Longer Term Investments - Getting Started

CoastingHatbox

Hello,

Just looking for some guidance (useful reading) on getting started with stocks and shares.

Bit of background:

• Late thirties
• Married
• Dual income, no dependents
• ~ £8k rainy day fund
• Mortgage and one PCP arrangement aside, no outstanding debts
• Both in company pension schemes

We've now reached a position where we have a considerable amount of disposable income. For the next 3-4 years, a good portion of this will go on renovations the house desperately needs - but I'm looking to squirrel a set amount each month into a Hargreaves Lansdown Stocks and Shares ISA with a view to building a portfolio/nest egg. Would be nice to get the hang of it by the time we are looking to invest a little more, when the expensive jobs are done on the house.

The intent is to build a balanced portfolio that grows reasonably well over the next 20 years and then perhaps can be used to provide supplementary income into retirement.

We're also considering a property investment before we're 40, however if we did that, I'd want to ask less than the market rate in rent.

The ethics of our investments are important to us both.

Thanks in advance for your recommended reading and advice.

barnstar2077

Have you considered using Vanguard for your ISA instead of HL? 0.15% a year instead of 0.45% platform fee.

Pick a Vanguard Life Strategy fund to get you started while you learn the ropes and Bob's your uncle!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-O3d6mel28

I have one myself and consider being limited to only Vanguard funds a bonus as it stops me from meddling.

Something to think about.

Mr.Saver

CoastingHatbox wrote: »

Bit of background:

• Late thirties

...

The intent is to build a balanced portfolio that grows reasonably well over the next 20 years and then perhaps can be used to provide supplementary income into retirement.

Have you thought about using a pension instead of ISA?

Albermarle

If you are saving for retirement , rather than for the more medium term than a pension is better value than an ISA due to the tax relief. You could open a new pension with HL ( or somebody a bit cheaper) or just increase contributions to your workplace pension , depending on exactly which type it is .

eskbanker

Consider S&S Lifetime ISAs, available to under-40s who are prepared to lock their money away until they're 60, benefitting from a 25% government bonus on top of the investment returns you'd achieve from a well-planned diversified portfolio, which can be as simple as a single global multi-asset fund.

DrSyn

How about these:-

1. Increase contributions to your company pension.

2. Start a SIPP.

3. INVESTING: Putting your money at risk where there is the potential loss of all your money. You hope to take out more than you put in, but this is not guaranteed.

Think of investing for at least 10 years at least.

First watch both of these:-

http://www.kroijer.com/

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

Then consider investing in a low cost Global Multi Asset Fund, at a risk level you are comfortable with. You chose the share/bond split or risk level. Pay them the money & they do the rest.

Global Multi-Asset Funds:

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

The above funds have wide diversification while minimising risk, at low cost. rest.

https://www.vanguardinvestor.co.uk/investing-explained/what-are-lifestrategy-funds?intcmpgn=lifestrategyfunds_learnmore_link

https://www.hsbc.co.uk/investments/isas/hsbc-global-strategy-portfolios/


Alternatively consider:-

Vanguard Target Retirement Fund :

A better name might be “ Special Year Fund”. You just chose your year and pay them your money. They do the rest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sr-IFxRGT88

https://www.vanguard.co.uk/adviser/adv/investments/about-funds/target-retirement-funds


4. Consider which platform to use:-

http://www.comparefundplatforms.com/

https://monevator.com/compare-uk-cheapest-online-brokers/

AnotherJoe

CoastingHatbox wrote: »

We're also considering a property investment before we're 40, however if we did that, I'd want to ask less than the market rate in rent.
.

Given that return from BTL is already low then this probably wouldn't qualify as an "investment", but more a charity and so it would be cheaper and more efficient plus a whole lot simpler to donate to say, Shelter.
Regards investments then just buy a global tracker. You are young so I'd say one that's 100% equities rather than teh VLS60or 80 you often see mentioned here and I wouldn't advise Vanguard lifestrategt anyway, too much concentration in too few industries.
Given you are using HL then use a IT or ETF to minimise charges. There are plenty of global trackers in that respect.

cloud_dog

CoastingHatbox wrote: »

Hello,

Just looking for some guidance (useful reading) on getting started with stocks and shares.

Bit of background:

• Late thirties
• Married
• Dual income, no dependents
• ~ £8k rainy day fund
• Mortgage and one PCP arrangement aside, no outstanding debts
• Both in company pension schemes

We've now reached a position where we have a considerable amount of disposable income. For the next 3-4 years, a good portion of this will go on renovations the house desperately needs - but I'm looking to squirrel a set amount each month into a Hargreaves Lansdown Stocks and Shares ISA with a view to building a portfolio/nest egg. Would be nice to get the hang of it by the time we are looking to invest a little more, when the expensive jobs are done on the house.

The intent is to build a balanced portfolio that grows reasonably well over the next 20 years and then perhaps can be used to provide supplementary income into retirement.

We're also considering a property investment before we're 40, however if we did that, I'd want to ask less than the market rate in rent.

The ethics of our investments are important to us both.

Thanks in advance for your recommended reading and advice.

OP....are either of you HRT payers? Do either of your employers utilise Salary Sacrifice (salary exchange) within their payroll?

CoastingHatbox

Just wanted to pick this back up and say thank you for all the advice given.

In the end, I opened:

• an HL S&S ISA
• an AJ Bell S&S LISA
• a Trading212 account

Mainly investing in shares. Probably because I want to understand the underlying investments and try, to a degree, to make ethical choices. And I figure there are enough trust funds in my pension pots. Been tending to make an investment every 3 months with the ISAs, as buying small amounts doesn't really make sense with the dealing charges. Also setup a 'Pie' with T212 which has around 30 equities in it. With a fair mix/spread of investments, I managed a return ~20% for 2020. Maybe just beginners luck.

I didn't opt to put any additional money into pensions as I'm not happy to lock investments away for that long, should something unexpected happen.

We haven't opted to do any BTL. Which makes my inner socialist much happier.

Thank you for all the advice.

BananaRepublic

Why HL? They have high platform charges. AJ Bell are quite a bit cheaper but still have a decent front end and service. There are cheaper platforms too. 

CoastingHatbox

BananaRepublic said:

Why HL? They have high platform charges. AJ Bell are quite a bit cheaper but still have a decent front end and service. There are cheaper platforms too. 

At the time I opened it, it was an MSE recommendation. And I wanted to split the two ISAs across two different platforms, for the same reason I have two current accounts. I will look again at it.