I’ve been regularly saving 100 quid a month for a couple/few years into stocks and shares isa. It’s sat around 10% interest up until all this Coronavirus malarkey. Over the past few days it’s started to make a loss and now it’s about 2% loss. So, being a complete novice to this sort of thing just wondering what the advice is?
Option 1 carry on as normal, after all it’s in for long term saving 10-20 years.

Option 2 reduce or stop payments until things smooth out

Option 3 panic and withdraw with a loss

This is money I had put aside as something to accumulate over long term saving, so I’m not concerned it’s gone down, but I guess its unprecedented times and it’s hard to predict whee things go from here.

Double your savings to take advantage of all the bargains that are now available.

Firmly #1 this current blip will become just noise in the medium term and totally inconsequential when viewed in 20 year term. If anything I’m planning on transferring some extra cash into my S&S isa over the next few days.

“Follow it down”

If I’ve got the parlance correct.

I’m about 10% down.

Now is not the time to run. Ride it out. The up turn when the world economy returns to normal again will/should be positive in the short term.

Its only a “loss” if you realise it although of course it is concerning. Ideally we should have all sold the day before this happened but for obvious reasons we didnt. Markets have always risen over the long term and it depends on when you need your money. Thats not to say that they will rise ever again but I think they are likely to recover over a period.

Yes just carry on as usual, shares are like the housing market, when cheap noone wants them.

My shares are well down but they are still producing a nice income, I am waiting to buy more. The market always overvalues the swings.

Good luck, stay invested and dont look at valuations every day, you will think you re an investing God when up,a complete fool when down.

Option 1.
Consider increasing your monthly investment.

but I guess its unprecedented times

It’s not though: dot com bubble, credit crisis, early 90s recession …

Just keep on doing what you’re doing and don’t look at the newspapers for another 20 years.

It’s sat around 10% interest up

What do you mean by that? It was worth 10% more than what you had put in?

Noone knows if the market is going to go up or down from this point. If they did then it would already have gone up/down.

Buy cheap and sell dear.

So perhaps stick a bit more in when the market is low.

Tracker fund (eg tracking FTSE or similar)?
or a handful of individual stocks/shares?

As you say, it’s long term investment. There will be ups and there will be downs. Cash out and and you lock in that loss and the cash will permanently devalue over time.

Best thing about a slump, which always happen every so often, is that each £100 buys more units or shares. So that when there’s a rise, there’s more to rise 🙂

So #1

I have a load of my ex-employer shares – they hit 670 at the beginning of last week and are now 600 – I was just looking to sell some, so I’ll just have to sit on them a while longer

I’m betting that the markets have recovered before I can kick off my 2020/21 ISA 🙁

For clarity, what I mean is the value was around 10% higher than what I had paid in.
It’s a managed account thing. One of the ones where you just pick the risk you want to take and someone else does all the stuff. I will look into self managed account sometime in the future possibly.

Google pound cost averaging
This basically means medium to long term vestments will fluctuate. Some months you buy low and accrue more units, some months you buy high and get less
The canny trick is to get rid at the top of the curve or move to a more stable area of investment like gold or bonds if sticking in and you are nearer the end of term

If you’re in it for the long term then some time in that period the markets are likely to slump and you will, at least on paper, lose money. But the whole thing about investing long term, that while there is no guarantee of certainty for the future, in historic terms, the markets have always risen over those timescales, and so it’s considered pretty safe despite all the peaks and troughs you’ll encounter along the way.

It’s when you’re getting close to withdrawing the cash that you’d need to worry. But that’s when you’d start to reduce the level of risk on your account.

I was just thinking about putting money in but wondering how much further they might drop, so I’m sitting it out for a bit.

If it is a 20 year thing don’t even bother looking at prices month to month. Over 20 years you will have increased by a lot.

Yep, just sit it out and wait…..

I’ve lost a 6 figure sum in the last few days, par for the course in stocks and shares. It will eventually recover the losses, no one knows when and how though, so any attempt to time the market is futile.

I’ve just increased my stocks and shares ISA contributions by 150% (they were pretty low beforehand anyway). This wasn’t a corona virus related decision.

Might see about putting a lump sum in before the end of tax year too.

I do have some of my pension invested in a China only fund, but it’s up 100% over the last 5 years or so. I think I’ll just leave it.

