Where do you invest?

[ChimpMaster]

To give you an idea of what high risk means, this fund has fallen almost 60% since the beginning of the year.

My ISA funds have also taking a severe beating this year, but it doesn't bother me either because it's not even 10% of my portfolio (7k a year LOL). I will certainly be putting more into higher risk funds this year and next, to take advantage of the lower prices.

A downturn is the best time to invest for the longer term. A lot of the population can't afford to invest in a recession but if you can, then pile in big time.

[DonkeyRhubarb]

My ISA funds have also taking a severe beating this year, but it doesn't bother me either because it's not even 10% of my portfolio (7k a year LOL). I will certainly be putting more into higher risk funds this year and next, to take advantage of the lower prices.

A downturn is the best time to invest for the longer term. A lot of the population can't afford to invest in a recession but if you can, then pile in big time.

Absolutely. The time to buy is when no-one else wants to.

The original poster said:

Nothings seems like a good idea now - stocks will likely plummet for a while still, so will the houses (besides I could only afford a single bathroom on Iceland).

Stock market corrections/crashes tend to be a lot shorter than the property market. We may not have hit the bottom yet but which ever way you look at it, now is a better time to buy than a year ago (shares are much cheaper).

IMO, property still has a fair way to go. The best time will be when joe public has fallen out of love with it like in the mid 90s and it no longer seems like a good investment.

[Emigre]

Absolutely. The time to buy is when no-one else wants to.

The original poster said:

Nothings seems like a good idea now - stocks will likely plummet for a while still, so will the houses (besides I could only afford a single bathroom on Iceland).

Stock market corrections/crashes tend to be a lot shorter than the property market. We may not have hit the bottom yet but which ever way you look at it, now is a better time to buy than a year ago (shares are much cheaper).

IMO, property still has a fair way to go. The best time will be when joe public has fallen out of love with it like in the mid 90s and it no longer seems like a good investment.

The majority of investors miss the first 40 to 50% of any upturn. Its based on confidence, they're not confident until they've actually seen it happening... which in effect means that a big chunk has happened!

I'm hearing that people are beginning to register with estate agents again. You're totally right about the respective timings of recovery in stocks and properties. Personally, I feel this recession will be short and sharp and that the stock market is perhaps already consolidating.

OP is looking for an investment. Short term is a mugs game. Put as much as possible into ISAs (tax free returns) and invest in ETFs where your risk is diversified across a sector or region.

[DonkeyRhubarb]

Short term is a mugs game.

Short-term trading is a "zero-sum" game where the winners cancel out the losers. (Actually, it's even worse than that when you factor in trading costs.) A few people succeed but the majority lose or barely break even.

Most people take too many risks and don't last long in this business. However, fortunately for the professional traders, there is never a shortage of new mugs to take their place.

[Fred Bloggs]

I've tried investing in single company stocks and had a lot more losers than winners over the last 25 years. I conclude that the best way to invest in stocks is monthly into unit trusts run my managers who have a long term track record. All the data is out there. Even they go through bad periods, but over the longer term the odds are in your favour. Monthly investing sometimes termed "pound cost averaging" means you buy more units when the market is dropping and less when it's rising so the long term average cost is always in your favour. It isn't a glamorous or sexy strategy but it does work. If this strategy fails, I think it's the end of capitalism as we know it and we're all stuffed anyway. HTH.