Financial well-being
The investment basics

If you are considering investing in equities, you first need to ensure that you have sufficient money in cash for any emergencies and everyday needs. If you don't, you could be forced to encash your longer-term investments when share prices are low rather than retain the freedom to pick the best moment.

Consider your financial needs. Do you need an income now? Can you wait for capital growth? Or would you benefit from a mixture of both? Older people may have a greater need for investment income rather than capital growth.

Ask yourself over what timescale are you prepared to invest - five, 10, 15, 20 or more years?

Depending on your attitude towards risk for reward, first-time equity investors may wish to consider a collective fund, such as a unit trust with a medium to low-risk profile, rather than immediate exposure to higher risk funds such as smaller companies or specialist trusts.

Spread your money between several fund management groups.

Treat performance rankings with care. If a fund has gone up considerably in one year, ask yourself whether it is likely to achieve anything like that in the next.

Take professional advice to select what is appropriate for your aims and objectives. There are approximately over 2,000 funds, all of which have different aims and objectives. Some will be aggressively managed, investing in a smaller concentration of stocks. Others will aim for more of a spread. The more specialist funds may be prone to big performance swings, a winner one year, a loser the next.

Need more information? Please email or contact us with your enquiry.

Levels and bases of, and reliefs from, taxation are subject to change.

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