Thinking of investing

jimjames

jarv81178 said:

I have more than £200 that was just a rough estimate, I don’t wanna make myself skint

Do you already have at least 3-6 months living expenses in savings? Investment should only really be once that is in place. If putting more than £200 invested would make you skint then it sounds like that isn't the case. If you do have enough then multi asset fund sounds like a good option to start

dunstonh

jarv81178 said:

I have more than £200 that was just a rough estimate, I don’t wanna make myself skint

As a broad brush, do you have more than £10,000?     That is the sort of level you should be looking to retain in cash savings before starting lump sum investing.     Regular monthly contributions doesnt really need as much as that.     

barnstar2077

dunstonh said:

jarv81178 said:

I have more than £200 that was just a rough estimate, I don’t wanna make myself skint

As a broad brush, do you have more than £10,000?     That is the sort of level you should be looking to retain in cash savings before starting lump sum investing.     Regular monthly contributions doesnt really need as much as that.     

I don't think that most people would need that much, but it would vary greatly across the country and person to person.

NottinghamKnight

barnstar2077 said:

dunstonh said:

jarv81178 said:

I have more than £200 that was just a rough estimate, I don’t wanna make myself skint

As a broad brush, do you have more than £10,000?     That is the sort of level you should be looking to retain in cash savings before starting lump sum investing.     Regular monthly contributions doesnt really need as much as that.     

I don't think that most people would need that much, but it would vary greatly across the country and person to person.

I would say £5k cash is probably a minimum, before that then investments should be limited to those within pension wrappers that get employer contributions, tax relief etc

Alistair31

barnstar2077 said:

dunstonh said:

jarv81178 said:

I have more than £200 that was just a rough estimate, I don’t wanna make myself skint

As a broad brush, do you have more than £10,000?     That is the sort of level you should be looking to retain in cash savings before starting lump sum investing.     Regular monthly contributions doesnt really need as much as that.     

I don't think that most people would need that much, but it would vary greatly across the country and person to person.

If the economy went to !!!!!! and you were unemployed for a year you’re likely to want at least £10k, surely?

barnstar2077

Alistair31 said:

barnstar2077 said:

dunstonh said:

jarv81178 said:

I have more than £200 that was just a rough estimate, I don’t wanna make myself skint

As a broad brush, do you have more than £10,000?     That is the sort of level you should be looking to retain in cash savings before starting lump sum investing.     Regular monthly contributions doesnt really need as much as that.     

I don't think that most people would need that much, but it would vary greatly across the country and person to person.

If the economy went to !!!!!! and you were unemployed for a year you’re likely to want at least £10k, surely?

My bills would be covered by 5k for a year.  Most people only need three to six months depending on what they do.  Everyones circumstances will be different. 

Bravepants

There are some things that can be estimated from history; safe withdrawal amounts, ongoing inflation figures, annual returns, but the number of months coverage required for an emergency fund can only be estimated by the individual's knowledge of their work environment and prospects. To say someone needs 3 to 6 months as a generic figure is a bit of a misnomer in my opinion. 

jimjames

Bravepants said:

There are some things that can be estimated from history; safe withdrawal amounts, ongoing inflation figures, annual returns, but the number of months coverage required for an emergency fund can only be estimated by the individual's knowledge of their work environment and prospects. To say someone needs 3 to 6 months as a generic figure is a bit of a misnomer in my opinion. 

Agreed it's a not a hard and fast rule but if more than £200 is a stretch it would suggest insufficient cash savings. I certainly started investing when I had less than 3 months salary in savings but I had a secure job and partner working along with low mortgage payments and good credit availability. 

comment_as...

£200 isn't much in this context so if you really want to invest it you would have to buy  shares in a single high-risk small cap to give yourself a chance of making more than the cost of the fees. If you put it in a fund then you'll maybe be up £20 in two years and have spent half of that on commission. If you see this as a learning experience, then have a look at some little oil explorers. You'll probably lose the first few times but it's a lot better to make mistakes with £200 than later on. If it's a serious financial commitment then hold cash until you can spare at least £500 before looking for a low cost tracker on iShares

grumiofoundation

comment_as... said:

£200 isn't much in this context so if you really want to invest it you would have to buy  shares in a single high-risk small cap to give yourself a chance of making more than the cost of the fees. If you put it in a fund then you'll maybe be up £20 in two years and have spent half of that on commission. If you see this as a learning experience, then have a look at some little oil explorers. You'll probably lose the first few times but it's a lot better to make mistakes with £200 than later on. If it's a serious financial commitment then hold cash until you can spare at least £500 before looking for a low cost tracker on iShares

Don’t know where you have got these figures from? 

A cheap global index fund/multi asset fund would come in at not much more than 0.5% (inc. platform fees) with no buying or selling fees. 

That’s a grand total of £2 over the first 2 years.