ETF Portfolio - where should I invest?

Afraid_of_Kittens

Will soon have £50k to invest. Thinking of putting the lot in various accumulation ETFs for a period of 10 years to possible 17 years to build up a possible early retirement fund. I already have 4 x private pensions and a lump sum when I'm 60. I am prepared for a higher risk and already have funds in shares, government bonds and physical gold. SHares are for the dividends - bonds and gold are sort back up for easy cash if I need it.

Where should I put my money?

FTSE ETF, Global emerging, Japan, USA, Tech - where should my money go for 10 years - I'm prepared to split it over 4 or 5 different ETFs. There are a bewildering range of ETFs and looking for somewhere that will give a good return but prepared for a possible stock market crash and recovery.

Thoughts anyone on how and with whom I should structure a portfolio and where I should put my money?.

bostonerimus

If you are ok with risk and are in this for more than a decade just put it in a global equity index ETF or something like VLS100 or VLS80.

PS gold is a volatile commodity and not a good place to stash back up cash. I'd hold cash in the bank, a savings bond or short term bonds.

Linton

You should be considering investing broadly rather than cherry picking particular areas. There are two ways of doing that. Either buy one or perhaps two general funds and accept the % asset allocation in each area or geography that gives you or buy a set of niche funds in the proportions that you want. In the latter case I would not restrict myself to ETFs as they do not satisfactorily cover all areas.

[Deleted User]

Watch this documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JS0C-aJ-bAU&t=


It will help you to forge suitable investment portoflio, preferably using totally passive global equity index tracker/ETF instead of a bunch of random ETFs.

DrSyn

1. Suggest you first watch the following two videos:-

http://www.kroijer.com/

https://www.ifa.com/indexfundsthemovie/



2. Then decide on which Multi Asset Fund to use.

Multi-Asset Funds

From looking around the options seem to be:

Vantage Life Strategy
HSBC Global Strategy
L&G Multi Index Funds
Blackrock Consensus
Architas Passive

These have wide diversification while minimising risk, at low cost.

Life Strategy seems the most often mentioned. The 60% shares/ 40 % bonds seems to me pretty much a "fire and forget" option.

There is also Fidelity Multi Asset Allocator

Baillie Gifford Managed. Holds individual shares, rather than index funds.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5879942/multi-asset-funds-differences&highlight=multi+asset


3. Wait for retirement and enjoy yourself.


This is simpler than your current approach and less stressful.

bd10

Have a look at the asset class performances collated by Vanguard. They were discussed in this thread: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5999152/asset-classes-performance-over-time-chart
This could be a starting point to select ETFs accordingly.

Thrugelmir

Anything less than a 12 year timeframe has a 16% probability of the value of your investments being lower in value. Based on historical data obviously. Sometimes safe and boring is perfectly adequate if it fulfills your personal obejectives.

Afraid_of_Kittens

Thankyou to everyone. Lots to consider. I'm getting an inheritance shortly - I have watched my Cousin try and play the stock market - constantly buying and selling while the charges eat up his profits - when he could have left his money in one of the funds mentioned above. More research to do before I decide where to invest.

dividendhero

ETF's are essentially a "wrapper" much like unit or investment trusts. You should look at the asset class first and consider the wrapper later

Alice_Holt

Bonds and gold are not a substitute for cash.

As others have indicated a global low cost fund held in an appropriate tax wrapper would be very appropriate in your circumstances.
Some more links:
https://monevator.com/category/investing/passive-investing-investing/

You may want to give some thought to the tax wrapper you chose - ISA or Pension.

I would recommend having sufficient cash savings to cover an emergency fund and short term (<5 yrs) needs before allocating resources into risk asset classes.