I wrote back in November that I have finally started to invest. It had been on my to do list for the previous two years, so I finally got round to doing it. The thought of investing does scare me slightly still as I’m worried that we’ll lose all of our money. The markets of late haven’t helped this either! But I realised that if I was going to be serious about retiring early and providing an income or having enough money stashed away for that period of time, I would need to invest in order to meet our target. The numbers are a stretch goal at the best of times, but who knows what the future holds. Investing will hopefully mean that we will definitely meet our long term goals.
Related post: The Ultimate Dream
Related post: The Ultimate Dream Part Two: Early Retirement
The S&S isa that I have allows you to hold both shares and funds, so I’m putting some money into some less risky funds as well as some individual shares. That way, I’m hoping to lower our risk and cover more options at the same time. The shares I have bought so far all pay dividends, which I want to reinvest when I receive them. So then snowball will begin to roll, slowly at first but everyone has to start somewhere! I also need to remember that I’m in this for the long term, so even if share prices go up and down, to not panic and sell them even if I’m at a loss at that point in time. Easier said than done though…
So, in my ISA (so far) I have the following:
Funds:
- Vanguard LifeStrategy 60% Equity Income – 5.3 shares
- CF Woodford Equity Income – 129.4 shares
Shares:
- BT Group – 100 shares
- Marks and Spencer (MKS) – 16 shares
- Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) – 150 shares
- Next – 9 shares
- Vodaphone Group (VOD) – 17 shares
- Whitbread group – 20 shares
As you can see, the weighing at the moment is far in the favour of individual shares, but this is just the beginning steps into my investing adventure. But I am doing more and more reading – when the baby lets me – and looking at different companies to invest in. As I’m looking at dividends as the main contributor, rather than growth, it’s taking me a bit longer to sift through lots of information that can be quite confusing at times. They don’t make financial talk straightforward do they?!
I have also received my first dividends, which is very exciting! I’ve got a post about that later on in the month, so watch out for that! Now, the amount I receive to begin is very small, rather than the hundreds that I often read about, but the only way is up. I have calculated that this year I should receive just over £74 in dividends, providing nothing changes. Of course, future payouts are not certain and I am keeping a close eye on that.
What are your favourite investing blogs? Please leave them in the comments – I need more blogs to read!
You took the first big step in investing… you started. Too often people contemplate about building a dividend portfolio and never take the plunge. Stick to high quality long term dividend payers and don’t chase yield and long term you should be just fine. Not really familiar with most of the names you mention but that’s OK. I love learning about new companies outside the U.S. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you; it’s taken me long enough! 🙂
maxkeiser dot com is really a good investing blog, Nicola. I hope you check out the site.
We’re considering making this leap as well, to ensure our long term financial stability long after we retire. Some great tips, and a very down to earth story. We definitely have our own sets of fears, both rational and irrational.
Thanks for stopping by 🙂 I think you just need to take the plunge!