Investing a lump sum

newbie3004 wrote: »

Been researching Vanguard. I know diversity is key. I can tie a percentage of the money up for 10 years but I would also like some money when I'm 60 - you never know how long you'll be on the planet. Would people keep researching what to do without help of IFA or are they worth the fees? Thank you

I'm not sure why you would only want to tie up a percentage for 10 years, unless you have particular plans for the rest of the funds or for the whole of the invested percentage in 10 years time. I'm a similar age and starting moving lump sums from Cash ISAs to S&S ISAs. I've invested some in VLS funds and some in active income funds, the idea being to give me some income to supplement my pensions, and I plan to keep it invested for the long term even although I'm in my late 50s. So apart from a fairly large cash buffer I plan to be near enough fully invested by next year.

I did consider consulting an IFA but after learning a bit more about investing on this forum and other sites I decided to go DIY.

You say you are "freelance". Do you trade as self employed (so,e trader ) or do you trade as a limited company? It can make a huge difference in finances.

Whether you DIY or use an IFA all comes down to knowledge and ability. If you DIY well, you can save money. If you DIY badly it will be far more costly than using an IFA. Just the same as any area you decide to DIY or use someone.

m freelance so I'm not entirely hopeless). Pension of 58K that needs attention and 30K premium bonds.

You shouldnt be looking at FAs. It should be IFAs. FAs are restricted. Usually extremely so. Plus, FAs tend to be more expensive.

Costs will vary. If you are going to a firm that typically has a target market of the bottom end of the market its charges may appear high for larger stuff. Equally, your amount is at the bottom end of the firms that target high net worth. So, those firms may price you high because you are small to them. Every firm has its own pricing and business model. Some may be greedy. Some may be expensive because of location (city firms tend to cost more than rural. Employed IFAs tend to be more expensive than owner/director IFAs etc). Some may be cheap and good value.

Been researching Vanguard.

There is more to life than Vanguard. We have millions on Vanguard. Its great for some small investments (but not all as better options exist in some areas). We use some of their single sector funds as well. Although not in every area as some of them are not the best. Also, do not focus primarily on cost. It is very important but it is a secondary consideration. Would you rather 7% after 1% charge or 6% after 0.2% charge? If costs were a primary consideration then you would never invest and would stick with savings accounts with no explicit charges (although they do have implicit charges when you realise how rates are set).