Regular investments into Vanguard Life Strategy 60%

mairuzu

I want to set up a regular investment of £200 per month for a long term investment (5 years+) into some type of tracker fund and my research so far has lead me to think that the Vanguard Life Strategy 60% looks like a good option for ease and diversity.

I want something that I can pretty much set up and leave, with a low to medium low risk.

I have a few queries:

1. Is this a good choice for my needs - views on any other options?

2. Is Alliance Trust a cheap provider to do this through or can I do it myself (this is the bit I'm not so clear about).

3. At what point is it worth doing in through a stocks and shares ISA? Am I right in thinking that unless I make more than £11K in capital gains then it won't make any difference? (the only other investments I have are about £1000 of Royal Mail shares)

Sorry to sound like a total beginner, but that's what I am.

mairuzu

colsten

1 - difficult to say as we don't know your needs

2 - ATS isn't generally cheap. For your size investment, a platform that charges a low %age might be better, e.g. Charles Stanley. Check here: http://monevator.com/compare-uk-cheapest-online-brokers/

3 - S&S ISA is worth it even if you don't expect big gains. It costs very little if anything extra, and it saves you from keeping details for tax purposes. It also protects you from tax on any freak capital gain.

Radiantsoul

ISA are worth it if you are a higher rate income tax payer or might end up there.

Ryan_Futuristics

Just my 2c

Many here disagree with me, but I follow a certain value-based investment philosophy, and my two least favourite assets in current markets are US equities and bonds ... Vanguard LS is high in both

My opinion is that we've got at least 5 years of awkward markets to navigate, and trackers won't produce particularly satisfying returns ... I prefer equity income funds as core holdings in these conditions ... If you must have a tracker, Vanguard UK Equity Income - but I think Woodford Equity Income is much better positioned, gives you some overseas exposure, and charges are only about 0.5% higher through most

racing_blue

One point of view:

http://whitecoatinvestor.com/the-default-portfolio/

"The Default Portfolio
Posted on May 24, 2011

In many aspects of life, there is a default option. Unless you have a good reason to do something differently, you should go with the default option. As you learn more, you may add some bells and whistles and change some things around.

Default # 1 Savings Rate

Save 20% of your income, every year, toward retirement.

Default # 3 Asset Allocation

You should have half your money in risky investments such as stocks, and half your money in relatively safe investments, such as bonds. Don’t change this ratio no matter what the markets do.

Default # 4 Investment Selection

You should use one low-cost total stock market index mutual fund and one low-cost total bond market index mutual fund.

Default # 5 Mutual Fund Company

All else being equal, you should invest at Vanguard.

There is great wisdom in keeping things simple. These defaults are simple, easy to understand, effective, and very low-cost. Unbiased experts agree that If you follow this strategy, you will reach a comfortable retirement. It is possible you can do a little better than this, but it is also easy to do much worse. Considering the very little amount of effort and expertise required, this method of investing has the best ratio I know of results:effort/expertise required. "

(point #2 was about choice of account, it was aimed at US readers but a UK equivalent might be ISA & SIPP)

Mistermeaner

racing_blue wrote: »

One point of view:

http://whitecoatinvestor.com/the-default-portfolio/

"The Default Portfolio
Posted on May 24, 2011

In many aspects of life, there is a default option. Unless you have a good reason to do something differently, you should go with the default option. As you learn more, you may add some bells and whistles and change some things around.

Default # 1 Savings Rate

Save 20% of your income, every year, toward retirement.

Default # 3 Asset Allocation

You should have half your money in risky investments such as stocks, and half your money in relatively safe investments, such as bonds. Don’t change this ratio no matter what the markets do.

Default # 4 Investment Selection

You should use one low-cost total stock market index mutual fund and one low-cost total bond market index mutual fund.

Default # 5 Mutual Fund Company

All else being equal, you should invest at Vanguard.

There is great wisdom in keeping things simple. These defaults are simple, easy to understand, effective, and very low-cost. Unbiased experts agree that If you follow this strategy, you will reach a comfortable retirement. It is possible you can do a little better than this, but it is also easy to do much worse. Considering the very little amount of effort and expertise required, this method of investing has the best ratio I know of results:effort/expertise required. "

(point #2 was about choice of account, it was aimed at US readers but a UK equivalent might be ISA & SIPP)

The fly in the ointment being vanguard dont offer a LS 50 fund :rotfl:

masonic

ggb1979 wrote: »

The fly in the ointment being vanguard dont offer a LS 50 fund :rotfl:

Easily overcome by having half in LS 60 and the other half in LS 40.

Mistermeaner

masonic wrote: »

Easily overcome by having half in LS 60 and the other half in LS 40.

Or 80/20

Or 20/40/60/80

BLB53

Sounds like a reasonable plan.

You may as well start off with a S&S ISA as there are no extra charges compared to a non-isa.

You could certainly diy via a low cost broker - one of the cheapest for smaller funds would be Charles Stanley Direct - https://www.charles-stanley-direct.co.uk/ - annual charges just 0.25%. If the total fund builds over the years to say, over 30K, there may be cheaper options.

masonic

ggb1979 wrote: »

Or 80/20

Or 20/40/60/80

40/60 will require the least rebalancing.

Ryan_Futuristics

Worth remembering Lifestrategy isn't really a tracker (as much as it fits Vanguard's image to pretend it is) ... the asset allocation's actively managed like any other hedge fund

I don't think their funds are particularly great value ... They're better for US investors (where funds tend to be more expensive)

But for a UK investor I'd call a default equities portfolio 50:50 UK index and Global index - and go with Legal & General and you're paying 0.05% (less than a quarter of Lifestrategy's charges)