For 10-20 year investments then just ride it out, we’re not headed for a Walking Dead style global apocalypse, it will recover over time and as others have said now/soon you’re buying at the bottom of the market so will make additional profit in the long run.

If this does turn into a Walking Dead style global apocalypse then sell it all (if you still can by the time we know) and use it to buy knives, axes and canned goods.

Well the shares i was going to buy this morning have risen. As ian cowie in the sat telegraph said, the best time to buy shares was probably yesterday. He s nailed it, you never know and with hindsight everyone is an expert.

Just stay invested.

I would have commented before but been a tad busy …. haha

As an old market pro

I would have told you …. Buy it when you can, not when you have too !!

But I dont think this is over yet (or at least I hope not) and you’ll get another chance. Also as others have said 20 years is the correct time line (but you don’t want this happening to your pot in 18 years time)

Good luck

Have fun

Out of interest (unintentionla pun) what is the advice for someone new to investing (beyong savings accounts and premium bonds)? Unit trusts / ISA / share dealing apps?

Two approaches imo. You either do it as a hobby, read the papers/internet, buy and sell, make a few quid here lose a few quid there. Or you treat it like long term savings. Buy a tracker or fund, stick some money in it, keep topping it up. In 20 years cash it in. The second approach is much easier and likely to make you more money so I’d recommend that.

If you do go for that then research a few options. Fundsmith and Vanguard are popular on here and considered pretty “safe” bets. Both can be bought direct or through a 3rd party.

Final thing is the wrapper. You can just buy them, buy them as an ISA or buy as a pension. Pros and cons of all them but a mix of the ISA and pension works for me.

It’s worth doing imo. These are slightly funny times but long term you should do ok.

fed cuts rates. the dow is volatile swinging 650 points

US markets opened down – possible very short-term profit taking after yesterday’s big increases combined with underwhelming statement from G7; then Fed cut rates and markets re-bounded, going +ve; trump says fed cut is not enough – markets fall and are now -ve.
Trump is only interested in being able to continue saying economy is strong; anything which threatens that risks his re-election; he will do anything to secure that.

Prices will wobble but there’s some good buy in prices. Shell are 17.5 gbp so an 8% yield, they haven’t cut their divi since the war. At that price you get your money back in 10 years, compounded.

“Shell are 17.5 gbp so an 8% yield, they haven’t cut their divi since the war.”
But they really should! And start investing in tomorrow’s tech….

Where are the Bitcoin/Cryptocurrency maximalists these days?

But they really should! And start investing in tomorrow’s tech….

A quick google brings up from Reuters…..

Shell leads the pack with future plans to spend $1-2 billion per year on clean energy technologies out of a total budget of $25 to $30 billion

It’s only ever a problem if you want to cash them in.

Now is a good opportunity to buy…i’ve bought into a few companies over the past week.

Markets go up and down through various causes of volatility.

Well you do have to take your money at some point unless you can manage totally on dividends so although the market has shown time and time that it will bounce back, just like investments their is no guarantee that they will. As above if it is only a loss when you take it but thats not to say every investment will bounce back, they are not all equal!

now thats the true panic setting in.

Big drops today across the board.

To give some perspective to today’s market losses, the key driver is the >20% fall in crude oil prices.
In isolation, this would have spooked the markets; coming on top of covid-19 has amplified the impact.
Dow Jones futures down by c1,000 points based on oil price movements; S&P futures have been frozen as they have hit pre-set market limits.
Saudi wanted Russia to restrict oil supply to support price; Russia said ‘nyet’; Saudis turned on the taps and prices fell.
Not a new tactic by Saudi; Russian economy is weak so an open question about how long they can maintain current position.

they are probably taking the opportunity to stick the boot into Iran while they are having a bit of a corona crisis as well.

Apparently they’re after the US shale industry which cannot cope with lower prices due to higher production costs.

If the coronavirus continues at the current projected level and intervention well work is impacted a lot of production will very quickly decline especially in middle east (for water flood EOR) where either the health care system is poor and/or expats can’t/wont travel. If all/some of this happens just wait for the rebound, it’ll be brutal.

Yes big losses across the board, just sit tight and reinvest the dividends. There will be worse to come the market always oversells and then overbuys. Sadly most retail investors bail out at the bottom and crystalise losses.

Just sit tight.

Just sit tight.

Don’t sell, but when to buy?