Sensible low risk investment

DoneWorking

Aristotle67 said:

tebbins said:

There has literally never been a single calendar year in human history free of war.
Ultimately, investing is the only way to have a chance of growing wealth at any rate significantly above inflation.

Oh, I don't believe there has been any point in my lifetime when there was not a war going on in one part of the world or another. 

I understand investing is the only way to have a chance of growing wealth above inflation, but what I have come to realise is that it is a chance I am not cut out for taking. I would rather be safe than sorry and take the hit. I will try personal adjustments to offset the effect of inflation.

With the current cost of living crisis only going to worsen as the year progresses, I see a danger we may end up in a depression. Not perhaps to the extent of the 1930s "brother can you spare a dime" depression - and when Wall Street crashed it was for a number of reasons (failure of mass production, weak banking system, US foreign trade in a bad way, uneven distribution of wealth etc) - but one failure of the world today is a tendency to disregard the lessons of history and conclude that past events may not be repeated in today's world. I confess that scares me and illustrates that I am not cut out to be an investor, even if my worse fears turn out to be unfounded. 

What are your thoughts on the fact that inflation will eat away your funds over time 
Even taking into account the interest you make on your savings accounts

Are you prepared for the reduction in the spending power of your cash

Albermarle

Warren Buffet certainly does not like inflation and is currently investing big sums of cash rather than see it wither away.

How Warren Buffett is fighting inflation (fidelity.co.uk)

Audaxer

Aristotle67 said:

Yes, I did invest then. I was going to hold off, but all the talk, and the suggestions in various articles I read, was not to try and second guess when the market might recover and that it is still the best option for funds at present. That said, I did choose to hold off with this year's full ISA allowance. 

You said you dipped your toe in the water by investing £20,000 as you had £300,000 which you could have invested. Was your plan to invest this year's ISA allowance if your initial investment had risen in value? If so that is the wrong way to look at it as you would be investing at higher prices. It is better to invest more when prices have fallen.

As prices had already fallen by the time you invested, you have only lost 2% in value which really isn't much. You would be looking at a much bigger loss if you had invested at the start of the year, so you are doing okay if you look at it that way. If your original plan was to invest for the long term, I wouldn't worry too much if it falls further in the short term as it should eventually recover. 

Thrugelmir

Albermarle said:

Warren Buffet certainly does not like inflation and is currently investing big sums of cash rather than see it wither away.

How Warren Buffett is fighting inflation (fidelity.co.uk)

Bekshire Hathaway is set-up as an insurance company. Investments are therefore made with no time horizon in mind. Very different to how an individual investor will manage their portfolio over a life time.