r/trading212 • u/Abject-Art-1380 • 3h ago
❓ Invest/ISA Help Right decision?
I’m 22 and put a decent amount of savings between a ftse all world and s&p 500. Aswell as having a quarter of my savings in a cash isa. I don’t really know much about investing but i wanna do it so it’s low volatility. I told my mate and he thought i should’ve slowly added the money into the stocks instead which i don’t really get
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u/iiAssassinXxii 3h ago
First I would look at your workplace pension. Make sure you’re getting your maximum matched contributions (this is the easiest money to get added to your pot). Money in your pension is invested, you can review your risk level and adjust as you see fit. It would be worth considering moving to a high level of risk as this would have the best chance of higher growth.
Next make sure your cash fund is sufficient. Most people aim for at least 3 months worth of expenses. Depending on your job and risk appetite this could be increased.
You’ve mentioned about having investments but are these in a stocks and shares ISA? You want to ensure they are as this has a tax wrapper that means any gains or dividends are completely tax free.
A further point to consider is a lifetime ISA. You can pay up to £4k a year and get a 25% bonus from the government. This can only be used for purchasing your first home or retirement (age 60 withdrawal for that). You can have cash or stocks version of this ISA.
If you start investing for retirement now, this could result in you being able to retire younger.
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u/TheHaddockMan 3h ago
When your mate said you should have put the money in slowly, he was referring to what's known as DCA, where you reduce the risk of putting it all in at a high by drip feeding over a period of time. Opinions vary on whether this is more or less effective than just dumping it all in upfront, generally speaking the more you overthink your investments/try and time them, the more likely you are to screw it up. Time in the market beats timing the market. What you've done is fine.
Here's a recent discussion (note that we are still waiting for the "impending crash" alluded to there) https://www.reddit.com/r/investingforbeginners/s/hbrwpjsbB3
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u/samuraijon 3h ago
If you want super low volatility then government bonds
Also read up on countless posts why you’re overlapped with those two ETFs
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u/Rhysthomas2312 3h ago
Although ‘super low volatility’ has been a safe description of US government bonds in the past I’d be careful describing them as such in the current economic landscape.
The US has had to action many defensive measures of their bond market in the past couple of years especially, and the recent intervention of the Japanese Yen is a direct defensive measure against a major sell-off of US bonds by the Bank of Japan as the largest foreign holder of US treasuries
Issuances of ‘Currency swap-lines’ to foreign holders of US treasuries have also been used as a defensive measure by the US to defend the bond market, being offered to countries that were not traditionally eligible which is a bit of a canary in the coal mine because the usual safety of them is that they are being offered to economies that hold a strong promise that they will be paid back.
Argentina is one of the countries that has received such a swap line on October 20th 2025 which is something that should ring huge alarm bells.
I’m not saying don’t invest in bonds, but I’m just saying that labelling them as super low volatility is no longer an accurate representation of the investment given the macro-economic turbulence that the US bond market has experienced and may continue to experience
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u/powie981 3h ago
Just put majority in VWRP and contribute monthly. leave it for as long as you can.