Beginner S&S ISA Advice

akira181

As I'm in my mid 30s, I figured it's about time I start saving money for the long term instead of just thinking about it.  Other than a joint mortgage, I have cleared all my debt including my student loan (made a lump sum payment a while ago, don't know if that was wise but too late now).  At the moment, I have around £200 to £300 every month to save/invest.  Ideally, it'll be only for retirement but I'd like to have the option of being able to withdraw some of it early 5 or 10 years down the line if absolutely necessary, which rules out a LISA or SIPP.

Reading MSEs info on Stocks and Share ISAs, I'm leaning towards something like an ISA with Cavendish Online and investing in 2 or 3 funds (still got a lot of reading to do on funds) and maybe in a couple years time, individual shares once I have more subject knowledge and disposable income.  I know withdrawing early from a S&S ISA may result in losses if the economic climate is bad when I need the money but £200-300 a month won't over-commit me so I should be able to avoid early withdrawals.  Am I on the right track here or is there something I'm overlooking?

eskbanker

akira181 said:

Am I on the right track here or is there something I'm overlooking?

I think most would advocate establishing savings before considering investments - you may already have this in hand but your reference to paying off debts (without mentioning savings) suggests not.  It's generally recommended to build up an emergency fund of three to six months worth of expenditure in readily-accessible cash form, such as in savings accounts, before getting into investing, precisely for the reason you outline, i.e. really needing access to the money regardless of the state of the markets.

akira181

If I were to lose my job right now, I'd be comfortable for 3 months, the 4th month would be stressful.  That's a valid concern considering the current climate, I'll do some more reading and hopefully learning while I save some more before dipping into investments.