I’m looking for some advice on my plan for this:
-House fund: ca 300k
-Emergency fund: ca 20-30k
-Rest into stocks/bonds (S&S ISA and GIA)
My questions:
-Should I contribute into my pension before putting the rest in a GIA? I wouldn’t get 40% tax relief as not in that bracket but would get 20%. I have a DB pension 6% contribution, 2-3x from my employer so it’s quite good in itself.
-Do I get a SIPP or add into employer pension?
-4k of my ISA into a LISA instead? I’m hoping to buy a house soon so I couldn’t use it for this, but could still take advantage of the 25% tax relief in the form of another retirement fund.
-Any specific ISA/index fund/bonds people recommend?
-I’m thinking 70-80% global index fund, 10-20% EM, and 10% bonds. But am I right in thinking Vanguard currently recommend a higher % of your portfolio in bonds over the next few years due to the current AI high potentially causing a more muted return on stocks over the next few years?
-I’ve been told with this amount I shouldn’t get an ETF as I wouldn’t own the shares, and ETFs are more for smaller investment amounts. Is this true? If so, what do I get instead?
-Finally, broker wise, is Vanguard worth the 0.15% ongoing fee or am I better off on free platforms like trading 212?
Go easy on me please. I’ve never invested so I’m aware I may be mistaken on a few things! I know you can’t time the market but Vanguard do seem very reputable so interested if this is the case with the AI trend. I know both pension and LISA are locked away for several years. Other than the house, I’m not planning on buying anything expensive currently, so happy to take advantage of the tax relief and lock some away. But I would like to keep a bit in stocks to have between now and retirement should I need it, as obviously plans change. Any advice on rough distribution between these would be great. Risk wise, even though I’ve never invested before, I understand the waves of the markets and so happy to have relatively high risk.