What have you invested in?

[purpleghost]

I’m only 29 I haven’t really made much investments yet, I haven’t really saved in to a pension etc, I know there’s other things like property or stocks and shares etc if you have cash saved, although I know next to nothing about it
Why don’t they teach all this in school?

Just wondered what you guys have invested/are investing in and why etc.

 

[heretoreaditall2019]

reddit is a really good resource for this - reddit.com/r/ukpersonalfinance. It is reddit though so it's full of cringe neckbeards who take things too seriously.

I wouldn't follow any advice from this thread as none of us are regulated financial planners, but I would massively suggest looking into stocks and shares ISAs. Obligatory Martin Lewis article here: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/stocks-shares-isas/ + remember time in the market is key so ideally you'd put money in this that you'd lock away for 5-10 years, but you can cash out if you need to it just takes about a week or so. AND most importantly the value of your investment can go up as well as down !

I will use this opportunity to say PLEASE DO NOT USE MONEYBOX their fees are utterly obscene, I know its just a quid but it'll likely cannibalise any interest/growth you see for small-ish sums, and if you take it as a % of your actual holdings it's significantly higher than any other S&S ISA out there. They're relying on lack of education + being one of the first to market (years + years ago, pre-Monzo I was using them) with roundups.

I have mine with Charles Stanley, I really rate them as a platform, and this is a personal choice so I definitely recommend you researching it before committing! IMO their fees are relatively low, and their customer service is 10/10. That's just the account, though, like Barclays may be your current account but you're not investing in Barclays.

I have my own & a joint account with my husband, and between the two I always buy (btw the ones in caps I've C+Ped from my account details so you can just search those on Charles Stanley and find the details yourself)

Vanguard Lifestyle 80 = https://www.charles-stanley-direct.co.uk/ViewFund?Sedol=B4PQW15
LEGAL & GENERAL UT L&G GBL 100 INDEX TST I ACC = https://www.charles-stanley-direct.co.uk/ViewFund?Sedol=B0CNH05

Do your research around these and you'll see why, there are plenty of similar funds and it just boils down to what you think after researching!

I then mix up between ethical funds for my account, pls note these tend to be more volatile but as a result arguably higher returns, my current 2 are:

PRESCIENT GLOBAL FDS PLC
OSMOSIS MORE WORLD RES EFFICIENCY D NAV

When looking at these they're likely all down because of the markets' response to corona virus lol but that's an ideal time to buy if you can afford it.

 

[Yel]

Private pension - some years it goes up 16% other years it's -6%. I really shouldn't check it and just hope for the best in 30 years.

Bought some bitcoins at $200 and sold them for around $12'000. The technology is sound, but not sure that bitcoin it's self will hold it's value, I expect them to go up to $1m a coin seeing as I sold mine.

House, the UK housing market is ridiculous. I bought mine expecting it to fall in value, but to my disappointment it's been increasing quite a bit although that's stopped in recent times. It has to correct eventually, totally unsustainable and is causing misery.

I've got some savings in the goldman sachs "pleb" savings account Marcus at 1.3% and some premium bonds but they've just cut the interest again.

 

[Its_Me]

I’m 32 now but at your age I had a work pension (with double contributions) I had paid into that for 5 years. I now have a private pension for the past 2 years and I bought my first property 3 years ago which I now rent out for 60% above the mortgage payments. I did also put £12k into my business which I am making a £60k per year return out of.

 

[purpleghost]

reddit is a really good resource for this - reddit.com/r/ukpersonalfinance. It is reddit though so it's full of cringe neckbeards who take things too seriously.

I wouldn't follow any advice from this thread as none of us are regulated financial planners, but I would massively suggest looking into stocks and shares ISAs. Obligatory Martin Lewis article here: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/stocks-shares-isas/ + remember time in the market is key so ideally you'd put money in this that you'd lock away for 5-10 years, but you can cash out if you need to it just takes about a week or so. AND most importantly the value of your investment can go up as well as down !

I will use this opportunity to say PLEASE DO NOT USE MONEYBOX their fees are utterly obscene, I know its just a quid but it'll likely cannibalise any interest/growth you see for small-ish sums, and if you take it as a % of your actual holdings it's significantly higher than any other S&S ISA out there. They're relying on lack of education + being one of the first to market (years + years ago, pre-Monzo I was using them) with roundups.

I have mine with Charles Stanley, I really rate them as a platform, and this is a personal choice so I definitely recommend you researching it before committing! IMO their fees are relatively low, and their customer service is 10/10. That's just the account, though, like Barclays may be your current account but you're not investing in Barclays.

I have my own & a joint account with my husband, and between the two I always buy (btw the ones in caps I've C+Ped from my account details so you can just search those on Charles Stanley and find the details yourself)

Vanguard Lifestyle 80 = https://www.charles-stanley-direct.co.uk/ViewFund?Sedol=B4PQW15
LEGAL & GENERAL UT L&G GBL 100 INDEX TST I ACC = https://www.charles-stanley-direct.co.uk/ViewFund?Sedol=B0CNH05

Do your research around these and you'll see why, there are plenty of similar funds and it just boils down to what you think after researching!

