Downsized and want investment advice

dunstonh

JimJames - we pay minimum salary and use dividends. To use salary would be less efficient for him and dividends have to be equal.

You could introduce a new share class. That is how it is usually done when there is different remuneration. (although in my case, I use a holding company and take remuneration from that and the trading companies pay into the holding company).

I have heard people saying that there are better alternatives to VS100 and maybe even cheaper ways to hold it than directly through vanguard.

VLS100 is the odd one out in the range. All the others are multi-asset funds. VLS100 is a global managed fund. Many compare VLS100 to other global equity funds, including global trackers. During the 12 years of US outperformance, VLS100 lagged behind many others. However, now that US equities have gone off the boil, it could actually be a better time to be in VLS100. That is if this is not a blip but the change in cycle away from US to Global.

2_4

VLS is overly skewed to UK I think, rather than being a true, fully diversified global tracker? As a general option for someone wanting a simple solution without paying for advice, is the VLS100 "good enough"? Is there anything obviously better if I'm looking to hold for at least 15 years? And if VLS is the way to go (for me), is holding it direct with Vanguard the cheapest way to do so (based on 20-60K)?

eskbanker

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81927019#Comment_81927019

VLS100 is diversified and global but doesn't follow an index, hence the UK weighting - if you want a tracker then you'd need to pick an index and then a fund that'll track that.

Vanguard's FTSE Global All Cap or HSBC's FTSE All World, for example, are popular global equity trackers without the UK weighting.

dunstonh

VLS is overly skewed to UK I think, rather than being a true, fully diversified global tracker? 

VLS100 is not a tracker. Its a global managed fund that uses underlying passives to meet its target weightings.

A tracker will align itself to a benchmark. Many of the most popular ones you see posted here are market cap, but there are other variations and methodologies.

Many of the managed funds that use underlying passives will have their own tilts. So, you can pick from a range of different options to suit your opinions on where the investing world is going.

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I don't have an opinion on where the investing world is going. Is it fair to say that a global tracker or other global fund is more diversified and then on a simple level less of a risk? Are there any global trackers that I should look at…not tht I really know what I'd be looking for. I feel every post takes me further away from the knowing what to do.

Given what little info you have on my circumstances, would both me and my wife putting 20k into a VLS 100 be a reasonable shout? If you had to rate that out of 100, comoared to other available options, what would you give it?

Albermarle

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81927019#Comment_81927019

The difference between different global index trackers is relatively minor in the great scheme of things.

The more important point is whether to be invested in a 100% equity fund or not. In theory they should grow more than say a 60% equity fund over 15 years, but it could be a bumpy ride. They are not recommended for anyone who is going to panic if the value drops 30 or 40% in a month.

Regarding fees, based on a fund of say £40K ; Van guard platform fees of £60 a year are pretty competitive but you could get cheaper. Although the fund fee will always be the same.

Someone mentioned 'pensionable age' . Just to be clear you can access a workplace or personal pension, around 10 years before the state pension is payable.

2_4

OK, thanks. I have no issue with the ups and downs and am happy to ride out big slumps and hopefully have cash on hand to buy at some point during them. Cheers for the pension info, although that much I did know but ideally we wouldn't need to do that.

2_4

Looks like Interactive Investor have a Topcashback deal worth £126 so if it pays I think that will be the best option in terms of fees… assuming it's valid next tax year.