This investment is good right?

simonp

So I've been using the Moneybox app for a year or so now and this is the current breakdown - this is good right?
I've paid in £3380 and it's now worth £3683.90 so I've made around £300?
I should carry on with this right?

masonic

You could, for example, get broadly the same investment at Vanguard for about a third of the fee, so if you think the app is worth paying an extra £13 a year for then carry on. If you add more money, the extra £ you'll pay in fees will obviously increase further.

In future years you may see higher or lower growth. In some years you will inevitably see a loss.

AnotherJoe

Despite my scepticism over this app, that's actually an impressive return considering the whole 3380 won't have been invested up front but trickled in. I'm presuming you went fir the "adventurous" option? 
Having said that, had you had a more structured approach to investing such as investing a determined amount upfront each month and only spending from what was left, you'd probably have doubled that or more.  

simonp

AnotherJoe said:

Despite my scepticism over this app, that's actually an impressive return considering the whole 3380 won't have been invested up front but trickled in. I'm presuming you went fir the "adventurous" option? 

I'm not sure to be honest! It's was my first dip into 'investing'. Not knowing much about it, it seems like a very good return to me. Obviously better than I'd get at a bank. Although I understand the risk ... a bit!

Albermarle

Investments can go down as well as up - that is the risk . We all hope that in the long term the trend is up .

LightKnow

simonp said:

So I've been using the Moneybox app for a year or so now and this is the current breakdown - this is good right?
I've paid in £3380 and it's now worth £3683.90 so I've made around £300?
I should carry on with this right?

Question for you, erm once your money left your bank and went to moneybox, did it take extra 2weeks to get invested ? 

Ceme3000

Your return might suddenly change to -30% or worse if there is a market correction.  What would you do? Panic and sell? Worry and lose sleep over it? Do you have other savings you can use in an emergency while you wait for the value of your investments to recover? 
With investments you will almost certainly beat savings rates in the long term, but if you are investing with the intention of needing to use this money within say less than 5 years then you are really just gambling that the markets will work in your favour.

masonic

AnotherJoe said:

Despite my scepticism over this app, that's actually an impressive return considering the whole 3380 won't have been invested up front but trickled in. I'm presuming you went fir the "adventurous" option? 
Having said that, had you had a more structured approach to investing such as investing a determined amount upfront each month and only spending from what was left, you'd probably have doubled that or more.  

Based on the fees charged (just over 0.5% of the final portfolio value), it looks unlikely this was trickled in. If it was trickled in the fees over the next year will be considerably higher.

simonp

AnotherJoe said:

I'm presuming you went fir the "adventurous" option? 

I just asked and I'm on the 'cautious' option! That's even better right?!
Biil said:

Question for you, erm once your money left your bank and went to moneybox, did it take extra 2weeks to get invested ? 

I think this might be the case, yes.
masonic said:

Based on the fees charged (just over 0.5% of the final portfolio value), it looks unlikely this was trickled in. If it was trickled in the fees over the next year will be considerably higher.

Nope definitely trickled - if I understand that term correctly. I've been paying in between £50 and £70 a week over the last 15 months.

simonp

Albermarle said:

Investments can go down as well as up - that is the risk . We all hope that in the long term the trend is up .

But on a 'cautious' investment this should be much less likely right? (appreciate any advice!)

bowlhead99

simonp said:

Albermarle said:

Investments can go down as well as up - that is the risk . We all hope that in the long term the trend is up .

But on a 'cautious' investment this should be much less likely right? (appreciate any advice!)

As it's a cautious investment and about 40% of the value is held in cash rather than other types of investments, you would expect that when it goes down, it goes down less drastically than if you had chosen the Adventurous or Balanced approaches. 

For it to go down, the shares and bonds would have to fall in value by more than [the interest earned on the 40% cash component, less the running costs and fees].

It doesn't seem particularly unlikely that you'd see falls in value, but by sticking to the cautious version the falls in value will be less steep than the more adventurous versions. You could certainly expect it to go down by more than it has gone up so far, due to changes in market conditions  (i.e. sentiment in the stock and bond markets).