£4500 to invest- help newbie!!

mumof2_3

Hi

Have read through a couple of posts and can see that lots of you know what you're talking about when it comes to saving/investing unlike myself so I was wondering if anyone would be so kind as to give me some advice. I have about 4500 to start up either an ISA or invest in the stockmarket, not a lot I know but have read about something called unit trusts, are these worth thinking about? I am aiming to save long term, at least 10 years and was considering adding my 2 lots of child benefit each month to this, is that possible? Sorry if I sound totally thick about this (probably because I am at the moment) but am overwhelmed with financial terminology on websites such as bestinvest.co.uk but am prepared to read into these things in more detail to gain a better understanding, thanks.

ReportInvestor

Hi mo2 and welcome to the site .

We would all agree that you need to have a decent cash savings fund (best kept in annual mini-cash ISAs) first before you invest in unit trusts.

Assuming that you have, then you also have a £4K annual shares ISA allowance.

You can invest lump sums into this, and/or regular savings eg your child benefit income. Unit trusts share ISAs are a good way to start for the novice investor. Although the income advantages only really affect the higher rate taxpayer you don't have to worry about capital gains tax in an ISA - which can be a factor after the decade of investment you mention.

So you are thinking along the right lines.

Regular saving can help spread risk, especially in volatile markets.