What would you do as 21 year old investor?

Lokolo

RyanHello said:

As others have said. Investing in precious metals (gold) is a good starting point. Considering Martin Lewis is a "money expert" he never ever mentions investing on his TV show. He always pushes lousy bank accounts with a laughable 1.5%

Because he isn't authorised to give advice on investments to the general public. And telling someone to invest in a single commodity is frankly irresponsible and idiotic. 

bowlhead99

burner03 said:

mcooke999 said:

If I could go back and visit my 21 year old self, I would show him/me this table (attached). The message is that you're most valuable asset you've got is time and if you can start investing early enough then you don't really need to be 'rich' to set yourself up for life thanks to the benefits of compound interest.

There are two main things you should be doing at your age (financially speaking): 1) educating yourself about investing and 2) Starting investing ASAP!

As a 21 year old, I would open up a SIPP or S&S ISA and just invest whatever money you can afford to in a simple low cost global index tracker such as VWRL or all-in-one fund such as the VLS range. Obviously don't forget to live a little but it's also just as important to take care of your future self too.

10% return would be nice!
What would the difference be if it was a realistic post inflation return of say 1%? 

You would get a lower return. It would still be better to start earlier. Whether your returns are pre or post inflation, you are ultimately going to need to have enough put away  to cover the fact that inflation exists.  And if you are doing this for decades, the fact that one decade has real returns of 1% per year (or even negative in real terms) does not mean they all will.

grumiofoundation

RyanHello said:

As others have said. Investing in precious metals (gold) is a good starting point. Considering Martin Lewis is a "money saving expert" he never ever mentions investing on his TV show. He always pushes lousy bank accounts with a laughable 1.5%

His 'target market' is not investors. Bank accounts with a 'laughable' 1.5% are safe, people can't lose their money. 

kinger101

All I can say about gold is....

https://www.macrotrends.net/2608/gold-price-vs-stock-market-100-year-chart

[Deleted User]

I also would not diss Bitcoin - invest a laughable 100 pounds into it today, you may lose it all but it may be worth tens of thousands in the future. If you you wish, invest a tenner every now and then - look at these two pages:

https://www.buybitcoinworldwide.com/price/

https://dcabtc.com/

Malthusian

As this has turned into the "please buy some of my failed investment so I can recover my losses at your expense" thread, have you considered investing a modest £40 million in Blackmore Bonds?

The thread is titled "What would you do as 21 year old investor". As a 21 year old the OP already has any number of old school chums and classmates trying to push money games onto him.

Qubit

Bitcoin is what I would want someone to tell me.  (Recommend reading and learning about it)

83705628

pioruns said:

I also would not diss Bitcoin - invest a laughable 100 pounds into it today, you may lose it all but it may be worth tens of thousands in the future. If you you wish, invest a tenner every now and then - look at these two pages:

https://www.buybitcoinworldwide.com/price/

https://dcabtc.com/

/
Ignore this nonsense obviously.

mark13

Good start. Ensure its in a tax free wrapper like an ISA, this will be a bonus in future years.