Best Way to Invest a Sum of Money

Daliah

tyroneshoelaces said:

 I am married.....In terms of my pension, I don't currently have one.

What about your wife's pension?

What are your, and your wife's, plans for retirement income?

GeoffTF

The founder of Vanguard said that with investment, you get what you do not pay for. Costs compound up. Future investment returns are unlikely to be as large as they were in the past, which makes costs even more important. If you pay another 2% in costs, that is 45% of your money eaten up by costs after 30 years.

RyanHello

You should take a look at index funds. They are low cost and perform very well over the long term.

I agree with you about leaving money in the bank. With inflation you are actually losing money. No point leaving it in there.

bradsmith999

with fixed rates 1 year around 1.30% is it safe to wait a few months till spring as rates may go up? In the meantime stick it in a saving account for 0.60% ...or invest a lump sum now at around 1.30%?

Thrugelmir

tyroneshoelaces said:

I have an urge to invest in property. My father has done that but it's a big step and risky too to some extent.

You haven't said if you've a mortgage or not.  Being self employed, overpaying the mortgage is a sensible option for drip feeding some of the money. 

jimjames

RyanHello said:

You should take a look at index funds. They are low cost and perform very well over the long term.

That's quite a broad statement and could be seen as misleading. Index funds follow an index, the index may or may not perform well over the long term eg Japan. A broad portfolio of index funds would spread that risk. There are also a wide range of charges for index funds from 0.06% right up to 1% so they are not all low cost.

tyroneshoelaces

Thrugelmir said:

tyroneshoelaces said:

I have an urge to invest in property. My father has done that but it's a big step and risky too to some extent.

You haven't said if you've a mortgage or not.  Being self employed, overpaying the mortgage is a sensible option for drip feeding some of the money. 

Sorry for the slow reply, been sidetracked with work and the little daughter had Covid too! Anyhow, I do have a mortgage so overpaying that could be a good option. I just want start earning money on my money if that makes sense. I know there is no quick fix but this is why I was toying with the idea of property. If I put money into that, at least I can be earning rent each month while hopefully, the property will go up in value. It is risky I guess but I like the challenge of managing a property and taking it from there......again, I know my father has experience in this but he is a retired businessman with money in the bank, so he can soak up some of the costs associated with this.

Billycock

Have you asked your father about his view of managing property, particularly during present times?

penners324

Open an easy to open Pension, PensionBee, Vanguard, Nutmeg etc and stick a chunk of money in there.

Not sure you need an IFA at this point.