First time Investor

Minibooner · 15 September 2017 at 11:24AM

Hello,

This is my 1st post on here looking for some guidance and advice for what I should do regarding investing some of my spare cash.

I've recently moved jobs which has meant I have had to leave the sharesave scheme at my old place and wanted to use that spare cash from that to start investing somewhere for long term growth 10+ years. I have no idea where to start though. I'd be looking to make a small £1k lump sum payment to start then £100 a month. I've tried reading up on this but just getting more and more confused by all the different terminology. I'm looking for something fairly passive where I can just put my money in each month and not have to worry too much about buying and selling.

Also I have got some shares in the old company that I want to keep hold of but they are sending me a paper share certificate. Is it best to hold on to this until I want to sell them then find somewhere or go through the process of converting them to an online platform straight away?

I will still be saving money in to a cash ISA each month to build up a emergency fund and my current mortgage rate is only 1.49% so it seems to make sense to start investing this money now and create a pot for the future.

dividendhero · 15 September 2017 at 11:26AM

A worldwide tracker such as Legal & General's offering would seem to suit you...

p00hsticks · 15 September 2017 at 11:41AM

There are really two angles to this.

Firstly, what platform to use to get the most for your money.
The main choices would be either a S&S ISA or a pension.

Do you currently pay into a company pension ?
Would your employer contribute more if you did ?

Secondly, what funds to invest in - and these can be the same in either a pension or an S&S ISA. As the previous poster says, a simple tracker might be easiest.

dunstonh · 15 September 2017 at 11:45AM

You have not given us enough to go on to give you suggestions.

You are a new investor with no past experience (old paper shares in one company which has not been tracked does not give you experience). So, straight away, the expectation would be that you would be more cautious than most.

Secondly, the average UK consumer is cautious. They want all the upside with none of the downside.

So, any suggestion of something like a worldwide tracker as being suitable would be unlikely to be right based on what you have written. With more info, it could be right but I wouldnt want to give any answer based on what you have said so far.

Give us more info about your knowledge, likely behaviour when the investment goes down in value, how much loss you could tolerate before pulling out?, Can you afford to put this money at risk and would your objectives have to change if the loss event occured at the wrong time?

10 years is actually short term in respect of a regular contribution. Only one contribution would be there 10 years. Each one after that is shorter. So, how much more than 10 years are you talking about?

Minibooner · 15 September 2017 at 12:10PM

Thanks for the replies.

Sorry new investor should have been closer to very limited investor. I got the paper shares through the share build scheme at my old job and want to keep hold of them as a long term investment, especially as the company still appears to be on the up after years of being down in the dumps and they pay a good dividend which I was hoping to use to reinvest somewhere.

I have invested in a fund before but that was done through a friend who was an IFA but has since left the country and no longer in the business. I had to take a hit on that for a while as it started just before the 2008 crash and it was a while before it made me any money but I pulled it all out to use as my deposit for my house. So happy to ride out some bumps in the road. I hadn't thought of it that way happy to see this as a longer term investment I'm 29 so thinking more of saving for the future for anything that may come along (i.e kids going to uni or house deposit help but they are only 18months and the other is 11 weeks away from being born so at least 16 years there) or even further ahead and retirement.

Baring any major problems wouldn't need the money as we have a fairly decent emergency fund already and will still be contributing to this to bring that level up.

I'm putting the max amount in to my company pension that the company will match with that its at 15% of my wage.

Hopefully that is a bit more to go on. Thanks for taking the time to read and reply.

bostonerimus · 15 September 2017 at 1:01PM

Your best investment is to educate yourself about investing and finances. So maybe read some wikis and google investment writers like Tim Hale and Lars Kroijer, You've made a good start with your home, pension and cash ISA. If you have some ISA allowance left (and after you understand a bit more about your appetite for risk) then I'd open a stocks and shares ISA and invest in an appropriate Vanguard Life Strategy fund.

steampowered · 15 September 2017 at 1:37PM

Have a look at https://www.share.com/accounts/isa/ready-made-isa/account-overview/

AndyT678 · 15 September 2017 at 2:10PM

steampowered wrote: »

Have a look at https://www.share.com/accounts/isa/ready-made-isa/account-overview/

OCF of between 1.69% and 1.82%. OUCH!!!!

chockydavid1983 · 15 September 2017 at 2:57PM

Ouch indeed! :-O

dunstonh · 15 September 2017 at 4:12PM

I have to add ouch as that OCF is higher than an IFA charge, platform charge and investment charge combined.

The point of going DIY is to be cheaper because you are doing the work yourself. If DIY options are more expensive then it would be daft to use them.

greenglide · 15 September 2017 at 4:34PM

the Bank of Scotland base rate less 3.5%.

They claim to pay interest on cash balances as above.

It doesnt mention what happens if the result is negative so, logically, they could charge for holding cash!

And ouch from me too. They dont even seem to be doing much for their fees either.

First time Investor

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