Hm, not for me.
Well then, I hope the UK govt gives me a stimulus cheque so I can invest in stocks! 
VWRP for the accumulating version in case anyone wants that one instead.
3 Likes
Iām thinking of just buying a chunk of MSCI world and go from there. Itās in my price range then for monthly top ups. I looked at vwrl but It costs too much monthly for my meagre top ups.
You mean 8 vs 55?
Advice from a personal finance expert 
1 Like
I opened a Vanguard ISA and invested a small lump sum in two lifestrategy funds Accumulation, a mixture of equity and bonds (but more equity). Iām putting a monthly amount into both and hope to do this for 15-20 years and (hopefully!) watch my money grow nicely! I kept a little back to invest here on Freetrade and like you say (ShaidK), itās stressful keeping an eye on investments everyday (I canāt help it. I say Iām not going to check but I do 
). My investments are losing money everyday. I expected there to be ups and downs and that I probably wonāt see any profit for a long while but I find it stressful at times! Im not so bothered about my Vanguard investments. I guess I believe in them more 
1 Like
8 v 55. Not sure.
Do you buy ETFs or pick your own stocks
I have high hopes for iShares UK Dividend Ā£IUKD.
One thatās up for me (green).
It dropped at the end of trading.
I might pick up more on Monday.
It might dip low between 8am to 10am ish. Hopeā¦
Edit: Iām a noob so ā¦ this is not advice
I didnt pick my own stocks. With the life strategy investments, itās all done for you. All I had to do was to decide what percentage (in terms of equity and bonds), I wanted. I went for the ones with a higher percentage in equity as Iām not near retirement age yet so have a bit of time to recover should my investments take a nose dive one year! I was told to take a higher % in bonds when Iām nearer retirement age (something about bonds potentially having less profits but are more stable / reliable than compared with equity which is a riskier investment but have potential for good profit!). Any profits on my investments goes back into the investments and, as Iām also contributing a monthly amount, itās like having a compound effect. Have a look on the Vanguard website. Thereās lots of info on there and different types of investments. It may be the lazier way to invest but I figured Vanguard would do a better job than me picking what to invest in and takes away a lot of stress that picking your own investments can cause!
Like everyone always says DYOR (Do Your Own Research!). I am a newbie and in no way whatsoever qualified to give any advice!!
EDIT: I should mention that the investments I chose stated that the minimum (monthly amount) I could pay in was Ā£100 (per investment) but, I set up an initial monthly DD amount of Ā£50 for each investment. I donāt know whether I was allowed to because I initially put a lump sum into each one? I will eventually increase that amount but at the moment thatās what I feel comfortable committing myself to.
1 Like
Iām pretty sure their lifestrategy āfundsā is just them re-allocating your monthly investments into their own sub-funds.
Theyāre good if you want to be hands off, but my only concern with them is they overweight to the UK. For example, Vanguard LS 80 puts almost 20% into the UK, but only 5% to the USA if I read the data correctly.
Just something to consider.
1 Like
Yes RobOda, I just read that approx 25% in UK stocks and approx 35% in UK bonds (for the LS 80).
https://www.vanguardinvestor.co.uk/rs/gre/gls/1.3.0/documents/1280/gb
That has given me something to think about, and bear in mind, as I watch and learn more so thank you for pointing that out. I still feel more confident in their investments than picking myself although Iād like to do more research on ones that arenāt so heavily invested in the UK. Are you aware of any? My understanding is that other companies can charge a lot more for these types of services so am keen to keep costs low as well.
DYOR
1 Like
Thatās fair enough, no worries.
I had a quick look around, and found HSBCās Multi-Asset Funds, Blackrock āConsensusā, Fidelity, Legal and General all do their own variants of Vanguard LifeStrategy. Some, also have too much home bias (BlackRockās for example), and many of them are more expensive than Vanguardās 0.22% fee because many of them are actively managed, so you have to pay a management fee.
Have a look around. Iāll dig out an article for you about the Fund alternatives to Vanguard (itās from 2019 though, so outdated, but the information within is still good to read) Best multi-asset funds - Monevator
I agree with the authorās comments about considering to do the DIY method though - everything he suggests is available on FreeTrade and theyāre from Vanguard. But if this is something youāre not sure about, itās cool. Hopefully the article helps with your research etc.
1 Like
It should be easy enough to create your own equivalent of the lifestrategy fund - just use a global equity tracker and a global bond tracker. Rebalance every year or two, slowly moving towards having more in bonds.
An alternative would be to create your own āall weatherā porfolio, this is a portfolio of assets designed to cope with any economic environment, and give you a return without too much volatility
2 Likes
Thereās always something up in the market pretty much every year as this list shows so if it wasnt coronavirus it would have been something else. Itās just that Covid is a really exceptional experience maybe a 100 year one, so the next pandemic 2119. Im sure I wonāt around then!
3 Likes
Yes the etf msci iShares is like 6.7 and vamguard world is 77.20
1 Like
Not read this so will have to check it out. But yeah thereās always something kicking off in world
Thanks again RobOda. That was an interesting read. I think it would save me some money and Iād feel more in control if I did the DIY method but, that would also be part of the problem for me at the moment! Whilst, if I wanted to, I can see where my money is being invested and how itās doing on an individual stock/bond company basis, I choose not to. All I choose to look at (at the moment. This could change!) is my overall profit or loss. If I changed to the DIY, I feel Iād be checking everything everyday, being tempted to change stocks/ bonds if I see them falling very low! I know myself! Itās bad enough looking at what Iāve invested in on Freetrade! So, for now I think Iām better off (sanity wise!) in staying with Vanguard. However, the more I research and learn, in time if/when I feel confident enough and (just as important!) I trust myself to trust the process and not panic when I see red, I can see myself doing DIY as I feel it would be better and Iād save myself money as well.
These forums are great. Iāve learnt a lot already from what people say. Obviously, if something interests me, I go off and do my own research on it so I make up my own mind but itās a great place for newbies like myself. This time last year I would not have even dreamed about investing in stocks and shares. My daughter set me up on TikTok, I saw a post from the āfrugal spenderā about investing and I think within a couple of weeks I had put 2/3 of my small savings into Vanguard! Some may laugh at that (me learning from a post on TikTok lol) but it was like a lightbulb going on moment for me! I suddenly felt confident in investing, even knowing the risks of investments going down as well as up. For me, the risk is worth it. I really appreciate the Frugal Spenders posts. They are simple and clear and great for people who have no idea about investing!
1 Like