Making my money grow

[itsallabitmuchx]

Thought I would start a new thread with a greater focus on asking for advice re. investing. I am 28f and am working towards my so-far life goal of having 100K saved. This money is the result of me having saved my own pennies since I was approx. 13 (when I had my first part time job) - it was drummed into me to save save save, as much as I could, whilst also having a bit of a life. I come from a very low income family so this feels like such a huge milestone to reach and I am proud of it.

Anyway....

Most of my cash currently (near 90k) is split between various savings account, fixed-rate bonds, help to buy ISA (I do not yet own a home, though would like to within the next 2-3 years) and Cash ISA. I would like to start investing as I am aware of a need to protect this money and I really want it to grow.

I guess I am looking for advice related to investing, such as where to start, how much, for how long, and for what in. I was thinking a S&S ISA initially, but wondered if there is a better way to do this for the best returns? Should I open a few investment accounts? How does it work?

Any advice greatly appreciated :)

I just commented on your other thread but I wouldn’t invest any money you need in 2-3 years.

For anything you can leave for longer, I’d recommend a S&S ISA invested in an index fund. The vanguard FTSE global all cap index fund tracks the global market and is a popular one (I use it for some money). Vanguard aren’t the cheapest fees (but by no means the most expensive) and I find their platform easy to use. you can also buy vanguard funds outside the vanguard platform.

other index funds are available. Index funds are cheaper and honestly just easy to use and not worry too much about.
you can find fact sheets with information as to what the fund is invested in and past returns

Also do you have a pension? Definitely consider this if you don’t already.

Don't put any of the money you'll need as a mortgage deposit into investments unless you're prepared to delay home ownership if the market performs badly.

If you can be arsed with the admin you could get a better interest rate by opening all the regular savings accounts you can find as the interest in new money is up to 6-7%

But if you don't need all your money for a deposit, and can leave it alone, no reason not to put that in a S&S ISA or pension

Do you happen to know the difference between the Glocal All Cap and the LifeStrategy? As in,.. what may be best re. returns over a long period of time (minimum 10 years, maximum 20?) cant seem to find this answer

Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap Index A Acc GBP Fund factsheet | Trustnet
Vanguard LifeStrategy 100% Equity A Shares Acc Fund factsheet | Trustnet

Quite different allocations. Pretty similar 5y returns. Lifestrategy funds aren't trackers- they are global funds of funds where an active choice has been taken as to how to allocate the investments (for example, they have much more in UK equities than a tracker would). No way of knowing which will do better over the next 10-20 years- some people argue that the US is overpriced and tech is overpriced and that this is likely to correct, while the UK and Europe are under-valued... this would suggest VLS100 might be better. But people have been saying US is over-valued for years and yet it continues to grow, so plenty of other people are happy with a standard tracker allocation based on market cap.

Either would be a sensible choice.

I'd really recommend the Rebel Finance School run by Alan and Katy Donegan (a free online course on personal finance and investing - all on YouTube). I first heard about it a couple of years ago from a post on Mumsnet and it is a really excellent, free resource. It's completely transformed my understanding of how investing works and I feel much more knowledgeable and confident. Good luck with your investments!

The life strategy funds have risk levels eg lifestrategy 80 is 20% bonds which are less volatile than equities.
the lifestrategy 100 is 100% equities but IIRC it is invested more heavily in UK stocks instead of global.

Agree with thinking about when you need the money. Investments (as opposed to savings) are not normally recommended for less than a 5 yr term.

Also think about your risk appetite.

Lastly, in case you’re not already aware, make sure you don’t have more than £85k with one provider due to the FSCS - Financial Services Compensation Scheme.