Hargreaves Lansdown - any better alternatives

[richatnort]

so i'm about 85% through the "How To Own The World" book now and things are coming together in my brain nicely now. For those who haven't read it and are interested in starting to sort your retirement out I can't recommend it enough i'm 28, have been putting into my companies pensions since i started work after uni but had no idea what it was doing and thought it would be enough, until I started reading a few threads on here and people recommending the book to others. I started to read the book and feel more confident now investing myself and securing a better retirement. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07K26PVDR/ref=dp-kind...

I would like to manage my ISA myself for now and have read a few sites about different providers and feel at the minute HL seems to be the best one for me right now just starting out but I did just want to quantify it. I am going to start to look at funds rather than shares to build my confidence and start with about £100 DD each month going in. With a baby on the way money is going to be tight but need to start and feel this is the most I can afford now

Do any of you use any other SIPP / ISA providers? HL are currently charging 0.45% yearly which isn't bad for what i'm putting in at the minute but would be interested if there is better out there with the same level of ease?

Edited by richatnort on Monday 25th February 10:39

[richatnort]

Thanks for all the comments so far and sorry for the late reply it's much easier to reply on my work 2 screens than my laptop.

I will look at some of these different platforms you have suggested so far. Cost is as you can imagine have something to play in it, I have calculated HL is around 1.45% yearly from both HL themselves but also the funds price too. My only concern is that what if i move platform will it not be better to go with someone like HL now, take the hit with the cost but when more funds come up it's less expensive?

I guess why I want to choose my own funds is just purely so that I keep on top of it, research & learn more than i would if i went with a more managed platform. Plus from what I read from the book they suggest trying to do it yourself too.

As for picking funds at the moment i've been looking at websites such as trustnet to look at performance and also crown fund ratings to look at fund managers, then putting their previous performance but also making sure i'm spread over 4 funds such as 2 high risk, 1 low risk in bonds and a middle ground one. Obviously I have to do the calculations i've learnt from the book against each of these funds. I also guess i'm not discounting a managed ISA but just wonder how much real performance I can expect from them.

[richatnort]

xeny said:

richatnort said:

My only concern is that what if i move platform will it not be better to go with someone like HL now, take the hit with the cost but when more funds come up it's less expensive?

I'm not understanding what you're getting at here?

richatnort said:

making sure i'm spread over 4 funds such as 2 high risk, 1 low risk in bonds and a middle ground one.

for me, my bond/equities ratio is driven entirely by how long the investment is for - what exactly are you trying to achieve here? For that matter, how long are you investing for?

The first point is do i take a hit now on with the high fee's because if i have a big pot in later years will I be charged for moving my money else where and therefore will it outway what i pay now on yearly fees.

Second point i agree with this will most certainly be a long investment I am trying to make my money work better for me and give me a better life in later years either 50's+