Basic Investments for a novice

Adly812

I'm not confident in stocks and shares investments. As I don't know much about them. The most experience I have in savings is cash ISA , regular savings. But I want to do something wiser then keep my money on a low interest account.
What do you do with about 40 k?

AnotherJoe

It's not the size of the investment it's where it fits into your overall financial picture.

Start here

Tom_Brine

I recently opened a Stocks and Shares ISA with Cavendish Online as they were the cheapest option for me due to not having a large lump sum but paying monthly installments of £125. I imagine with such a large ammount you would be better off with a fixed fee service rather than percentage based model as Cavendish is.

In terms of what to invest in you can take all the advice in the world but it boils down to doing your own research.

I found an investment trust that upon extensive reading I decided had a good attitude to risk and long term growth ethos which aligned with what I wanted from my investments. So far its going quite well with a 6% return on total investments since April, though I am well aware this is an extremely short term position which could change quickly.

There's thousands of options for investment out there, you need to start reading articles and hone in on one or two which speak to you. Check there past performance, though as I have read a thousand times past performance is not an indicator of future performance and take the plunge.

The article posted by another Joe is an extremely good crib sheet to attaining your goals. Though to have £40,000 to invest i'm going to assume you are already quite good at saving.

bostonerimus

Pay off all you debt other than your mortgage, if you have one
Save 6 months cash into your bank account as an emergency fund
Put at least enough to get the full employer match into your work place pension and invest in low cost multi-asset tracker fund with a risk level that you like, middle of the road would be 60% equities, something like Vanguard VLS60.
Open an ISA and invest in a low cost multi-asset tracker fund.
Keep putting in money every month whatever the ups and downs of the market as you should be thinking on a 10, 20, or 30 years time scale.

BLB53

I want to do something wiser then keep my money on a low interest account.
What do you do with about 40 k?

It depends on how long you want to invest your money, your risk level and what return you require.

I would suggest keep it very simple and go for low cost index funds such as Vanguard Lifestrategy.

It will be worthwhile to take a little time to read up more on the basics and suggest have a look at Monevator http://monevator.com/category/investing/passive-investing-investing/
and DIY Investors basics
http://diyinvestoruk.blogspot.co.uk/p/basics.html

The main thing is that you feel you understand what you want to achieve and how you will go about getting there...good luck.

Audaxer

Tom_Brine wrote: »

I recently opened a Stocks and Shares ISA with Cavendish Online as they were the cheapest option for me due to not having a large lump sum but paying monthly installments of £125. I imagine with such a large ammount you would be better off with a fixed fee service rather than percentage based model as Cavendish is.

In terms of what to invest in you can take all the advice in the world but it boils down to doing your own research.

I found an investment trust that upon extensive reading I decided had a good attitude to risk and long term growth ethos which aligned with what I wanted from my investments. So far its going quite well with a 6% return on total investments since April, though I am well aware this is an extremely short term position which could change quickly.

There's thousands of options for investment out there, you need to start reading articles and hone in on one or two which speak to you. Check there past performance, though as I have read a thousand times past performance is not an indicator of future performance and take the plunge.

The article posted by another Joe is an extremely good crib sheet to attaining your goals. Though to have £40,000 to invest i'm going to assume you are already quite good at saving.

Agree that OP should research things fully, but with such a large amount I wouldn't recommend putting it all in one Investment Trust. I think the OP would be better to research and consider global multi asset funds first before thinking about Investment Trusts.

Adly812

Thanks all.debt wise I'm lucky. Don't owe a penny to anything. Extra savings in the account check 👌 So I've been researching and yes, stocks and shares are the way I think. But it would have to be long term, as I don't know how to monitor the markets and I don't understand them, I've never invested in the stocks before.
So it would need to be long term fixed. I looked at the website with some good interest rates... Any thoughts on London Capital and finance Plc. With an 8% on 3 years...

ColdIron

Loads of threads with lots of thoughts about that one
Search London Capital in the 'Search this Forum' link on the main board

enthusiasticsaver

I agree with Audaxer and think you should look at global multi asset funds first. They are already well diversified and balanced so you can just invest and leave it to grow hopefully. Make sure you keep some aside though as you do need to look at this as a medium to long term investment. You can obviously sell whenever you want to but you should definitely not do it if the market dips.

You need to read up lots on investments, identify your risk profile and do some background reading around how to set up a portfolio. What areas and sectors does London Capital and Finance plc invest in? If just UK based that is way too narrow. You need to look at global funds.

enthusiasticsaver

Just googled them and seen London Capital and Finance investments trusts are not covered by the FSCS guarantee. Something to consider as if they go bust you get nothing.

Audaxer

enthusiasticsaver wrote: »

Just googled them and seen London Capital and Finance investments trusts are not covered by the FSCS guarantee. Something to consider as if they go bust you get nothing.

No Investment Trusts are covered by FSCS as you are buying shares in the company, so in my opinion that is definitely something to consider if thinking about investing in ITs.