Considering an Investment? Read this first...

You do not need huge sums of money to get investing. Whether you have £50 a
month to begin with or want to invest a windfall of £10,000, there is no time like
the present to get your money working harder.

Over the long term, investing money in the stock market should produce far
greater returns than you will get from even the best savings accounts.
Where you should invest depends on why you are investing, over how long and
the amount of risk you are willing to take.

When investing monthly, it is best to have a clear understanding of what you are
actually saving the money for. If your aim is to build up emergency funds or
you’re saving for something specific and expect to spend the money within the
next three to five years, savings accounts and cash individual savings accounts
(Isas) are probably the best way to go. You should aim to make regular deposits
into a cash Isa, where all interest will be paid tax-free.

Larger sums of money make it practical to put together a basket of funds that
gives you exposure to several asset types that are unlikely to all move in the same
direction at the same time. It can also make sense to add further diversity by
combining cheap stock market tracking funds with active managers who invest
quite differently.
A medium-risk person looking for capital growth across a minimum 10-year
investment horizon could consider weighting their portfolio towards 40% in the
UK, 20% in the US, 15% in Europe and 5% each in Asia, Japan and other emerging
markets, as well as 10% in so-called absolute return funds.