HL stocks and shares ISA advice needed

MONEYTREE_2

Thank you BOWLHEAD for all that!

Yeah maybe I am wrong about the ex. But surely he must have realised I would dump him when I found out he'd been carrying on a long term relationship with another woman? Or am I just old fashioned? You are correct that he had a "deluded expectation" - he suggested that she replace me as the Main Girlfriend, whilst he continue to shag me on the side. In other words, swap us round. Well I bowed out and let her have this magnificent "prize specimen" aka "aging Lothario".

Anyway, to the money ... I really don't want to pull out now and turn that "paper loss" into a real loss. Going by what everyone here is saying, that seems daft. I will leave the money where it is at least until it makes back what it lost. Partly because there isn't anywhere better to stick it that is still an ISA.

As regards my retirement, it's not going to be 30 to 40 years. I expect to be dead before a decade is out, to be honest. I get my work pension next year when I am 60 and and if I do make it to 66 I have a state pension.

What I AM thinking of doing is moving to a slightly more expensive house, which will use up the 40k I have in the bank. So although I don't need the 40k in the S&S yet, it will be needed in the future as it will be my only nestegg.

Unless anyone feels this is terribly wrong, I think I will leave the S&S as they are, after all, at least until they regain what they lost.

Thanks again.

bowlhead99

MONEYTREE wrote: »

Anyway, to the money ... I really don't want to pull out now and turn that "paper loss" into a real loss. Going by what everyone here is saying, that seems daft.

As I said, you are perhaps hearing mixed messages. Don't cry about a small paper loss that's only a couple of percent of your "cash plus S&S" wealth. That's just the market doing it's thing and is only a paper loss. As a long term investor it need not worry you too much.

BUT, both dunstonh and I were both pretty clear that this particular portfolio is not suitable for you.You should sell it. Take the small loss and don't worry about it. You will probably get some gains when you come back to the market next time anyway.

Then either buy a simple fund or two that are more suitable, or stay in cash for a while as you figure out what you want from life.

I will leave the money where it is at least until it makes back what it lost.

No. Don't do that. Holding on to something that is not right for you, just because you think it owes you some money, is a way people lose more money than they want to.

What if it bobbles up and down for a bit without quite getting back to £40k, and then it drops down to £25k and doesn't come back for five years? At some point in that time you will sell up at a large loss as you did not want to be in these funds anyway and you will just think, screw this I'm getting rid. Then you have lost £10-20k instead of 1.5k.

The funds do not know they have lost you money. The fund manager doesn't personally know at what price you as an individual chose to buy in. The board of directors at Taiwan Semiconductor is not having a meeting right now to tell their employees that Moneytree needs her money back and shares in their company are 0.04% of Moneytree's holdings so let's all have a big push to impress the market this quarter to help her make £1500 by Christmas.

£40k is an arbitrary target. The goal is a comfortable retirement which costs more than £40k which is why you invested in the first place because cash was giving what you feel is an inadequate return for your long term needs. So, you will eventually pass £40k on the way to your final destination. But the £40k you are thinking of is just a smudge mark on the map that you put down in the past, but you no longer have it, forget it.

If you had never invested before, and had £38.5k of cash for your retirement, would you really think "ooh, I know, I'll invest this £38.5k of cash in a crazy hodge podge of funds which I don't want, until the £38.5k turns into £40k, hopefully not visiting £25k on the way. And then once the £38.5k has turned into £40k, I will sell the crazy hodge podge of funds and buy something sensible. Your friends would tell you that you were !!!!!! with that as a financial plan.

They would say why the heck are you going to buy funds you don't want or understand, to gamble your way to £40k from £38.5k, and only then buy something sensible. Why not buy the sensible thing now you idiot. Or if you don't know what the sensible thing is, why not wait in cash until you have worked it out.

So, you are at £38.5k in funds you don't want. Don't force yourself into some stupid "must...get...£40k...with....these...funds" trap. Take £38.5k as cash and investigate what could be done with it that is less risky than holding those funds that don't suit you. Don't kid yourself that the funds do suit you, just so you can save face and say "aren't I good at investing, I never lost any money".

Lisyloo said above, "if you don't need the money there's no need to sell and take the loss if you're not unhappy with the investment choices". But you *are* unhappy with the investment choices and that portfolio *isn't* suitable for you. So, please don't get the impression that people here are telling you to hang in there until it turns back into £40k or drops to £30k or £25k. We are saying its wrong for you: do not be ashamed to sell.

Partly because there isn't anywhere better to stick it that is still an ISA.

Isas can hold a very wide range of investments with investment risk from 0 (cash) to 10 (risky funds or individual shares).

