The Windfall Diary

gadgetmind

darkpool wrote: »

yeah, i think for most people it is a large "leap of faith" to manage your own money. how about investing some of your money yourself? say 30k?

I've only been managing the bulk of our investments for a few years, though I have dabbled in tech shares a little over the last decade of so.

The first time you have a five figure sum to invest in various vehicles, it's scary. My response to anything that's so new to me that I find it daunting is to get reading, and reading, and reading, and then to read a few of the books that are referenced by the books I've already read, and then a few more.

I'm convinced that the the investment business flogs complex products and uses mumbo-jumbo language, just to try and make it all sound hard.

It isn't.

alun4

WindfallWinnie wrote: »

So, as far as timescale is concerned you won't need to dip into capital for 2-3yrs.

Probably, but there are days .... !

WindfallWinnie wrote: »

Your will (you have made a will?)

Yes. But not made Lasting Power of Attorney yet and in many ways this is more important .

WindfallWinnie wrote: »

there is no reason why your estate should be liable for IHT if you get your will drawn up correctly.

I can't find a a way around without giving away control and most of assets to now are in property, so we are heavily exposed.

WindfallWinnie wrote: »

Good luck with your plans!

Thank you. I will post the results of the IFA and look forward to seeing how your diary progresses.

atush

I agree that investing a small portion of it (less than30Kmaybe 5-10K) could be good. After you do a lot of reading as gadget said. But only if this would interest you.

When i started investing for myself, I used the child benefit I got. And it would take some months to save up 500 to invest in one share so I didn't do it every month (as I only had 3 kids lol). And I was stuck at home as I couldn't earn enough for 3 kids childcare plus expenses. So in between times I had a lot of time to research future buys and then choose one at a time. Only go this route if you feel it is somehting that would interest you. The internet wasn't as fun a place then (97) as it is now and I was stuck and used my free time for researching.

WindfallWinnie

darkpool wrote: »

yeah, i think for most people it is a large "leap of faith" to manage your own money. how about investing some of your money yourself? say 30k?

I'd invest 3k into 10 different FTSE 350 companies. tbh, after 10 years I would be surprised if your portfolio hadn't outperformed your IFAs recommendations.

I like this idea. And strangely enough hubby said he would quite like to do it too. I think we'll spend a few weeks looking at the financial pages & see what we can glean.

Any ideas for good websites to check out would be great!

Thanks

atush

The Motley Fool website is where i began, adding others along the way incl Trustnet.

And the money and business sections of the broadsheet newspapers is good, as is the Economist (but only started reading this regularly once my son got a subscription as research for his Uni degree.)

WindfallWinnie

alun4 wrote: »

not made Lasting Power of Attorney yet and in many ways this is more important.

I agree. We both made POAs when we did our wills, nominating each other.

alun4 wrote: »

I can't find a a way around without giving away control and most of assets too now are in property, so we are heavily exposed.

Have dug out our wills to see how this is described, bearing in mind the wills were made in 2009 so terminology might have changed.
They talk about a Legacy Fund of whom the remaining spouse & children are beneficiaries. The remaining spouse is also a Trustee responsible for determining how the Fund is managed/invested/etc.


Look forward to seeing what your IFA comes up with! I've got some details of specific products which I'll post tomorrow/Monday. Our IFA will be back on Tuesday with forms for us to fill in ... :eek:

gadgetmind

atush wrote: »

The Motley Fool website is where i began, adding others along the way incl Trustnet.

Agreed regards Motley Fool, particularly the HYP forums. However, ten companies is probably not enough, and HYP also focusses on blue chips, which tend to be good for income but usually promise little growth.

I tend to go for the usual stuff, but also pepper in some spice from the lower leagues.

sabretoothtigger

10% into gold or 10% of what you personally manage.

The other fairly safe bet is to top up a pension which you will take back soon enough anyway. Dont mess with shares if you have no interest, funds managed or tracker are far safer

MarcoM

Hi,

Winnie may i ask what your IFA charges you per year?

Is he on commission basis or fixed fees?

I am curious to know how much an IFA should charge on an investment porfolio of 200k.

thanks

WindfallWinnie

MarcoM wrote: »

Hi,

Winnie may i ask what your IFA charges you per year?

Is he on commission basis or fixed fees?

I am curious to know how much an IFA should charge on an investment porfolio of 200k.

thanks

He's commission-based so we don't really get to see exactly what he makes on the products he recommends.