How much is enough?

BucksLady

bowlhead99 wrote: »

In your case, you have a nice pile of savings. Age 64 you may have three or four decades to go. Properly invested, you could maintain the real value of your £400k capital and take 3-4% a year from it. Left in cash and withdrawing the interest from it, and assuming 3.5% inflation, the capital and interest will lose 30% of its value every decade or halve in value every 20 years. So £400k now will be £100k in real terms by the time you're age 104 and the interest income from it will only be a quarter then of what it is now.
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Gosh, this post really does emphasise the perils of remaining in cash. A point well made

TBC15

aajax42 wrote: »

We have about £110,000 invested through Nationwide and £9000 with Woodford. Just met with the advisor at Nationwide who is recommending we switch to one of their recommended fund with a 0.7% service charge.They have a very limited amount of funds to offer and the only tracker is 100% equity. I am embarrassed to say I have been following this forum for a couple of years and have read a number of books on the subject, but still get terrified of making the wrong decisions and losing the money we have sacrificed and worked so hard to accrue. I know people will quite rightly suggest other IFA's, but I also hate to give money away to people who may or may not give good advice depending on the luck of the draw. I think we will use this and next years isa allowance on VLS 60 through i-web and see how that goes and then maybe have a look at trying to pick a winner company for a side bet with a couple of thousand. Need to take a brave pill!.

How’s the £110000 in Nationwide doing, after fees?

If you don’t have the confidence to pick your own funds VLS 60 would seem the lowest risk if you want to be invested.

Having a punt as a side bet doesn’t seem like a good idea to me, could go either way and put you off investing forever or fill you with self confidence that ultimately ends in tears. You should pick a fund because you are confident it’s the right thing to do.

Linton

aajax42 wrote: »

I would love to know what wealth preservation funds you have chosen as it seems we are in very strange times at the moment and a defensive strategy seems prudent.

RCP - RIT
RICA - Ruffer Investment Trust
Trojan O
Jupiter Strategic Bond
Prudential WP Bond
Considering REITs, possibly a bit of gold though I have never liked it.

westv

aajax42 wrote: »

I just took a look at the thread you suggested and was shocked at the amount of abuse people are hurling at each other. Really could not believe my eyes having only looked at this respectful, thoughtful, helpful and inspiring forum up to this point.:T:T

That's because we are all grumpy old men/women on that board looking forward to retirement.

steampowered

aajax42 wrote: »

Should I risk that in investments to make more, or let it stay safe in cash, even if it is losing value through inflation?

The time period you are saving for changes the risk profile.

Over the short term, investment risk is significant but inflation risk is small.

Over the long term, investment risk is much less significant (long term investment returns in diversified portfolios are pretty reliable) whereas inflation risk is massive.

If you are looking for that money to fund your retirement - which could easily mean you need it until your 80s or 90s - then I think keeping it in cash for another 40 years would be complete madness.

Mnd

The early pages of the number thread are a bit awful, turned into a bit of a slanging match between a couple of posters, but it does settle down and makes facinating reading.mine is in there somewhere, have a look. Nowhere near your figures though! 2k a month will do us

capital0ne

westv wrote: »

That's because we are all grumpy old men/women on that board looking forward to retirement.

You can say that again, some people get so grumpy and abusive they actually get barred from the board!

aajax42

I just feel that in hindsight, the austerity we imposed upon ourselves in order to feel more confident about the future may not have been entirely justified. Not having a financial bone in my body, the thought of setting a target never occurred and anyway it still seems the most complicated question is 'How much is enough?' If all that scrimping and saving, worrying about the price and looking for bargains means more for the taxman, or donations to charity then it definitely wasn't worth it.

capital0ne

Linton wrote: »

RCP - RIT
RICA - Ruffer Investment Trust
Trojan O
Jupiter Strategic Bond
Prudential WP Bond
Considering REITs, possibly a bit of gold though I have never liked it.

Not too bad a choice, you could just put all your money in RIT - ROT Capital Partners - this from their web site:

"£1,000 invested in RIT at inception in 1988 would be worth in excess of £30,000 today, compared to ~£6,500 if invested in the ACWI¹. In the last three years (to June 30th 2017) share price total return has been over 50%."

"RIT Capital Partners plc is an Investment Trust chaired by Lord Rothschild, which aims to protect and enhance shareholders wealth over the long term.
Since listing on the London Stock Exchange in 1988, we have generated a share price total return of 12.9% per annum for our shareholders."
Not many people could claim 12.9% per year over the last 30 years.

But you must not put all your hard earned finds into a single investment - it must be spread around.

You can co this easily with four or five investments in to cover UK, Global equities, Property, Bonds and cash. (bonds may be too risky at the moment)

People will tell you it's too hard, but in reality it isn't.

They will also tell you to pay an IFA - you can do it yourself easily

They will say 4 or 5 investments in your balanced portfolio isn't enough, you'll be given examples with 10-15 selections. Pointless - all you've achieved is an expensive tracker fund

Good luck

Murmansk

Well I'm 56 and get £380 per month from the Local Govt Pension Scheme and am trying to make some money on a self-employed basis. I'd be glad to taking in the £1,100 per month I got before I left the charity I worked for to move to the seaside for a new life.

To me, £1,500 per month would make me feel really rich!!