Want to invest my savings to make more money!

andrewthomas2008

LannieDuck wrote: »

If you do decide to have another look at S&S, I would suggest taking a look at the vanguard thread.

Are you referring to the Vanguard Life Strategy thread?

I tried to post the link but I get the following message "Sorry as a new user you are not allowed to post with links. This is done to stop spammers clogging up the site. Please edit your message below to continue".

atush

So would HBOS be a good idea to invest in? Since they have been very low for years now.

Again, you do not understand risk (ie buying high befiore and selling out at a loss when you got nervous). You are talking about buying one share in one mostly failed/govt rescued bank. While buying now might turn out OK, esp when then bank eventually gets profitable enough for the govt to sell their shares, we don't know how long away (if ever) that will be. And the govt selling their stake could also depress prices. So, it is a gamble.

For indvidual shares, Iw as not talking about depressed shares in failed banks. But profitable, dividend paying firms that have good records of keeping and raising their dividends year on year. Such as some utilities, drug firms etc.

You are far better off drip feeding into funds over individual shares. Some funds hold 20 shares, some hold hundreds. So if you buy a fund, and one company they hold fails, they lose only a fraction of their capital. Whereas, should a single company fail, the shareholder gets nothing (think about those in Bradford and Bingly and NR when they went down, all the shareholders lost 100% of their money).

The fact of the matter is, you would have been better off if your parents sold your privatisation shares, instead of holding them. But at least you have 100 quids worth of shares, rather than zero?

Yes, the poster above was talking about VLStrategy funds. which have a number of funds of different risk profiles for investors.

LannieDuck

Yes, I meant the life strategy ones. I've been lurking on these boards for a while as I try and learn about shares, and the VLStrategy funds often get recommended to new investors because you can choose one that reflects your level of risk (e.g. 40% shares/60% bonds, or 20% shares/80% bonds etc). They put together a number of different tracker funds, so you're not investing in individual shares, which is inherently risky. Basically, they give you a pre-made portfolio tailored to your preferred level of risk. And because they're tracker funds, you don't have to actively manage them.

bigfreddiel

atush wrote: »

Ignore bigfredi and his idiocy.

cheers, much appreciated - but lets just look at all these so called experts

banks - run by finance experts paid vast sums - they keep losing money - if you don't believe me just take a look at cyprus

so, would you take advice from a bank?

i'm afraid this is rife throughout the finance industry

take it from me, KISS - if you dont understand the advice walk away

keep cots low, invest in trackers stick to your plan - it worke for me

1997 - unemployed
2013 - retired - net worth £1.3m - ll by following above principle

good luck

fj

andrewthomas2008

Thanks guys, could you tell me what sources of information do you use to do your research for Tracker funds? @ LannieDuck,atush,bigfreddiel

Did you use the drip feeding method? @ bigfreddiel

LannieDuck

I'm still researching tracker funds. Opened an S&S ISA last year and maxed it out, investing in dividend paying shares on the advice of relatives.

After doing a lot of reading, I'm now waiting for the new tax year before I can add to my ISA, but am thinking of investing in some trackers next year to diversify my portfolio - at the moment it's quite high risk because I only have a small number of individual shares. I'm looking at a couple of emerging markets trackers, because my current holdings are UK-centric.

I'm very new at this, so don't really have the experience to tell you the best places to research, but I'm signed up to the citiwire and motleyfool newsletters, and I've done quite a bit of reading around the most popular/best performing funds just using information on my ISA provider's site. Have also picked up on a couple of names on MSE that keep popping up - Aberdeen, Investco - and plan to have a read through some of their offerings before I choose.

HTH

grey_gym_sock

for researching trackers and passive investing, have a look at http://monevator.com/category/investing/passive-investing-investing/

vickssinex

As well as the Monevator site, have a look at http://www.candidmoney.com/investment/default.aspx which explains a bit more about the differences between types of investment.

andrewthomas2008

Thanks guys

I've booked marked those sites. I'll have a peruse tomorrow after work.

LannieDuck

vickssinex wrote: »

As well as the Monevator site, have a look at http://www.candidmoney.com/investment/default.aspx which explains a bit more about the differences between types of investment.

Thanks for this link. I haven't seen this site before, and the explanations are very useful.