investment advice

utab007

Loughton_Monkey wrote: »

It is almost impossible to get any sensible feedback with so little information, which is probably why you probably need to see an IFA. To make my point, you could be either:

1. Unemployed, no income, living in 1-bed rented bedsit, having just received £300K inheritance which you plan to use to live off for the next X years...

Or

2. Own your own house, earn £40K a year, no pension scheme, age 25, and looking to put the money away for your retirement.

These situations would require two completely different answers.

You post implies (but we can't be sure) (a) that you want to 'invest' but currently 'save', (b) that you have saved in an account for which £215K of your money is totally unprotected by FSCS, which would tend to indicate you are a 'newbie'. And yet you are so precise as to wanting 'high risk' up to £30K.

[Quality of your responses will depend upon quality of your questions and information given.]

I actually fall into the second group, but self employed with my own house and a buy to let investment. But I appreciate what your saying and I should have given more info.

And I'm not risking all my money in one account, so not a complete newbie.

calypso_rhapsody

There's still key information that's missing .... what are you 'saving' or 'investing' for? and over what sort of timescale.

Loughton suggested that you might be 25 and saving for retirement .... is that the case? if so, it's a long timescale and equity investment of a fair chunk of that money looks wise - with as much of it tax-protected as possible (pension, ISA). But if you're planning to retire in 3 years and this money is to provide your future income it's a different situation.

A chat with a few advisers definitely advisable, but if you want this forum to help inform your meetings you really do need to give us a a bit more!!

utab007

calypso_rhapsody wrote: »

There's still key information that's missing .... what are you 'saving' or 'investing' for? and over what sort of timescale.

Loughton suggested that you might be 25 and saving for retirement .... is that the case? if so, it's a long timescale and equity investment of a fair chunk of that money looks wise - with as much of it tax-protected as possible (pension, ISA). But if you're planning to retire in 3 years and this money is to provide your future income it's a different situation.

A chat with a few advisers definitely advisable, but if you want this forum to help inform your meetings you really do need to give us a a bit more!!

What I'm a saving or investing for? That's a good question. I would say to cut down on my work hours, so perhaps work 3 or less days a week instead of 5 days. I would like to use the other 2 to 3 days a week to explore the possibility of setting up a new business and just more leisure time. So I guess a good monthly income is more important than growth. Hopefully, the property I live in and buy to let investment will provide some further growth in the future, but I only have a state pension and no private pension scheme.

Timescales? I don't mind tying up my money for up to 5 years. I see there are some fixed rate deals out there offering 5%. I'm a 40 year old with a family to support (4 kids at school and housewife).

I hope this info helps.

B_Blank

utab007 wrote: »

What I'm a saving or investing for? That's a good question. I would say to cut down on my work hours, so perhaps work 3 or less days a week instead of 5 days. I would like to use the other 2 to 3 days a week to explore the possibility of setting up a new business and just more leisure time. So I guess a good monthly income is more important than growth. Hopefully, the property I live in and buy to let investment will provide some further growth in the future, but I only have a state pension and no private pension scheme.

Timescales? I don't mind tying up my money for up to 5 years. I see there are some fixed rate deals out there offering 5%. I'm a 40 year old with a family to support (4 kids at school and housewife).

I hope this info helps.

I am ending my fixed rate savings bonds when they mature now (rather than renewing) because I am concerned that rates will go up soon (and maybe fairly sharply) and this leave me tied to an uncompetitive fixed rate savings bond which I have to pay a bill to cancel.

A good way to get decent savings rates and protect your money via the fscs is to get 3/4 bank accounts and open ragular savings accounts in each. Then you can have some more money in longer term savings accounts and then maybe invest the rest in various managed funds which you can do online and avoid the initial fee these funds often charge.

Sure its a risk, but the managers of these funds know what they are doing and it pays for them to suceed as their annual management fee will be larger.

I am no expert though! so ingnore my advice!

utab007

B_Blank wrote: »

I am ending my fixed rate savings bonds when they mature now (rather than renewing) because I am concerned that rates will go up soon (and maybe fairly sharply) and this leave me tied to an uncompetitive fixed rate savings bond which I have to pay a bill to cancel.