Cash has no investment risk but greater inflation risk. Having the £38-40k as yet more cash, may not be suitable for your needs for that reason, if you already have a good wedge of it. But there is no need to buy investments at 10 just because they theoretically return more than cash over the long term. There are all the blends in between.

As regards my retirement, it's not going to be 30 to 40 years. I expect to be dead before a decade is out, to be honest.

Have you got a terminal illness?

Loads of people say they are never going to hit 70 and so they can't be bothered planning as far ahead as their 70s, and then realise that actually the life expectancy of a woman who's already about 60 and wasn't one of the people who died in their first six decades, will on average be about 88, with a one in four chance of being to 96.

So, could be three decades or more unless you know something we don't

What I AM thinking of doing is moving to a slightly more expensive house, which will use up the 40k I have in the bank. So although I don't need the 40k in the S&S yet, it will be needed in the future as it will be my only nestegg.

This changes everything, as if you used up the 40k at bank you would only have 40k left and having it all in investments instead of cash would be foolish.

Unless anyone feels this is terribly wrong, I think I will leave the S&S as they are, after all, at least until they regain what they lost.

As mentioned, I think it is wrong to hold an inappropriate portfolio until it hits some arbitrary target like "what it has lost", especially if it is too high risk for you and could lose a lot more.

slowpoke_rodriguez

Moneytree, If you haven't already done so, change your passwords!

dunstonh

There have been some very good responses. I would just add to those that your ex's fund selection seems to be a bit fashion investing/Daily Mail reader in style. He didn't invest that way in malice. These are the sort of funds you see covered in the media. So, if you have no real knowledge but just follow the press then you can end up with these types. The saying that a little knowledge can be more damaging than no knowledge applies.

If you pull out now and go cash, you lose £1500. However, some of those funds can lose 80% of of their value. We don't know how much is in each one (the very high risk ones could have a little and the low risk ones more. Or it could be the other way around). However, when things take a turn for the worse, it will tens of thousands you will lose. That turn for the worse may not happen now. Next week, next month or next year. But it will happen at some point.

Investments always zig zag in value. You get ups and downs. That is normal. However, you can somewhat control the scale of the ups and downs as you get different risk investments. So, if you want to remain invested but these funds concern you (which they should) then you can always move the investment to something more appropriate. 3.75% loss is low and potentially recoverable quite quickly if we have a growth period. Of course, it could get worse if we have a negative period.

If you really cant handle further losses then you may need to accept that current loss and go back to cash.

Investing is not bad. Don't let this put you off for life. It just needs to be done correctly. Effectively what you had here was poor DIY.

bigfreddiel

Something no one has mentioned here, make sure your ex cannot login to any of your accounts, 123 and HL. So have you changed your passwords?

Second, just curious how you have two 123 accounts?

Third, if I were you I would rationalise the funds you hold. I would sell and buy a Vanguard. Lifestrategy 60 ACC fund, and just leave it. Each year, if you can, max out your HL ISA.

Fourth, read the monevator web in particular passive investing.

Good luck fj

MONEYTREE_2

Dunston:

"If you pull out now and go cash, you lose £1500. However, some of those funds can lose 80% of of their value. ... when things take a turn for the worse, it will tens of thousands you will lose. That turn for the worse may not happen now. Next week, next month or next year. But it will happen at some point."

Can I ask, why are you so certain that it WILL happen?

MONEYTREE_2

I must be honest and confess, this thread has left me more confused than I was before.

It started with "Don't worry" and now we are almost at "you are definitely going to lose the lot".

Meanwhile, the loss has now reach £1800.

And yet everyone feels sure he didn't choose these funds to LOSE me money?

I'm confused, panicking and scared now.

As for changing passwords, he never knew them.

MONEYTREE_2

Big Fred

"Second, just curious how you have two 123 accounts?"

Er, I opened one, and then I opened another one. Now when I log into Santander online, they both show in my list of accounts (I have a business account as well). They are all in my sole name.

Why do you ask?

MONEYTREE_2

Dunston, somehow I forgot to reply to your comment He is playing with your money. Not his.

He made £8k last year with his own HL S&S ISA and in September printed out a spreadsheet of all the funds he was invested in, and brought it to me. We then sat at my PC and set up an account for me and he taught me how to navigate the HL interface. I then invested in the exact same funds he is invested in.

The purpose of this was that, when he checked how his funds were doing, he'd be checking for me, too, and would phone me if there was anything I should sell/buy/change.

He hasn't emailed to say I should pull out of the 8 I have.

Jox

Hi Moneytree, I don't know about stocks and shares but if this is causing you stress then put the money somewhere else in case you lose more.

Have you read this article and feel up to implementing the guidelines?

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/savings-loophole

It might be a "safer" way to get interest on your money.

Sorry for the cheating boyfriend and the additional stress he has given you - but at least he didn't scam you out of all your money!

All the best