Struggling with investments- questions

[yourmoneyoryourlife]

I am finding it a lot harder to get started with investing than I would have thought.

I originally tried to set up a vanguard account. I was using my phone, for some reason it all didn't go through. So I set it up on Hargreaves's lansdowne instead.

I've since realised that is not particularly recommended so I'm planning to shut that down.

In the meantime I saw that I could invest in vanguard funds through my bank. So I have set up a S&S ISA with them, and I transfer £500 into a vanguard index fund each month.

My question is - they charge me £10.50 each month for the 'deal' surely that isn't what vanguard would do?

I'm wondering if I should close down my bank's S&S ISA and finally set one up in vanguard like I was intending all along.

Surely then my standing order wouldn't be charged each month to invest in the same fund?? What do you think?

Hi OP. Since you can now set up multiple ISAs as long as you stick within the overall annual limit there shouldn’t be any harm in trying again to set up a Vanguard account.

I love mine and manage it entirely from my phone — they now have an app too

Good luck. £500 a month into a decent Vanguard fund is a fab place to start — set it up and forget! You’ve actually inspired me to up my monthly auto contribution so thanks for that.

It sounds quite a lot for a regular investment into one place . I pay £4.99 for an ii account with free ‘regular’ monthly investments on a set day plus I think it’s £3.99 for each individual investment . Can investment into Vanguard funds and so many alternatives.

If they are charging you £10.50 pcm then you are likely to be making a monthly loss on this deal. I'd invest directly rather than through apps or third parties. If the ISA is a standard tracker just get the one with the lowest fees. Martin Lewis Money Saving Expert has useful tips and advice. Good luck

I don't think Vanguard charge for making a regular investment like this. However you would still have to pay their platform charge which is a small percentage of your total investment. Not massive, but does add up over time.

You'd be better off switching to a Trading 212 ISA - no platform charge, and no buying/selling charges. Same Vanguard funds should be available, but this way is better than investing directly through Vanguard.

Ok thanks for your replies. Yes I thought it was really odd to pay £10.50 each month- I'd really struggle to make that back each time with market growth.

I knew there was a small fee to pay for the fund - less than 0.5% but I wasn't expecting to also pay to 'deal'.

Yea I'll try again with vanguard- then try to transfer these other ones into that.

It all is a lot more time consuming than I thought. But hopefully once it's all set up properly it just ticks along and grows in the background 🤞

If you want a simple set and forget investment then go for an accumulating non etf fund that is in sterling with a low fee and a fund that is passive so not actively managed. You can use the search facility on vanguard to narrow down and research the funds and pick a couple you like the sound of.