A good way to get decent savings rates and protect your money via the fscs is to get 3/4 bank accounts and open ragular savings accounts in each. Then you can have some more money in longer term savings accounts and then maybe invest the rest in various managed funds which you can do online and avoid the initial fee these funds often charge.

Sure its a risk, but the managers of these funds know what they are doing and it pays for them to suceed as their annual management fee will be larger.

I am no expert though! so ingnore my advice!

Yes, I agree I was looking to hold off for a couple of months as I believe interest rates will rise, before I tie into a longer term deal.

Thanks for your reply. I had something similar in mind - can you recommend any managed funds? And how would you make the split in percentage terms?

If the so claimed experts knew what they were doing we wouldn't be in the financial mess we are in now.

B_Blank

utab007 wrote: »

Yes, I agree I was looking to hold off for a couple of months as I believe interest rates will rise, before I tie into a longer term deal.

Thanks for your reply. I had something similar in mind - can you recommend any managed funds? And how would you make the split in percentage terms?

If the so claimed experts knew what they were doing we wouldn't be in the financial mess we are in now.

Well most of the good managed funds tend to outperform the markets they are associated with.

What I have done is invest larger amounts in more balanced and cautious funds with a wide range of exposures, and smaller amounts in more specialist funds. Then some in cash - instant access and fixed rate.

I dont really know what I am doing though, I didnt go to a IFA because I didnt think they would be worth the commision or know what they were doing either! I figured if I diversfied enough in these funds I would be ok.

I would avoid following specific tips on this website/or any other website. For example, alot on here having been talking non-stop about gold and silver and what a great investment it is. The truth is, if news has spread to the MSE forums that this is a good investment then it probably isnt anymore...the horse will of bolted so to speak.

Similarly, with individual shares, I doubt you will be able to make good decisions on these because you are not "in the loop" and you will find out that you should sell or buy a share when it is far too late (after all the big fund managers in london have found out).

I dont have any specific tips except to diversify..this is the one thing I am doing. Apart from that I have no idea what I am doing. So I can hardly offer any tips, and I dont know what IFA are like so I cant give you advice there either. My strategy is just to have a play and diversify. If I lose money I dont really care, I got nothing to spend it on anyway with house prices being so high that I refuse to buy!

Good luck, remember what I say here is highly uneducated so dont read too much into it! I dont know what I am talking about!

darkpool

B_Blank wrote: »

Well most of the good managed funds tend to outperform the markets they are associated with.

i disagree with that, i think most managed funds underperform the market they are meant to track.

B_Blank

darkpool wrote: »

i disagree with that, i think most managed funds underperform the market they are meant to track.

Ok, I meant most of the "good funds" with good ratings.

relaxtwotribes

If I understand your original post correctly, you feel that you have a sufficiently large pot of money for a rainy day, with some left over. You want to improve upon the 2.9% return and understand that some extra risk is involved with trying to achieve that goal. You have made the right first decision in limiting the amount you are prepared to risk (to £30k in your case).

So, at the risk of enraging others, here is my suggestion. Choose 5 large well-known companies and buy £2k shares of each. Tesco, Vodafone, Next or whatever you feel comfortable with.

Watch what those initial investments do for one month and then decide how comfortable you are with the ones that have fallen in value. If you cannot cope with the thought of having lost money, then sell the lot and put the money back into the savings account.

If all 5 shares have risen in value after one month, consider investing more money, but be very careful not to think that you are an ace investor and everything you invest in turns to gold. You will learn more from your mistakes, than from your successes.

In time, look into why some of your shares rose in value and why some fell. Learn as you go along and always remember not to put all your eggs in one basket.

And, as they say on radio "please let us know how you get on".

droopsnoot

utab007 wrote: »

It's currently in a savings account which gives me a monthly income of approx 2.9%, but would like to consider other options.

Did I mis-read the above? Are you saying that you're getting 2.9% per month? If you are, can I ask how and where please?