what is the best long term investment 15 to 20 years?

khampson

Hi, I want to save for the future by saving each month for 15 years+ so where would be the best place to do it, I don't mind high risk so I am open to all suggestions.

Keith

Reaper

Sectors shine then decline. For example banking was a great place to be investing until the crash came along. Japan was a powerhouse and an essential part of every portfolio once, but it has been in the doldrums for a decade.

So there is no one sector where you can put your money and forget about it for 15 years.

If you are willing to research and move your money around then that's good. Invest in OIEC funds you see as potential growth areas. If not your best bet is to go for something general that invests worldwide. For example F&C Investment Trust and Scottish Mortgage are 2 investment trust funds I have used in the past which invest anywhere they feel like in the world. Or multi-manager funds do something similar though with higher charges.

Or pick a bunch of worldwide trackers. There are a lot of options you just have to see what apeals to you.

Rollinghome

khampson wrote: »

Hi, I want to save for the future by saving each month for 15 years+ so where would be the best place to do it, I don't mind high risk so I am open to all suggestions.

A lot of people say they 'don't mind high risk' but often tend to mean they don't mind high risk provided they end up winning. High risk doesn't mean that: it actually means you could lose your money.

Japan has been in the doldrums for more than two decades. The Nikkei peaked at nearly 40,000 in 1989. Today, 22 years later, it's still only around 25% of that at 10,000. Add in inflation and what an investment made in 1989 would need to return just to stand still and it's been a car-crash for anyone who was tempted to that risk just before the peak.

So you need to decide how happy you'd be with that outcome. Accepting 'high risk' is easy enough if you pretend it can't actually happen. A better tactic is often to have some high risk investments balanced by lower risk as it's the overall risk in your portfolio that counts.

calypso_rhapsody

Do make sure you invest through a tax efficient wrapper as much as you can ... pensions and S&S ISAs! Pensions first as you get tax relief on the money you put in (but there's a limit linked to your earnings) then S&S ISAs (£10,680 this tax year - increases each year linked to inflation)

Theyarv1

Keith,
you should probably read a few books on investing and read a lot of bulletin boards - read about strategies, NOT specific shares. There are many ways in which you could invest for the long term, but of course it depends on the level of risk, your knowledge and how much effort you want to put into it.

You could for instance use share builder to invest on set dates each month to invest small amounts in specific shares, for instance high yielding shares with dividends reinvested (e.g Vod, RDSB, BATS, BP soon etc). If you held for 15 years this would be a better plan than buying into a fund as you only have your buying costs and selling costs once, however if you wanted to liquidate after a couple of years might be slightly more expensive than a fund.

Alternatively, you find a fund/ETF/OEIC that does it for you and charges you for it. You hope they match the market and make you money.

You probably need to sit down and decide exactly what you want to do it and how and then put a plan in motion. As calypso mentions, make sure you take advantage of your ISA wrappers every year.

atush

around 15 yrs ago, i started my first IT savings plan. Putting in just 50 a month. It has done fairly well for me over the years, enve though there have been several market downturns (ok, crashes even).

But I have money in cash too. So don't forget a cash isa or NST ilsc along side ;-)

Linton

khampson wrote: »

Hi, I want to save for the future by saving each month for 15 years+ so where would be the best place to do it, I don't mind high risk so I am open to all suggestions.

Keith

Sign up with an online broker/fund supermarket, set up an S&S ISA and buy :

A broad range of specialist funds, Unit Trusts/OEICS/trackers/ITs, whichever is best for the particular sector covering

1) Major growth areas - regions,countries, industries
2) Some boring but safer investment areas - eg government and corporate debt.
plus
cash held in ISAs and fixed interest accounts

decide on a % for each section and monitor it regularly. Ocasionally sell some of the well performing areas and buy some of the less well performing ones.

thriftychap_2

I am also aiming to stick money away each month for around 10,15 or 20 years. After much research I settled for a Fundsmith ISA on an accumalitive basis. I have paid in £750 so far and its now worth £793 (nort great but ill settle for it). I have had the fund for 5 months and now pay in £200pm.

I opted for this fund due to its relatively low risk with a medium to low return. The accumalitive basis of the fund means i reinvest the dividends into more shares, these are paid twice per year.

Ill let you take a look at the fund instead of going into exactly why i chose this fund. One of the mian reasons was the 25mil Terry Smith has put into the fund and the tried and tested companies they target. Plus low fee's.

Reaper

thriftychap wrote: »

After much research I settled for a Fundsmith ISA... Plus low fee's.

Not as low as he announced prior to its launch. See this thread discussing it. I hope you went direct rather than via a platform otherwise the fees are 1.5% which is as bad as everyone else.