Need First-time investing advice

delvinv

Hi i have made up my mind to invest some money as i am tired of getting 10p from my savings account!

I have looked at a few options, but depending on the website, you tend to get conflicting opinions.

Some background info:
I am a student, but i have a £500 saved up, and would like something i can add regular top-ups of 50-100£ monthly etc

i am thinking long-term i.e. 5years+

However i am not sure in what to invest?
Very tempted by technological shares.

Ive had a look at some index trackers, bullion shares which seem to get a lot of recommendations. What would be the advice you would give to a student?

Note: i have no interest in trading as i am too busy to take on the added responsibility of objective & rational calculations

Muchas Gracias :A

amcg100

Depends really on how risk adverse you are ? you could invest in coffee for example which is currently predicted to rocket owing to climate, but if things change you could lose.
It's good that at this stage you want to invest for your future - if you don't need the £500 for a few years then take a punt on coffee - gl

Linton

Before you start serious investing you should have an emergency fund of perhaps 6 months living expenses. The problem if you dont, is that something happens that forces you to raise cash by selling your investments. There is a reasonable chance that this will be at a bad time economically and you could well make a loss.

Once you have your emergency fund in place then drip feeding investments is a sensible way to proceed. Initially I suggest you start with something boring like a global balanced fund or equivalent set of trackers. After a while when you have a sizable pot and gained more experience it could be worth branching out into more exciting investments.

innovate

Linton wrote: »

Initially I suggest you start with something boring like a global balanced fund or equivalent set of trackers.

I would suggest that initially any newbie should start with informing themselves a great deal more than taking suggestings from a bunch of strangers on an internet forum.

There is plenty of online and offline literature about investing. Lots of books/websites have been suggested before - - it just takes a bit of research to find these suggestions.

Of course, they are only suggestions by a bunch of strangers on an internet forum, lol..............

delvinv

Yeah i obviously not going to be trigger happy and sign-up to the suggestions mentioned here. i was looking for options which i could research further.
i am looking for low-medium risk if that helps.

i looked into coffee, doesnt sound very appealing and it does look short term.

more suggestions welcomed

Totton

Hi,
Five years isn't long term for investing but more like a minimum period. I would take the simple approach and put the lot into the Vanguard LifeStrategy 100% Equity fund. There is a £2 monthly fee for holding this with Hargreaves Lansdown but if interested you can invest via their monthly direct debit system to which you can add lump sums as and when. Alternatively invest into VLS via a cheaper option.

HTH,
Mickey

merlingrey

Can you save more than £100 a month?

If so i'd say have £100 go in two managed funds ISA's and have another £100 go in cash ISA.

For managed funds i've always used this firm:

http://uk.retail.bnymellonam.co.uk/sites/uk_retail/home/home.html

innovate

merlingrey wrote: »

Can you save more than £100 a month?

If so i'd say have £100 go in two managed funds ISA's and have another £100 go in cash ISA.

For managed funds i've always used this firm:

http://uk.retail.bnymellonam.co.uk/sites/uk_retail/home/home.html

"two managed funds ISA's" - - what does that mean? 2 managed funds in one ISA? the ISAs of 2 managed funds?

Why are you suggesting managed funds?
Who are BNY Mellon, why are they a better choice than any of the fund supermarkets?
What funds do they offer? (seems you have to have an account with them before you can see the funds)
What are their charges?

merlingrey

innovate wrote: »

"two managed funds ISA's" - - what does that mean? 2 managed funds in one ISA? the ISAs of 2 managed funds?

Why are you suggesting managed funds?
Who are BNY Mellon, why are they a better choice than any of the fund supermarkets?
What funds do they offer? (seems you have to have an account with them before you can see the funds)
What are their charges?

Lot of questions. OK.

Who are bnymellon? :rotfl:

The largest deposit bank in the world with $27trillion on deposit, over 300 years old and was the first stock traded on the NYSE.

Two managed funds as in £50 in each of his chosen funds and £100 cash elsewhere (cash ISA with bank for example).

You do not need an account to see their funds they just have a disclaimer before entering and on your left is a selection box to search through, you can set up account online.

Fees are 4% on purchase and usually 1.5% annual management.

You could buy their funds at a supermarket, they are known as Newton funds. You can get a better rate through funds markets but i just have always used the firm direct.

Managed funds are medium risk, the company offers low-medium funds, seems like OP want's slightly higher risk but nothing too high, in my experience the range they have is ok.

BLB53

but i have a £500 saved up, and would like something i can add regular top-ups of 50-100£ monthly etc

Normally I would suggest low cost trackers via a low cost broker but with dilution levy and platform charges, they will take up a higher percentage of your contributions.

I therefore suggest having a look at investment trusts via eg Aberdeen - maybe 50/50 between Murray International and Dunedin Smaller Companies .

Also have a look at some of the articles on www.monevator.com including the recent comparison table and also www.miserlyinvestor.com

Good luck.

BLB53

Fees are 4% on purchase and usually 1.5% annual management.

Avoid anything with charges like this! If you take anything away from a thread like this, it should be to keep investment costs as low as possible - imho, anything these days over 1% is too high and you should never have to pay initial charges on anything you purchase.