£200pm investment, 20 years. Whats the best investment?

[Paul O]

Hi all,

Just after a bit of investment help as I'm a bit lost in the woods. Interest rates are pretty crap for savings rates at the moment, so thinking of an investment. However, I set up an ISA Investor on recommendation of a high street bank as a regular investment which over three years returned a disasterous 0.3%, so I think I might have been badly advised there and as such don't want to make the same mistake.

This particular £200pm (starting from £0) is for a specific reason, possibly a 10 or 20 year hike. So thinking to maximise the retun, again through the ISA channel to keep the tax man away long term - but what should I be investing in please to get a decent return and how frequently should I review this (and who should I review it with?!).

Any help much appreciated. It is specifically a £200pm investment with a tangible growth that I can see year on year that I'm looking for (i.e. not "buy a house").

Thanks!!

Paul.

[Paul O]

Thanks for the replies so far guys. I'm sorted for pensions and don't want it locked away in there.

Think ISA is way to go, is there a type of fund i should be looking at? Any recommendations, and how often should I be reviewing it?

Thanks!

[Paul O]

Thanks guys. Crikey, this just gets more complicated. So I thought "Right, woodford fund, find it, buy it, job done". A forgotten password later and I ended up on Money Saving Expert, which starts to describe different banks charge different amounts, and there are all kinds of "best for..." options.

Totally lost now! So I have to pay the bank for the account, then pay the fund manager too, but I need to make sure I get the right bank with decent charges and continually change the fund to ensure I get the best rates??

Fekking hell, I've no idea what to do now. Help!!

If it helps, I currently have a Nationwide ISA investor, with zero in it, following the bad advice a few years ago. So once I've found my password, I can presumably log in, select a fund and job jobbed... or is it?

[Paul O]

Thanks again for all the replies everyone, I'll be going through them all with a fine too comb of confusion next week.

Vanguard looks interesting.

I did have IfA advice, as my original post. But it turned out to be a bit st. I can also be st and it won't cost me a penny. Haha. But hopefully the collective wisdom of PH can steer me higher than the brown stuff

[Paul O]

thanks again everyone - I like the look of the Vangard Life Strategy option - nice and simple, but with historically decent returns.

Their website says you can buy into it via any number of banks via their Stocks and Shares ISA.

So, can someone confirm if my thinking is right if I:

1) Open up a Stocks and Shares ISA account (say with Halifax - £12.50 a year charge and lots of other charges that I don't understand, but at least it'll get me started) and then
2) Select the Vanguard Life Strategy option (presumably it will be in the investment choices) then
3) Select my £200pm as the amount to invest and then
4) Sit back and watch my millions be created!

That correct (apart from, possibly, number 4)??

Thanks again, appreciate all your input.

Paul.

Edited by Paul O on Friday 15th May 13:53

[Paul O]

hi all, just to finish this off - and thanks to everyone for replying - I've gone for a Cavendish wrapper with a Vanguard Life Strategy investment. Will see how it shapes up over the next few years!

Thanks again everyone, much appreciated.

Paul.

[Paul O]

superkartracer said:

Hi Paul

Would you mind explaining why you picked Cavendish over say Hargreaves/Lans etc and what fund split you picked?, i'm thinking of doing same but over 10+ years with either the 80 of full 100 fund.

Thanks

Hi SKR,

To be honest, there wasn't much science behind it, other than the costs looked pretty good and a few people are using them. I found that comparing costs from one company to another quite difficult, but the overall seemed OK at Cavendish. Plus their website was very easy to use. It appears Cavendish is actually some kind of subsiduary of Fidelity, as a lot of the paperwork comes with their header - and they get good reviews also.

I went for Vanguard as again my internet research (and recommendations on here) seemed to show this as a recommended option and historically looks to be doing OK. I went for the 60 fund as the differences in interest between 60 and 80 didn't seem that great to me and figured the safer option would be better for me as a first toe dip in the water. If it does well, I'll put some of the investment into the 80 and 100 also over the next few years.

Hope that helps.

Paul.

Edited by Paul O on Wednesday 10th June 20:42