on vanguards platform

This is my (20M) first post despite being a long time lurker, but I want to see what you guys think about my circumstances:

I’m currently beginning my third year of my Medical Degree, I’m not in love with it, and have flirted with the idea of leaving previously despite doing well in exams. Recently those thoughts have come back, I lost my father to pancreatic cancer this February and the clinical environment has been particularly unpleasant since. This is of course not my only reason for toying with the idea of leaving but is a big motivator and has definitely affected how I view my future career and sort of “where I want to be in X no. Years”.

My programme offers a Medical sciences BSC degree (with honours) if we choose to leave at the end of third year and I’m very tempted to take it. My plan would then be to apply for a masters in management as while I attend a fairly reputable russel group it isn’t a target university for the big 4 say of finance / consulting. I have held a long time interest in finance and this sort of plays into my second reason for wanting to leave.

Currently I have around £55,000 in a stocks and shares ISA, and £5k in a LISA. The S&S ISA I was very fortunate to receive as a junior ISA around £10,000 at 18, I realise I’ve been very lucky with my investments and that it by no means indicates some sort of financial wisdom but my passion for saving, and then trying to be wise with those savings led me to develop a fairly significant interest in the world of finance / banking. Following the death of my father I also inherited and began managing independently his ~£3 million pound portfolio.

This is all to say that while I understand I’m naive, and of course very young in the grand scheme of things, I believe I’m in a very fortunate position where I have the time to choose / think carefully about what I want to do next.

My question is really something along the lines of, am I nuts? Should I finish my degree fully, should I take the medical sciences degree at the end of this year? What’s the game plan?

My ultimate goal would be finance / consulting in the city. Having spent more time in London this past year than I ever had I am very keen to live there going forward, and really what I want now is to be away from healthcare. Has anyone taken a similar route?

Thank you (and apologies if poorly written, I’m on a train!)

41 M, additional rate tax payer.
I’m in the privileged position of being able to fill my workplace pension (DB), SIPP to bring my adjusted net income down below £100k and ISA annually. I already use a GIA- half in a global ETF, half in Berkshire Hathaway B to avoid pushing my adjusted net income back above £100k. Use my CGT allowance annually. I fill my PBs, a combination of emergency fund and next years‘ ISA/SIPP allowances. I had focused on overpaying my mortgage first so that is cleared. I have a partner who fills their allowances annually. No children.

My question is, where would you put additional monthly funds, to avoid pushing my adjusted net income back above £100k whilst I still have pension carry forward to use?

Options I’ve been considering:

- Continue with Berkshire hathaway, but will end up with a big amount in a ‘single’ company.

-Gold Britannia coins, but would need to pay for storage and know it can be volat and is a non productive asset.

- Low coupon gilts

Very mindful not to let the tax tail wag the dog, but want to be able to bring my adjusted net income down whilst I can. I came to investing late and haven’t been using my isa allowances up until recently, so doing things a little back to front having touched solely on clearing the mortgage for years.

Thank you for your thoughts!

I know there has been some interest in moving from VAFTGAG to VALL for lower fees. I've moved pension and ISA over. I will probably move GIA towards the end of the year or if there is a sudden downturn in the market (to avoid CGT as much as possible).

My experience using the Vanguard web site was very good. I used the "Switch" option to move the investment between the two funds. It was "pending" for a couple of days, and then eventually went through. The bit that is interesting is that despite being pending for a couple of days, the transactions appear to have gone through on the day after I did them. The "sell" was done at about 8.30am and the buy at about 11.30am, so about three hours out of the market.

It was a pretty slick experience. No problems at all.

EDIT: Thanks to u/fire-wannabe for giving a more nuanced explanation of time out of the market (see their comment below).

EDIT: Someone asked about fees. I'm pretty sure fund switching is free on Vanguard (see https://www.vanguardinvestor.co.uk/what-we-offer/fees-explained).

EDIT: I'm pretty sure (based on the value of accounts I did and didn't move between funds) that I made a tiny profit by being out of the market for a limited time. This is entirely luck and coincidental.