UK investing advice for new investor at start 2018

[Jamese20]

Hi guys

I have been reading and studying investing while I am now paying off my emergency debt of which I will good to go at early 2018

I originally set my stall out on the lifestrategy 100 equity fund which has a very diverse range of stocks and I like the performance it seems to generate

However, although I can easily access this via an isa and it's reported in gbp, I can't seem to work out the effect of the exchange rates and the tax implications of having equity in Europe and the US which I am sure will be effecting my overall returns.

The question is, do I just stick to my own country and invest in the ftse all share which seems to generate decent returns over time anyhow, or I will get a potentially better results with the lifestrategy 100 which is more diverse but I'm risking exchange rates effecting my real returns?

Appreciate this is very complex but if someone has any ideas on this.. I just don't like not fully understanding what I am going to put considerable amounts of money into every month for the next decade

[cerat0n1a]

Go with the more diverse/whole world option. The majority of FTSE earnings come from outside UK in any case, so it's already sensitive to currency movement, and the index is quite biased towards financial, oil & mining - no real tech stocks, for example.

You don't own the shares directly - the fund is the one that's taking care of currency exchange, taxes etc. You simply buy within the ISA, in GBP and there is no tax to pay.

http://monevator.com/using-vanguard-lifestrategy-funds-life/

[daverobev]

Max your LISA, every year. Sooo much free money.

Make sure you keep tabs on both fund AND platform fees. I use iWeb Sharedealing, and there is no platform fee, so you just lose the MER/TER of the ETFs you buy. I like that.

Def. diversify globally. Check out the Vanguard ETFs.

[Jamese20]

Thanks guys for your help

Sounds like my original thoughts are the right ones

[Butterfingers]

Good advice here, but just a word of caution on the LISA. In some early retirement scenarios the LISA involves locking your money up for too long (assuming that you're saving for retirement and not for a house) and you can get a better deal from putting money into a salary sacrifice pension or a SIPP instead. This is especially true if you're a higher rate taxpayer.