Vanguard noobie.. what now?!

ranciduk

So as cash isa rates are now utter garbage I have just opened up my very first ever S&S isa 

as I know nothing whatsoever about investing and stocks etc I chose a Vanguard LifeStrategy fund as I assumed once I open it - I pretty much don’t need to do anything...?

which suits me just fine 

anyway so just made an initial minimum opening payment of £500 and basically just want to sit back and see how it all works before I stick some more money in - hope to have around £10k in eventually 

so, this is a a daft question but do I actually need to do anything now??! Does the account look after itself or am I supposed to be choosing investments or something?

E.g, when I log in it’s saying under Investments :

“You have no investments, why not consider investing?“

I’m confused... I thought these lifestrategy accounts did all this stuff for you?

im a bit baffled now 

so basically do in just need to shovel more money in and sit back and watch? Or is there other things I HAVE to do?!

 Thanks 

redpete

Sounds like you've opened an S&S ISA account, put some money into it but not actually bought any funds.  If you had really bought the LifeStrategy fund it would list it.  You will be able to access a transaction list to see what has happened, it is possible that your request has been submitted but the actual purchase not yet actioned - if this has happened then you won't need to do anything else.

Once you do buy the fund then you are correct, you do nothing else but maybe watch the value going up and down.

Billycock

Once you have cash in your account you then have to invest it. Cick invest and add whichever fund you want to your basket and complete  the purchase.
And yes, from that point you don't have to do anything else. 

ranciduk

redpete said:

Sounds like you've opened a Vanguard S&S ISA account, put some money into it but not actually bought any funds.  If you had really bought the LifeStrategy fund it would list it.

Once you do buy the fund then you are correct, you do nothing else but maybe watch the value going up and down.

Hi

under Last Transaction it says ‘you have a pending buy order’

When I click View, the lifestrategy is listed there ....?

Swoosh84

Click Transactions on the left first, see if you have a pending transaction going into the Lifestyle fund first.

My money usually sits in its standard ISA account for a couple of days before being paid into the Lifestyle fund.

But to answer your question, yes once its in there just leave it there. Nothing else is needed.

J

bostonerimus

You don't need to do anything else other then a little more research to understand what you've bought and keep making the deposits. But don't worry, you've made a sensible long term choice in Vanguard.

The VLSxx (which VLS fund did you buy, 20, 40, 60, 80?) fund in your ISA is made up of a number of other Vanguard funds. As the value of those funds go up and down Vanguard will automatically buy and sell the funds to keep their relative proportions constant...that is automatic rebalancing.

So keep buying your VLS fund regularly and take a look at the balance every so often, but other than that you can sit back and sip your tipple of choice.

Billycock

ranciduk said:

redpete said:

Sounds like you've opened a Vanguard S&S ISA account, put some money into it but not actually bought any funds.  If you had really bought the LifeStrategy fund it would list it.

Once you do buy the fund then you are correct, you do nothing else but maybe watch the value going up and down.

Hi

under Last Transaction it says ‘you have a pending buy order’

When I click View, the lifestrategy is listed there ....?

If you have a pending buy order then you've successfully purchased your fund. You have to wait until Vanguard actions your purchase, usually 2-4 business days

ranciduk

Thanks very much all

so in 2-4 days things should become clearer then!

in a few weeks time if I add say £1000 - does this automatically go into the lifestrategy fund? Or do I have to tell it to do that?!

also, how much would you recommend I put in the Available Cash at this stage? Apparently it’s for covering upcoming charges etc?

Eyeful

Out of interest which share/bond split did you chose to put your money into?

ranciduk

Eyeful said:

Out of interest which share/bond split did you chose to put your money into?

It was the 60% equity one

Billycock

so in 2-4 days things should become clearer then!

Yes around 2-4 business days, not forgetting it's a bank holiday weekend. Vanguard will email you when things are moving.