some help for a dentist....

BananaRepublic

If you are a dentist, you are an intelligent person, and more than capable of learning how to invest wisely. You need to read up on stock markets, collective investments, risk and so on. Yes shares are risky. However, by investing in a basket of shares, you reduce the risk. And by investing for the long term, you balance out the bull and bear markets, and overall you gain. Yes you can put your money in a savings account, but taking into account inflation, it will fall in value over the years. Invest in unit trusts, for example, and over ten or twenty years you will gain. This assumes you invest sensibly. The safest way is to choose passive unit trusts.

It is important that you learn the basics of investing. People tend to buy when stock markets are soaring, when everyone says to buy shares, and sell when they crash, thereby crystallising their losses. Had they held them during the crash, after a couple of years they would have recovered and then gone on to increase. So if you hold for the long term, you gain.

As I!!!8217;ve said, you really need to learn the basics. Get yourself a good book. That way you won!!!8217;t be dependent on words of wisdom from online experts, and patients.

JivingJason

Very true. but timing the market is difficult. I have some shares( around 4 companies) but took a small punt on carillion which went pear shaped....my ego and confidence got shaken and has got me back to earth..After that I thought I shouldnt take risks...but leaving cash in the bank isnt wise either
Jason

BananaRepublic

You!!!8217;ve discovered why buying shares in one or two companies is bad. You never know what will happen. And I bet you did not do your research either. That takes time. If you buy a unit trust, which invests in many companies, someone else does the research for you if it is active, or you just buy a representative selection if it is passive.

Be aware that we are many years into a bull market, and many consider that a crash is round the corner. However, people said that for many years during the last bull run, and would have lost out by not 8nvesting, although the crash that followed was one of the worst we!!!8217;ve ever seen, and the worst I have experienced.

As I said, you need to read a good book. Given the amount I pay my dentist, you can!!!8217;t be poor, and you don!!!8217;t want your savings to stagnate.

BananaRepublic

I have no idea why apostrophes are messed up!

andy001

One of my friends is in NHS and she has stopped NHS pension due to AA issues and tapered allowance charges
She is investing in SIPP from IFA as she believes that NHS pension would have many more changes by the time she is 67yrs old (Currently she is 42yr young) & also she wishes to have access to the money at 55yrs onwards than waiting for 67yrs of age for nHS pension

re Risk of SIPP- you may play safe and have balanced funds? or index funds? Passive funds

Choice is yours but thats my 2 cents!

AnotherJoe

JivingJason wrote: »

Very true. but timing the market is difficult. I have some shares( around 4 companies) but took a small punt on carillion which went pear shaped....my ego and confidence got shaken and has got me back to earth..After that I thought I shouldnt take risks...but leaving cash in the bank isnt wise either
Jason

The point is, you wont be timing the market, you'll be investing throughout a long period, and you wont be buying single company shares, you'll be buying "all of them" so as well as Carillion you'd hold (for example) Apple and Google. Long term the risk you are taking is minute compared to teh certain risk of inflation loss, and the opportunity loss of long term growth.

Using your past experience of doing the wrong thing (yours was practically a classic example) shoudl not put you off doing the right thing.

AnotherJoe

BananaRepublic wrote: »

I have no idea why apostrophes are messed up!

Posting from an iPad. Its a new bug on this website that started last week.

xylophone

Posting from an iPad.

Not just an iPad - I use a MacBook Air and have the same trouble.

BananaRepublic

AnotherJoe wrote: »

Posting from an iPad. Its a new bug on this website that started last week.

Thanks. Glad to hear it’s not a problem at my end. And yes I’m using an iPad.

stoozie1

My OH is a dentist and is supplementing his NHS 2015 pension with a SIPP because it evens out the death benefits loss from the 1995 scheme, on which basis we decided that I would mostly do the childcare and take a cut in earnings.