Where do I start with stocks and shares ?

Sammyjlb

My husband and I are approaching 50 and would like to invest on a regular basis for the next 5 years with a view to start drawing income from the investments in around 10 years time.
We can invest around £1000 -£2000 per month and already have ISA's with AJ Bell so I believe we can use them as a platform to invest.
We have some investments in buy to let, VCTs and EISs but we would like to diversify a bit more but just not sure where to start.
We don't feel confident enough to be hands on with the investments and so does this mean we need to use a financial advisor ?
Thanks in advance !

jimjames

What do you already have in your ISAs with AJ Bell? That manager would tend to indicate you already have S&S investments?

Totton

One idea may be to try a test before you buy option. Go to somewhere like Morningstar or Trustnet, register and then set up a portfolio of investments that you might be interested in. Use the portfolio tool to monitor your investments for a few months and see if you are comfortable choosing your own funds etc. It really is very easy to do this sort of stuff yourself.

If looking at funds, investment trusts or even shares, you can read enough online to get a good feel for what you would be comfortable with.

For example, take a look at something like RIT Capital Partners as a global choice for a an all-in-one portfolio, or if you are happy to pay the costs of a multi manager try Jupiter Merlin Income or their Growth multi/manager funds, although these are quite expensive they are simple and remove the need to pay your IFA fees.

Best of luck with it,
Mickey

Radiantsoul

You could use an advisor. I think that BTL, EIS and VCT are probably more complex than investing in funds/stocks and shares. You are probably looking to invest in funds rather than individual shares.

Sammyjlb

Hi, thanks for the responses.
We do already have stocks and shares ISA's but these are managed by 7im. We want to invest in addition to our ISA's to diversify our investments a little more.
Practising seems like a good idea but wouldn't I have to wait a few years to be confident that I was any good ? Keen to get investing asap.
Yes funds definitely not individual shares . Any recommendations ?
Thanks Mickey for your suggestions - I will look into them.

AlanP_2

As a start point have a look at monevator.com and read through some of the articles on there as regards Asset Allocation, Passive & Active investing etc.

From the sounds of it a Passive approach (where you select a Market Tracker fund(s)) would suit your relatively "hands off" approach (still some effort needs to be put in though).

Smarter Investing by Tim Hale is a good starting book to consider as well. The early chapters are a good introduction to the topic and will no doubt prompt further thoughts.

I started a few months ago with a Vanguard LifeStrategy Fund as they offer a range of underlying trackers that invest in Stocks / Equities and Bonds across the globe.

BlackRock and Legal & General offer similar multi-index funds as well.

10 years is a relatively short investment horizon and a fall of 30-40% in equity values (such as 2008/9) is likely to occur in that period. Would you be comfortable with that and happy to ride the storm out?

If you definitely need to access the money at a fixed point in time you need to plan for avoiding that 30/40% dip just before you retire by moving out of equities into something "safer" as the date approaches.