Regular investments

enthusiasticsaver

Jd2015 wrote: »

I'm back with more

Lets assume I'm plannning to invest £50 per month into one or two funds. Assume £25 each into Vanguard Lifestrategy and L&G multi index to begin with if it helps. From Jan 16 it will £50 into each (£100 per month). Jan 17 will be £100 into each (£200 total)

I have heard that Cavendish Online was a good site to use for this,

1) Our Cavendish a good choice for this?
2) Any drawbacks with them
3) Any other providers I should consider?

I was in your situation six months ago and did not know the first thing about investing. For information I ended up using Cavendish to invest initially £1k per month until reaching £5k in a stocks and shares isa in the Vanguard Lifestrategy 60. Now I have reduced to £250 per month which was very easy. Similarly paying one off payments if you are flush one month or cancelling monthly payment or reducing it is also easy.


On researching Cavendish it seemed it was one of the cheaper platforms for a small portfolio and I have not had any problems with them. Charles Stanley is also popular so take a look at the websites and see which you prefer. Someone posted a link to compare my platform earlier on in your thread so that is good for you just to input your proposed monthly savings and it will work out costs.


My suggestion would be however if you are only putting in a small amount each month (£50) it would be better to go either for one of the Vanguard Lifestrategy funds or the Legal and General multi asset ones. There seems little sense in investing in both but that is just my opinion. I think the costs are similar for both funds but the L and G has some property in which the lifestrategy one doesn't. Look at the cost of investing twice each month if you are using two funds. Why not try researching both and then starting with one initially after choosing one that meets your needs?

justme111

Atush , I am not sure your stance on pensions is applicable to many people. It looks like it became hot topic for you as you moved through your life stages to the extent that everything looks like a nail to you now. I think you forget that many and dare I say most people live on far less than you do so they will not have so drastically reduced income once they retire. What is left after paying mortgage and kids stuff is not that dissimilar to state pension in many cases. In retirement they will not have mortgage or children to pay for. Mode average income is about £1000 per month. Do you really think that your financial strategy would suit those people ? Even if you look at mean average of 26 a year - after tax , mortgage , children expenses (all those being absent in retirement on low pension ) what is left is not far cry from basic pension.
On topic - a couple of years ago I was fruitlessly trying to understand investment , read the books recommended on here but it all was as if there were little bits of puzzle that did not go together , there was something missing in all that information. So I "just done" it - cavendish , a few funds (5)and direct debit. Just checked today - numbers on their website say there is indeed some money to my name on there , the amount that I transferred plus some more from market going up. So my advice would be - on this low amount if you get it wrong (or better saying not ideal )it still is not going to be a disaster , its not as if £u were dealing 400 000 inheritance or house sale proceeds

atush

I am sorry, but your opinion of me doesn't really interest me.

The plain facts are, pension credit will be no more, and median family income is higher than 1K per month. So people later on will not be able to get help in retirement when they dont earn enough. So they have to save. And 6% is NOT going to be enough to retire on. Esp if you want to retire before age 68-70. When the state pension wills tart fro those who are younger today.

I never once said to not have an emergency cash fund of 3 months spending. And I never once said to not have a S&S isa. I do say, and will continue to say, that pensions are important.

And I will stick to my guns on t his, as I was once in debt and much poorer than I am now, and knew nothing of finance.

jimjames

If your employer will match your pension contributions then it would seem to make sense to put in as much as you can up to that amount. There aren't any other investments where you are guaranteed to double your money instantly and get tax relief too.

My employer will match to 10% so definitely worth checking.