Opinions on my portfolio

Novice_investor101

I'll essentially be investing the £250 on the monthly savings plan by direct debit as soon as i get paid to guarantee I'm saving/investing a minimum every month. Then the lump sums are what's left the day before the next pay cheque & after I've paid all the bills etc, so they can fluctuate, but will typically be around £1000 (unless i have a holiday or the car blows up on the same day that the boiler falls off the wall).

I don't want to be a "serious" investor who's looking to draw an income from this in later life - i have well funded & looked after pensions for that.
This is an exercise in getting a decent (long term) return on money i would otherwise just put into a rubbish savings account & leave for the next 20 years.
So I'm trying to have a low cost portfolio that would support growth over the long term (65% global equity tracker, 15% UK all share tracker & 5% in Asia or Emerging markets?) with a bit of a gamble thrown in (max 15%) with a Japan tracker & the tech/pharma.

Once a large amount of money builds up & i get a bit more risk averse I'll head for the Mixed Asset funds, or look towards bonds. But, that's at least 10 years away yet.
That's my plan, anyhoo.

Eco_Miser

Novice_investor101 wrote: »

I'll essentially be investing the £250 on the monthly savings plan by direct debit as soon as i get paid to guarantee I'm saving/investing a minimum every month. Then the lump sums are what's left the day before the next pay cheque & after I've paid all the bills etc, so they can fluctuate, but will typically be around £1000 (unless i have a holiday or the car blows up on the same day that the boiler falls off the wall).

if you have a lump sum (nearly) every month then it's just more regular investment, and I'd be looking to deal with the left-overs from one month and the up-front money from the next as one transaction.

Novice_investor101 wrote: »

I don't want to be a "serious" investor who's looking to draw an income from this in later life

Then what's the point?

Novice_investor101 wrote: »

This is an exercise in getting a decent (long term) return on money i would otherwise just put into a rubbish savings account & leave for the next 20 years.

Why do that? Why not just spend it now, since you're confident you won't need it later?

Alice_Holt

Eco_Miser wrote: »

if you have a lump sum (nearly) every month then it's just more regular investment, and I'd be looking to deal with the left-overs from one month and the up-front money from the next as one transaction.

Yes, I'd do one regular transaction a month. The advantage is that once it is set up it is automatic, and doesn't require further action / thought.
I've found that that one of the things that reduces returns is too much mucking around / unnecessary investor interventions / or prevarication.
It's surprising how much capital can be accumulated from income over a decade or so when a regular amount goes in by DD month in month out regardless of market sentiment.

I'd suggest starting with one core fund (e.g. VLS 80 or a large global IT such as Witan), directing all contributions into that for a couple of years.
Once you have a sensible amount in that core fund, then direct contributions to another fund / sector, so building up a range of holdings over time.

Novice_investor101

The amount of money I'll have at the end of the month can fluctuate, so i don't want to commit to a high direct debit & then be moving money from different savings accounts in time to ensure its there in time for the collection date if i have a couple of lean months. It's easier for me to pay in lump sums, & I'm quite good at being disciplined with it.

Also, I'm not really a materialistic person. I prefer to do things rather than have things. There's nothing really that i want to buy with this money now, & I'm quite happy with my life as is. I just want to try and earn something with my savings over what a savings account would pay, as it seems wasteful not to.
I haven't any future plans for the money, tbh. I'll either spend it on holidays in later life, retire early or give it to family/my nieces when they get to buying their own house.
As this is my first foray into investing in funds (outside of pensions & direct share buying) I'm just trying to figure out how to approach it ie what funds.
With the info given on this thread I'm realising that keeping it simple with a core global fund & possibly a couple of small satelitedis funds is the way to go. Certainly for now, anyway.
& Lastly, i find this interesting & I'd like to take a couple of long term punts on Japan, or a sector. Not huge amounts of money, but...
Some people like to gamble in casinos with their money for thrills. I have to say, i hated Las Vegas when i went, but im not adverse to taking a bit of a gamble with funds & shares & won't risk it if I'm not ready to lose it.

Novice_investor101

So, revisiting this 5 months on from when I first decided to start dipping my toe in the water, & I've learnt a lot! Particularly about my risk appetite & long term goals, from reading other boards on this forum & finding the analysis tool on Fidelity.

I've ended up settling on 3 funds - an L&G Global equity tracker £200pm, L&G Tech tracker £50pm & L&G European tracker £25pm. These are all on a monthly savings plan. I also now put my remaining spare cash into Virgin regular savers at 2.25% & my works Share incentive scheme (buy 1 get 2 free) instead of investing it all in the S&S ISA, this is how I'm managing my risk aversion - the money into the funds is there to go untouched & unmissed for the long term.

I'm not sure if even this is now a sensible approach, but it feels like it works for me.... I never check the Fidelity site nowadays, aside from a reminder set on my phone to review it next March. I'm hoping this is a better strategy than I first put up.
So, what more am I likely to learn/realise or what have I glaringly obviously missed?

enthusiasticsaver

Putting it all in equities seems quite high risk if you are also investing in your employers share save scheme but if it works for you. I am still a novice investor myself and started with a monthly payment but just stuck to the Vanguard LS60 fund. Now as almost retired I am doing lump sums rather than monthly drip feeds. It is a steep learning curve and you are doing the right thing by educating yourself about investing relatively young. I wish I had explored it earlier too.

Novice_investor101

I'm 35, & at least 25 to 30 years from retirement. My long term plan for the money I invest is retirement. & I'm working on the premise that I have time to ride out any major market fluctuations.

I originally thought I was ok with putting all my "savings" money into 100% equities, but quickly realised I wasn't. & That I also would prefer more of that money to be easily accessible in case I needed it (no family to fall on if everything fell apart).
But then, I also understand that to make my money work, I have to risk a bit of it. So equity funds matched with hard cash saved is my equilibrium. I can afford to lose the money I've invested in the S&S ISA, worst case. Best case, it'll pay off & I'll have made more than if it was saved as a cash deposit. Once I've got a big enough cash buffer, I'll be more prepared to invest more in funds.
The pension, I don't have much choice about - it needs to grow & the accepted logic/pattern is equities do that best over a working lifetime. Closer to retirement, I'll be a bit more cautious as, fingers crossed, it'll be worth a lot more & I'll know a lot more!
Lastly, the staff share scheme is free money & also taken via salary sacrifice.
I'm hoping I've worked things out as well as I can & am being sensible, overall. Guess I'll find out in 25 years....