Crazy/weird question re VLS

badger09

sixpence. wrote: »

No offence taken! I would NEVER actually do this because, as another poster said, if it was that easy everyone would do it. I just wanted to know why it wasn't possible. Don't worry I am not about to do anything with my money without speaking to an IFA

I actually have a retirement fund which I researched and am pretty happy with so I do have some basic knowledge of this stuff, I promise lol

My comment was not prompted solely by this thread;)

Thrugelmir

triplea35 wrote: »

I put the £150k in Royal London just prior to ex dividend, sold them a few days later at a loss just short of £2k but with the expected dividend, resulted in a profit of just over £400
A short time later I put the remaining £148k in Templeton, sold with a £2.5k loss but an expected dividend of £3.5k made a profit of £900.

So a profit of £1353, around 0.9% for exposure to the market of a few days on each transaction. Didn't sleep that easy, so not sure it was worth the risk and also realised I had rapidly exceeded my wife's dividend allowance! (then £5k but now only £2k)

Day trading is so easy. Why doesn't everybody do it. One wonders.

londoninvestor

triplea35 wrote: »

historically the price appeared to bounce back somewhat shortly afterwards

Do note though that if you take a random fund over a random set of dates, it's slightly more likely to go up than down, as markets on average go up over time.

The accumulation units would have shown the same return as the income units over the same period after the XD date, which demonstrates that the unit price isn't (so to speak) "attracted" back to its pre-dividend level.

sixpence.

seacaitch wrote: »

Newcomers to investing commonly have these "free lunch" notions that implicitly assume (whether they realise it or not...) that the millions of existing operators in global financial markets are a bunch of dopey, lazy, half-wits as opposed to them including in their number many of the very smartest, sharpest and shark-like folks on the planet.

The reality is that any "scheme" giving an the appearance of quick, easy, "guaranteed" win in markets almost certainly is simply a signal that you haven't properly understood the totality of the situation nor the actual risks involved, and that you are potentially the free lunch.

Re the OP, sixpence, with 700k landing on their plate and little relevant experience they should really be seeking professional advice and not be trying to wing it in a field they have little knowledge of.

I’ve already said above that I know this isn’t a thing but was just wondering WHY. I clearly don’t think I’m smarter than anyone else on here and especially not a professional investor. Tbh, if feels a bit unfair for you to try and take me down a peg, especially considering the other thread is basically orientated around the fact that I’m going to get professional advice and don’t know what I’m doing. Anyway, thanks for the useful stuff you have said in your post and please continue to contribute to the conversation in a productive and thoughtful way.

Aside: a friend recommended a book called the soul of money - it’s a bit American and new age so far - but if you can get around that perhaps other ppl on here might find it useful. It’s more about the psychological impact of money, not a guide to investing, but still might be perspective enhancing.

sixpence.

badger09 wrote: »

My comment was not prompted solely by this thread;)

I don't know what this means sir

seacaitch

sixpence. wrote: »

Tbh, if feels a bit unfair for you to try and take me down a peg, especially considering the other thread is basically orientated around the fact that I’m going to get professional advice and don’t know what I’m doing.

Bear in mind, the ratio of readers to posters on forums like this is very high, so replies, such as mine above, may be aimed at the general readership (investing novices in this case) as much as, or more than, they are to the poster who's nominaly being replied to...

I can lay it on pretty thickly in an attempt to drive home some key points, in the hope that any novices reading can get a leg-up in knowledge and avoid the market teaching them some expensive and painful lessons. Permanently losing money in markets isn't much fun, and when it happens to people just starting as a direct result of their inexperience it can have very damaging long term consequences by deterring them from investing again.

So, nothing too personal, sixpence! It's very good that you asked your question rather than just going ahead and trying it out...

dales1

sixpence. wrote: »

I don't know what this means sir

It means she has taken into account, some of the things you have said in other threads recently !
Dales

dales1

A laydee indeed, ... as I said above !

Dales

badger09

dales1 wrote: »

It means she has taken into account, some of the things you have said in other threads recently !
Dales

IanManc wrote: »

Tut tut!

Mrs Badger is a lady!

dales1 wrote: »

A laydee indeed, ... as I said above !

Dales

Thanks all