1st ISA attempt, what have I signed up to.

Dandytf

droopsnoot said:

Dandytf said:

Your chosen L&G Fund- how does that work as any alternative ISA examples I could use for future reference and learn as I attempt to Invest.

I'm not sure what you mean by "how does it work". I put some money into it years ago, and any returns are reinvested automatically, and some are sold off periodically to pay the various fees.

I should add - I didn't really choose the funds. I "sort of" did, but it was decades ago, back when the Nationwide (and others) were giving advice. It was their pick of funds, which I agreed with (or to), but I couldn't have explained why a couple of hours later, never mind 20-odd years - I'm sure their door was fitted with a memory-scrubbing device. The first thing the investment as a whole did was to drop by about 40%, but I left it in place and now it's worth quite a bit more than I put in. I haven't compared it to how it would have done had I left it in cash savings accounts. While the investment is still there, if / when I eventually get around to changing some more from cash to S&S ISAs, I probably won't go through Nationwide (their platform is now run by Aegeon) because, last time I looked, the choice of funds wasn't very comprehensive.

Thanks you, that's quite detailed enough to give me an idea on how your L&G fund is very different from my chosen HL fund.
It seems you're comfortable in investing Long term whereas I've only committed to Initial 12 months. 
I have also seen workplace sharesave drop by a considerable % though are since recovering -that's various 3-5 year funds.
Did Nationwide every provide projected earnings from your fund, I'm delighted with their Mortgage since 2009 and subsequent deals.
thanks

eskbanker

Dandytf said:

One point I did take from HL video specific to my chosen FTSE350 UK Growth Fund is that HL also see this as a Long term fund

You shouldn't go into any form of investment without accepting that it's for the long term, i.e. that's not a differentiator.

Dandytf said:

I accept maybe going Global sooner rather than later to diversify would take way a lot of Risk.
I honestly haven't yet found time to read Global or EU type stocks and didn't  want to guess initially.

With all due respect, you have guessed initially, and seem to have jumped in with minimal, if any, actual research into the basics of investing, never mind actual fund and platform selection.

Dandytf said:

I haven't went into HL charges in great detail, though as one example I thought  0.6 etc are maybe similar to LG and some others, unless MSE'rs know otherwise.

Any 'MSEr' who has looked into comparative platform charges knows that HL are among the more expensive, and their own funds are even more so....

masonic

Dandytf said:
It seems you're comfortable in investing Long term whereas I've only committed to Initial 12 months. 

This should set alarm bells ringing amongst most of the contributors to this thread. You should be committing to hold a fund like this for a minimum of 10 years, but preferably 15-20 years. It is unsuitable for short holding periods like 12 months, in which there is a significant risk you will get back less than you paid in.
If you can't commit to this money being locked away for 5 years, you shouldn't be considering investments at all, let alone a high risk one such as this.

bowlhead99

Dandytf said:

It seems you're comfortable in investing Long term whereas I've only committed to Initial 12 months. 

When people talk about investment in investment funds being 'for the long term', they don't necessarily mean that they will definitely continue to keep putting new money into the investment forever.

They mean that what they invest, they will keep it invested without looking to cash it in during the next year or few years. That's because over a short period like 12 months, the value can go up or down or all over the place. A share of an investment fund that is worth £1 today may only be worth £0.50 in a year or two's time. So while you might be initially thinking of it a commitment that you want to pay into every month for a year, you shouldn't really be planning to take your money out at the end of that year. 

If you take out the money in a short time frame, like a year from when you started putting in the money, the returns you'll make will essentially be random. Whereas the longer you leave it, the more likely you will be to get an eventual annualised return that gets close to the long term reward for a 'risky' investment like this.

Dandytf

Thanks mser's
I'll continue Initial 12 months though I'm almost certain my hold option can be changed to re invest.
Any further action is on hold until my pin arrives in a few days.
From what MSER's advise I take it I'm not going to get any idea from funds performance this time next year.
What I had thought of was Increasing my payments after 12 months, is this not advisable,  with the very often mentioned debts, some of which are high apr's others 0%apr's
I am somewhat restricted to minimum cash deposits.
It is my Initial ISA Investment, whichever path it takes I'll learn from.

eskbanker

Dandytf said:

It is my Initial ISA Investment, whichever path it takes I'll learn from.

No doubt you will learn, and investing very small amounts mitigates the impact, but being determined to learn as you go rather than researching in advance seems rash - if you wanted to learn how to swim, would you jump into the deep end and see how you fared?

dont_look_now

Though this board isn't about debts, generally it's better to pay off debts with the highest APRs first, then the next highest, and so on. And when to start investing fits into this method: start investing (instead of paying down more debts) when the expected return (equivalent to an APR) on the investment is higher than the APR of the debt you'd be paying off next.

Dandytf

dont_look_now said:

Though this board isn't about debts, generally it's better to pay off debts with the highest APRs first, then the next highest, and so on. And when to start investing fits into this method: start investing (instead of paying down more debts) when the expected return (equivalent to an APR) on the investment is higher than the APR of the debt you'd be paying off next.

Agreed multiple times across multiple mse boards.
I don't always take the  most cost  effective choice, only dealing with whichever  circumstances I find.

Dandytf

eskbanker said:

Dandytf said:

It is my Initial ISA Investment, whichever path it takes I'll learn from.

No doubt you will learn, and investing very small amounts mitigates the impact, but being determined to learn as you go rather than researching in advance seems rash - if you wanted to learn how to swim, would you jump into the deep end and see how you fared?

This is quite positive, thought I consider 12*25 pounds to be worth almost risking.
Very different from share save in that at least my initial payments can be withdrawn after 3/5 years in the event of lower than purchased cost.

Dandytf

colsten said:

Dandytf said:

eskbanker said:

Unless I'm mixing you up with another poster, isn't it you that keeps posting on the credit card board about how you're desperately trying to juggle card repayments to avoid persistent debt enforcement actions?  If so, then it really doesn't make any sense to be starting investing (or even saving) while you're currently struggling to manage debts....

Making inroads on unsecured debts, though that as you say isn't for this board.
I'm attempting to save continuously with various types of funds including the mentioned 1st ISA attempt fund.
You are correct, maybe not the most cost effective choice, though I expect a much improved scenario over next 2-3 years.

Thanks anyway, any thoughts on my chosen ISA Fund.

It seems quite foolish to ignore the suggestion to focus on getting rid of your debts before you start saving or investing. The likelihood that any investment will provide you with an annual yield of even remotely near the rate of interest you pay on credit card debts is next to zero. You'll definitely not achieve it with the FTSE 350.

Thanks my reason for Investing Since yesterday evening is  -
1. I wanted to try an ISA -I didn't know which type though I have often heard the term Stock+Shares.
seems I've inadvertently missed that specific type, though I have signed up to 350 Stock growth 12 months.
2. My often mentioned unsecured lending as it once was is definitely being treated separately from Investments/Savings as I have been making steady progress as personal finance improve.
I project almost 0 unsecured debt 3 or possibly 4years.
Edited -Car Finance has 48months yet to pass from 2019's 60months.
3. I was never guessing or taking any Investment return into consideration last night, though enjoying the idea os Investing in u.k. for some time and moving down to FTSE350 where maybe there could be some success.
 Thanks mser's some amazing tips already, I only wish I could access my fund online and hopefully view HL's Chosen Stocks-is that what these type of Fund Managers do or are they kept secret.
Once I'm online only then I'll read as much Investment info as possible.