"If I knew then what I know now" what would you invest in?

boingy

I'd have focussed on SIPPs much earlier. The amount of commission and fees that various pension companies had off me in the early days is obscene.

Also, I'd have kept all my Dinky toys rather than giving them to my nephews. 

noclaf

Biggest regret was not taking an interest in my work pension earlier and missing out on at least a couple of years of growth potential by not switching to 100% Global Equities earlier and maximising employer matching contributions. 

ChesterDog

Another vote for a cheap, global, equity market tracker.

Ignore all the "Well that's okay if you only want the average market return," and the "That means you've got the dregs as well as the stars,"  commentary.

The market return, over time, is excellent, AND you're highly likely to fail even to match it if you try to beat it.

sevenhills

I cannot remember my first investment but it was around thirty years ago. So I will have traded over 100 companies in that time. 
I believe that will make my profits and losses average out.
I seem to be doing well over the past 18 months investing in individual stocks.
Sometimes getting a 20% uplift in a matter of weeks.
Since 2020 all my shares are in a SIPP, a lot of money to me, but probably less than a year's wages to some posters on here.
I am sure we all feel posative when the stock market is increasing. 

DiamondLil

sevenhills said:

I cannot remember my first investment but it was around thirty years ago. So I will have traded over 100 companies in that time. 

My first investment was in Schroder UK Growth Fund; also around thirty years ago. But I can't remember if / when I sold it.

aroominyork

+1 for low cost global tracker. But although the US has outperformed during the last decade, even with hindsight I think I would have underweighted the US (though probably not as much as I have).

EthicsGradient

It wasn't the very first investment I made, but the one I've held continuously for longest is F&C Investment Trust - since Nov 94. I'd have probably done better if I'd just invested everything in that, until decent global index trackers came along and then switched to them, rather than trying to guess which world region was most likely to do well next (which is why I'm still underweight in the USA - so often I thought "they've just had a good run, it won't continue, put the money somewhere else" - and have a mess of funds and ETFs to try and balance/simplify/optimise for charges and CGT). 

masonic

aroominyork said:

+1 for low cost global tracker. But although the US has outperformed during the last decade, even with hindsight I think I would have underweighted the US (though probably not as much as I have).

Hindsight called and told me that however much I underweighted the US, I'd have been better off letting the market decide that for me. I suppose any attempt to be clever about allocations overestimates my ability to recognise true anomalies in the market. That said, I'm still underweighting the US. Time will tell whether global ex-US outperforms, but it's very difficult to add money to companies that command the resources of whole countries and appear very overvalued.

LHW99

DiamondLil said:

sevenhills said:

I cannot remember my first investment but it was around thirty years ago. So I will have traded over 100 companies in that time. 

My first investment was in Schroder UK Growth Fund; also around thirty years ago. But I can't remember if / when I sold it.

I think my first investment was a Lloyds Bank smaller companies fund, some 40 odd years ago. In my inexperienced eyes it did OK (as in didn't lose money). I think even made maybe 50% (so a couple of hundred £) over a few years, but I never knew what was in it.

Bostonerimus1

What would I invest in with hindsight? The asset with the biggest gain over the last 35 years. If I was starting now I'd do exactly what I've done for the last 35 years because I still think it's sensible and the best way to financial independence.

Spend less than you make, and invest in low cost index funds inside tax advantaged accounts like pensions and ISAs.