New invester where to begin

Clownfish68

Hi,

First apologies new to this board and investment in general and i am sure this has been asked time and time again. 

I want to start investing in stocks and share isa both for myself and daughter in junior isa. Set up an account with vanguard as i just wanted to get the ball rolling really. 

For context im 37 higher rate earner (just) with pay review in the next few months.  i put 10% into my pension but its only worth 30k and a couple of years in an Local gov pension fund. Am i better increasing pension contribution and putting a smaller amount in isa or larger amount in isa in terms of taxi efficiency. 

My main question is useful links/advice for research in current market. Im not looking at picking own stocks and would prefer a fund i add money to and leave it be over the long term. I want to invest in global stock but at my age i dont know whether 100% stock or a 80/20 stock/bond allocation is best? Id be grateful for any resources/advice. 

Thanks

eskbanker

My go-to copypasta for newbie investor threads is the reading material at sites such as:
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/investment-beginners/
https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/savings/investing/investing-beginners-guide
https://www.hl.co.uk/beginners-guides/investing
http://www.monevator.com
http://kroijer.com/
http://diyinvestoruk.blogspot.com/
https://www.ifa.com/indexfundsthemovie/

as well as bearing in mind a number of key points of principle:

1. Only consider investing once you have adequate accessible cash reserves.
2. Only invest if you're happy to commit for at least 5-7 years and preferably 10-15 or more.
3. Diversify - ignore individual shares, etc, and concentrate on collective investments that spread your eggs over many baskets. Global multi-asset funds are a good place to start, available from the likes of HSBC Global Strategy, Vanguard LifeStrategy, Blackrock MyMap and L&G Multi-Index.
4. Choose what you want to invest in before considering which platform to hold it/them on.
5. Keep an eye on ongoing costs for funds and platforms - they shouldn't be the primary consideration but can make a noticeable difference over the long term.
6. Use a Stocks & Shares ISA (or perhaps a SIPP) as a tax-efficient wrapper to avoid liability for income and capital gains tax.

Albermarle

Pension beats ISA for saving for retirement due to the tax benefit.
Remember that your pension is also invested, so you need to keep an eye on that ( often gets forgotten) .
Vanguard have a minimum platform fee of £48 pa.
Fidelity and HL do not charge for JISA's ( although you pay the investment fees still of course)
This is the sub forum for ISAs. If you go to the main Savings and Investments forum and read through that , you should get some ideas.

Eyeful

1. Any money needed within 5 years should be in a Bank/Building Society account covered by the FSCS up to £85K.

2. Use tax shelters where possible 
(a) Pensions: You get "free money " and it grows tax free at least until you with draw it.
(b) ISA's: Both Cash ISA's and S&S ISA's are free of tax.

3. INVESTING means putting your money at risk. You hope to get more out than you put in, but this this not guaranteed

4. Think of investing in the stock markets as a game.

    Long term (say at least 10 years) its called "investing" odds of winning = HIGH.

    Short term (say few days/weeks) its called "speculating" or "trading" odds of winning = small

5. You can make investing as simple or as complicated as you like.

   The Simple method of investing boils down to this:

(a) Low Cost Multi Asset Funds (for Cautious types & those that want more Control)

     A ready made portfolio, where you pick the share/bond split, you are most comfortable with.

Example:  https://www.hsbc.co.uk/investments/products/hsbc-global-strategy-portfolios/#balanced

(b) Passive Low Cost Global Index Tracking Fund or ETF (for the Adventurous with a very long time frame) 

     Here its shares = 100%. It may produce the highest return but is the most risky.

Example: https://www.trustnet.com/factsheets/o/kldq/hsbc-ftse-all-world-index

6.  Academic research repeatedly shows that most "active fund managers" after charges are applied,

    do not beat a MAJOR  GLOBAL WORLD INDEX. 

7. Before investing:

(a) Clear all expensive debt first (except for mortgage)

(b) Have a "Rainy Day" account for emergencies (6 months of house hold bills, is often quoted).

 8. SIMPLE INVESTING IN DETAIL (advantages, easy to understand  & implement).

(a) First watch this: https://www.kroijer.com/

(b) Then read these

     https://monevator.com/passive-fund-of-funds-the-rivals/

     https://monevator.com/best-global-tracker-funds/

9. The Global Index Tracking is most likely to give the highest return but at the cost of very large up/down price swings.
    The Multi Asset Fund has bonds/ assets that will reduce the up/down price swing but at the cost of lower returns.

10. You might like to consider a Target Day Fund.
https://www.vanguardinvestor.co.uk/investing-explained/what-are-target-retirement-funds
https://www.ii.co.uk/ii-accounts/sipp/sipp-investment-ideas/target-retirement-funds

Remember for now at least:
Pensions are not taxed on the way in but on the way out.
ISA's are taxed on the way in but not on the way out.