What to do with 10,000 at 18?

frankgraham2001

Hello all, im 18 and going to uni for 3 years soon. I want to pool my money somewhere where i’ll earn more on it without having to manage it a lot. by a lot i mean i don’t want to have to watch it constantly, i don’t mind taking active control sometimes. I was thinking a blue chip stock (namely visa as it has a lot of potential currently) or an REIT. A high interest bank sounds a bit boring to me and i don’t mind taking a bit of risk.

Ocelot

Will you need any of that money for living expenses?

ColdIron

Boring is good. Do you want fun or do you want to save for a deposit?

How would you feel if you bet the farm on a single company and it suffered an recoverable irrecoverable loss?

aroominyork

Whoa there Frankie boy... pull up them horses a moment. If you want a bit of fun why Visa, why real estate... why not Bitcoin, why not the 2.30 at Doncaster?

First things first - are you going to need this money during or soon after Uni? If so, what you have in mind is gambling, not saving or investing. Most people on here take a bit of risk because they are investing in the stock market and know it could fall 50% tomorrow, but they mitigate that by knowing they are investing for long enough - often planning for retirement - to give their paper losses time to bounce back.

If you are going to need this money in the next few years, you can take all the risk you like and chance losing half or more of it, or you can put it in a boring savings account - which is likely, over the next few years, to give returns that beat inflation. If you will not need it in the next few years why not begin a lifetime of good financial habits by starting a pension; even with no income you can invest £2880 each year and the government will pretend you paid basic rate tax on it and turn it into £3600. Invest it that a global index equity fund.

Edit: see theoretica's next post - LISA is a good idea for when you buy a property, and you could pick a multi-asset fund that includes some equities to give you the buzz you want, eg Vanguard LifeStrategy 40ish.

theoretica

If you are willing to tie the money up with the restrictions that it imposes the 25% bonus on a LISA -lifetime ISA - is worth considering.

badger09

ColdIron said:

Boring is good. Do you want fun or do you want to save for a deposit?

How would you feel if you bet the farm on a single company and it suffered an recoverable loss?

irrecoverable?

ColdIron

badger09 said:

ColdIron said:

Boring is good. Do you want fun or do you want to save for a deposit?

How would you feel if you bet the farm on a single company and it suffered an recoverable loss?

irrecoverable?

You make an excellent point (once again)

Bostonerimus1

frankgraham2001 said:

Hello all, im 18 and going to uni for 3 years soon. I want to pool my money somewhere where i’ll earn more on it without having to manage it a lot. by a lot i mean i don’t want to have to watch it constantly, i don’t mind taking active control sometimes. I was thinking a blue chip stock (namely visa as it has a lot of potential currently) or an REIT. A high interest bank sounds a bit boring to me and i don’t mind taking a bit of risk.

Stick it in a bank saving account while you take a some time to add some simple financial planning to your studies. You should be thinking about tax advantaged account types before investments so probably LISAs and ISAs. Then ask what you want to do with the money and when you will need it. If it's for uni living expenses so you don't have to borrow then put it in saving type account, if it's long term then I'd probably buy a low cost world equity tracker from Vanguard, HSBC, Fidelity etc.

Albermarle

 I was thinking a blue chip stock (namely visa as it has a lot of potential currently) 

The current share price will be already taking account of any foreseen future potential. 

By all means gamble on Visa, or online slots, or whatever,  but not with money you will need for Uni. 

frankgraham2001

Ocelot said:

Will you need any of that money for living expenses?

i would not no, i gained the money from an insurance claim and will not touch it until i’m out. It wont be used to pay back any student debt as i’ll use money from my income. I really want to have the money available after uni to start a business i’m passionate about. Although i do not know much about buying and renting properties (for now) my interests lie there. 

frankgraham2001

Albermarle said:

 I was thinking a blue chip stock (namely visa as it has a lot of potential currently) 

The current share price will be already taking account of any foreseen future potential. 

By all means gamble on Visa, or online slots, or whatever,  but not with money you will need for Uni. 

Hi , thanks for the reply. I won’t need it for uni i just want to keep it somewhere i can see its value increase (more than inflation). I would use it afterwards in order to start a buisness so i wouldn’t want to tie it up in a LISA.