I then mix up between ethical funds for my account, pls note these tend to be more volatile but as a result arguably higher returns, my current 2 are:

PRESCIENT GLOBAL FDS PLC
OSMOSIS MORE WORLD RES EFFICIENCY D NAV

When looking at these they're likely all down because of the markets' response to corona virus lol but that's an ideal time to buy if you can afford it.

sorry if I’m being dim but by all this do you mean buying stocks and shares?

 

[heretoreaditall2019]

sorry if I’m being dim but by all this do you mean buying stocks and shares?

you’re not at all! It’s contained within a stocks and shares ISA, but I’m actually buying into funds. Funds (IMO and I’m not a regulated financial advisor so please seek other advice too!) are less risky as they’re more diversified, funds may contain stocks within them but you can research each fund’s allocation yourself. They also have much lower fees - eg per thousand I invest I think it’s sub £1 worth of fees every quarter, whereas every time you buy stocks it’s a £11 trading fee w Charles Stanley, other platforms differ.

 

[JellyWobbles]

Sorry to gatecrash but hope this is okay to ask. My husband works FT good wage, pays into a pension.

My income is solely carers allowance, I cannot work as I care non-stop. I’m the same age as OP and starting to panic about pensions etc, I’ve got some savings from when I used to work, nothing substantial by any means but I try to save as much as I can. I guess what I’m getting at is, any ideas if there is something I could invest or pay into for my future.x

 

[heretoreaditall2019]

Sorry to gatecrash but hope this is okay to ask. My husband works FT good wage, pays into a pension.

My income is solely carers allowance, I cannot work as I care non-stop. I’m the same age as OP and starting to panic about pensions etc, I’ve got some savings from when I used to work, nothing substantial by any means but I try to save as much as I can. I guess what I’m getting at is, any ideas if there is something I could invest or pay into for my future.x

I think it’d be worth getting help from an IFA, it doesn’t need to cost a fortune but just a qualified eye over it.

I would check your NI credits and see if you’ve paid off enough of those to be eligible for 100% of the state pension as that’s the easiest way to guarantee some income for you. If you haven’t run some calculations to see if it’s worth topping up

other than that a LISA may be good for you - people don’t like recommending it as a pensions vehicle for various reasons but for smaller amounts of money the 25% bonus, especially over years and years of contribution, can be really impactful.

 

[Yel]

I would check your NI credits and see if you’ve paid off enough of those to be eligible for 100% of the state pension as that’s the easiest way to guarantee some income for you.

I think with the state pension it really depends on your age as to if it's worth topping up.

I just can't see it existing for much longer. The state pension was set up for people that had had a terrible time that lived longer than the average age to stop them starving to death. With the current generation it's become something that supports people for 20-30 years, and that just can't continue. It's worked for a while when there was a bulge of people below state pension age to support it, but the demographic are going to all be changing over the coming years.

 

[ChilliBean]

I'm still trying to get my head around investments/stocks and shares etc

What do people think of premium bonds? yay or nay, are they worth the investment usually?
I have some that I have been bought by relatives when I was a child, but wonder whether it would be worth investing in them myself

 

[heretoreaditall2019]

I think with the state pension it really depends on your age as to if it's worth topping up.

I just can't see it existing for much longer. The state pension was set up for people that had had a terrible time that lived longer than the average age to stop them starving to death. With the current generation it's become something that supports people for 20-30 years, and that just can't continue. It's worked for a while when there was a bulge of people below state pension age to support it, but the demographic are going to all be changing over the coming years.

This is a really valid consideration, I agree but personally - and this is ultimate market speculation - cant imagine us ever having a non Tory government again (because of social media / hatred / various things) and they’ll never get rid of pensions as that’s their safe vote. But I don’t really understand what happens to pensioners that haven’t made their payments - they’re not left to die are they, so clearly there’s some benefit equivalent of it too which begs the question what’s the point in making your contributions anyway I guess if you have faith it’ll stay (and I’m undecided) it’s the most cost effective “investment” if you’re low income. But if you are worried maybe popping the cash equivalents into a LISA might work better, I don’t know if you can top up once you reach retirement age (and can access the LISA cash penalty free) as that may be best of both worlds for OP then?

also this is the other thing, they keep raising retirement age too. I don’t know if I’ll live that long so I do wonder why I care!

I'm still trying to get my head around investments/stocks and shares etc

What do people think of premium bonds? yay or nay, are they worth the investment usually?
I have some that I have been bought by relatives when I was a child, but wonder whether it would be worth investing in them myself

Martin Lewis has a really good article on this as they’ve just changed the rates slightly

Premium Bonds

Premium Bonds are the UK's most popular savings vehicle, but Martin Lewis' detailed analysis shows returns don't add up for many compared with savings.

www.moneysavingexpert.com

I think they’re considered amongst the best options for cash savings, especially if you don’t want to have to move between introductory one year interest rate offers.