Just beginning with saving/investing

zcrat41

Just discovered this board and finding it very interesting. I've got a cash ISA with about 4k in it. I can add about £200 a month to it if I stop spending frivolously which after reading a bit of the Mr Mustache site I'm quite keen to do. Bit of other background

I have a BTL property that's ticking along nicely. Has 19 years left on the mortgage at 3.3ish % fixed for the next 4.5 years.

I have about £800 of shares that I inherited age 18 (many moons ago now). Never done anything with them.

I'm a BR taxpayer and this won't change.

Emergency fund for living costs is covered separately and factored in.

Basically these 3 little pots of BTL, shares and my ISA are my personal wealth. I'm keen to improve this rather than just letting things tick along.

I've been reading about Stocks and Shares ISA's and am thinking of one of those. I've found a lot of the charges very hard to understand though. I'm not sure whether I'd be better off starting with a simple HL S&S and popping the £200 pm in there to see what happens or to transfer in my existing stocks.

Happy to invest for the long terms (10 yrs +)
Don't see any need to sell my property.

Was also thinking about just whacking it all on the mortgage each month. Just like the idea of having a BTL + some shares really.

What I want to get out of the saving/investing is a fund that is purely mine that I can spend what I want on!

Just musing out loud here really - not sure I'm expecting a reply! Thanks for listening.

lalman

My approach has always been 'what's the end goal?'


Do you want to retire early?, be financial free like Mr Money Moustache - and if so, what level of expenditure each month would keep you going?


Do you own your own home? Do you have a pension? Do you have any dependants? Are you married?


All the factors above would effect my decisions...

zcrat41

End goal is a funny one really. I'm married and my husband owns his own successful business. We live in a mortgage free property and have 2 kids. We don't have pensions as such but expect to be able to draw on the business for our retirement.

The money I have already was what I worked for before our marriage. As I'm rather financially reliant on our family business I suppose it's more of an independence as a woman thing. I just want to make the most of what I owned so that when I'm 50 ish (in my early 30's now) I can go on a world cruise if I want to.

Smithy101

zcrat41 pensions are good because if you invest £100 on day one it immediately becomes £120 because the Government adds 20%. It then grows almost tax until you need it (can access it at 55). Then you can take 25% as a tax free sum and you are then taxed on the remainder.

If you are new to investing I recommend you try something not new, Investment Trusts. They're the oldest type of investment fund but I suggest them to you not because they're old but because they perform better on average than any other type investment fund because they're set up in investors interest.

People will help you loads on this board but you can get more focused information on specialist consumer websites like https://www.whichinvestmenttrust.com and https://www.theaic.co.uk

If you have any questions I'm happy to help. I started my Mother and my Sisters on the same journey a few years ago and they're doing amazing.

Here's the evidence about investment trusts doing better than other types of funds:
http://whichinvestmenttrust.com/chart-shows-just-good-investment-trusts-2/

Best of luck whatever you do.

puk999

Smithy101 wrote: »

zcrat41 pensions are good because if you invest £100 on day one it immediately becomes £120 because the Government adds 20%.

The government gives you back the 20% they took off so if you invest £100 net, it becomes £125 gross.

BLB53

Sipp may be a good choice to take advantage of the tax breaks on contributions.

Just as easy to operate as an ISA - choose a low cost platform - Charles Stanley Direct or HL, pay in your £200pm which will be grossed up to £250 then select a couple of low cost Vanguard global trackers LS80 or similar and job done.

Check out the https://www.monevator.com site for more info on passive investing and also platforms. Also good article recently on https://www.diyinvestoruk.blogspot.co.uk about investing advice to a 21 yr old which is worth a look. Also some good articles on https://www.retirementinvestingtoday.com save hard, invest wisely and retire early!