There are good reasons why it’s worth investing from an early age. The benefits of compounding via buying UK stocks means that if someone started when they were 18, they’d have a considerable head start on the rest of us.
Unfortunately, very few are financially literate at that age! Yet even from the age of 35, big things can develop over the years with consistency and discipline.
Choosing where to allocate cash
A lot will focus on the end goal of £1m and miss the point that to potentially hit that figure, the strategy needs to be sound. I’m talking about deciding what to invest in.
For an investor aged around 35, they’ll likely be working for several decades more. So they’re less reliant on stocks that provide income and likely can take on more growth stock exposure.
Growth shares indeed have a higher risk, as the share prices can be more volatile. That’s why if someone is close to retirement age, these aren’t the best type of shares to own. Yet, with a multi-decade time horizon, growth stocks in sectors likely to be the future (eg renewable energy, AI, tech) should do well.
As a result, I believe an investor should allocate 80% of funds to growth stocks and regularly buy more each month as funds permit. It’s hard to perfectly forecast capital appreciation, but based on historical performance, an annual growth rate of 8-10% is reasonable.
The remaining 20% can be used for some dividend shares and value plays. Don’t get me wrong, there are some great dividend shares with yields of 8-10%. This can act as a buffer during future market corrections when the growth part of the portfolio slows. During this time, the income from dividends can help keep the portfolio progressing.
A FTSE 250 case study
In terms of an example, an investor could consider Plus500 (LSE:PLUS). The FTSE 250 business provides an online trading platform geared around the retail market.
It makes money based on client activity, making a small commission each time someone buys or sells a stock, bond, cryptocurrency or something else. As a result, it does well when markets are volatile, with big price swings.
Due to the good tech interface and wide range of trading products, it’s grown significantly over the past few years. The share price is up 53% over the past year, with strong gains evident over a longer period too.
Looking forward, I think this can be maintained. Certainly, I think markets will be volatile over the coming year based on tariff uncertainty, central bank actions and geopolitical conflicts.
One risk is that competition in this area has increased recently. CMC Markets and IG Group are two other FTSE 250 companies with similar offers and will target Plus500 clients.
The million-pound idea
I don’t know the exact retirement age for someone aged 35, but I’m going to assume it will be 67. On that basis, investing £600 a month in a portfolio that grows on average by 8% could be worth £1.07m by that finishing point.
Of course, a variety of factors could cause this end figure to be lower or higher. But it certainly gives an investor a ballpark of the amount and target return to try and aim for.
