20K - where to invest?

Yeliab_2

I would appreciate some views on where best to invest 20K. I already have an ISA for this tax year and am now looking at where best to save or invest the rest.

I've never really invested seriously in stocks and shares having had bad experiences so am really cautious. I know my money is not earning any interest in low interest account and I'd appreciate knowing how to make it work harder for me as I know I am losing out.

I am generally cautious as an investor but it would be good to find the right investment vehicle which will enable my money to grow. I am aware of risks in investing.

Appreciate any advice you all can give. Thanks

bigadaj

That's a very open ended question as you are no doubt aware. Do some research, read books and gat an opinion. Most people would start by getting so e index tracker funds through a discount broker, hsbc have low fees and different funds to cover various markets. Equity income is the flavour of the month, whether uk, world or Asian, and is appealing as yields of 5-6% are possible with potential for capital growth, however higher fees for these.

I have both of te above, many people on here are fans of teh vanguard life strategy funds which hold a mixture of asset classes including shares from different markets, government and corporate bonds etc. Advantage is you can leave this lie and have low charges,one drawback in my opinion is that they automatically hold government bonds, which for the stronger economies are very over valued currently and look like dropping in the next couple of years.

Best to do some reading,come up with some proposals and drop back hEre for more opinions.

dunstonh

I've never really invested seriously in stocks and shares having had bad experiences so am really cautious.

What was your bad experience? For most people, if they at least invested for the typical minimum period using sensible investments (and not some hairbrained scheme) they would not have made a loss.

I am aware of risks in investing.

Are you sure? I mean, if you say you had a bad experience, do you know what caused that bad experience? After all, you say you are cautious which is fair enough but it seems to be based on a bad experience but seeing as a bad experience would either be a bad investment, or poor understanding, it is important to know if you have understood what went wrong and why before you possibly end up doing the same thing all over again.

jamesd

First question is to decide how much drop in capital value you would accept in a bad year before panic selling near the bottom and losing lots of money. The main UK stock market can be expected to drop by 20% regularly and 40-50% every few years. Can you handle that much variation or does it need to be less? Once you've set this you can pick a selection of investments that will normally stay within your risk tolerance range.