3 questions

Bearing in mind everything the OP, gudda96, has disclosed, the portfolio as is appears ridiculously inappropriate to me.

It has <15% in "safe" assets and the overall sums are very modest.

Following a deep bear market where recovery was very slow (ie. in contrast to post-GFC), any drawdowns would quickly deplete the safe assets meaning any further withdrawals would mean selling risk assets at (much) lower prices than they were bought for, rapidly shrinking the pot. Bearing in mind the ages involved, the option of waiting for full recovery may well simply not be available, ie. they'd either be sold low by the OP or by the estate.

I don't know what gudda96's investment experience is but this portfolio looks like it's been assembled by someone who's total investment experience comprises the last 5-10 years, and with an implicit assumption those trends will persist indefinitely.

I think gudda96 needs to start again from scratch.

gudda96 wrote: »

what I will say in my defence, when posting on here, or especially Citywire, the answers can very quickly get complicated as all or most have varied views, although all know more than me, so I have to pick the bones of it all,

You don't (or should not) formulate an investment plan by attempting to decipher and then implement the "mean opinion" of a bunch of other well-meaning investors or commentators...

Instead, you should seek to acquire a basic working knowledge and level of understanding and then form a plan using that acquired knowledge.

Posters here and elsewhere can be part of that knowledge acquisition but not all of it. You need to reach a point where you're clear in your own mind what it is your trying to achieve and then subsequently how & why your chosen investments will help deliver that objective.

This latter point (of knowing why you own what you own) becomes very important when markets enter difficult periods, as they will, and some or many of your investments begin performing (very) poorly compared to previously. If you don't know clearly why you own something you'll probably find yourself wanting to jettison them during difficult periods; in doing so, unless you're unusually lucky or skilled you'll likely achieve poor investment results. Lots of people do this, to their loss.

gudda96 wrote: »

but I do agree with you, and most others, so I am starting again.

Good.

Focus initially on what you're trying to achieve, and not by casting around for various funds that other well-meaning people like the sound of and might recommend to you.

"What you're trying to achieve" will involve a little bit of thinking and a bit of work, as it needs to lie within the constraints of what's realistic, hence why gaining some basic investment knowledge is required. This knowledge will help you to appreciate the various risks involved and the compromises you'll make in balancing risks and returns. This is what's involved in deciding upon an investment plan.

Choosing the actual investments to implement the plan comes next, followed by choosing a platform of where you'll hold those investments. If you've thought things through properly beforehand, the actual investment selection can be fairly straightforward, whereas without thinking things through beforehand it'll be like going around in circles of other people's opinions, groundhog day, etc.

gudda96 wrote: »

Would you both agree that LTSE is a sound investment from an Global Equity point of view, and a consideration.

Here is an example of an article that happened to come out today that discusses if a fund like LTGE might still work going forward and why.

https://www.trustnet.com/news/7458466/will-the-quality-style-continue-to-outperform

Only you can make that decision for yourself. I already made mine (but might change it in the future)