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I guess what I can do now is take a punt, throw a bit of cash into a fund and see what happens. Then after x months/years either up the input or look for another fund to throw cash at.
hippy-
Through a pension, right? IIRC you said you don't have one?
Ah beaten to it.
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Look at the funds available and read the factsheets to see fees and how the fund has compared against the index. Pick a few funds that spread your money (i.e. North America, EU, UK Asia, property etc). If stuck look at all the "managed funds" range e.g. Standard life managed fund. They are generally bog standard funds that spread risk for you and choose where to invest. Invest what you are comfortable with and see how it goes. Will be ups and downs but good diversification should reduce overall movements. If you can find a decent IFA, then I honestly believe paying them a small fee every couple of years is incredibly valuable and the benefit will exceed the cost. Finding a decent one is the issue I find...
Apologies a bit rambly but hopefuly makes some sort of sense
Howard
tc
Entirely dependent on your risk profile and ambitions. But for a young person should be heavily geared towards equities moving towards bonds and cash as you get older. Need to make sure it is properly diversified and that there is some management going on (passive is great as long as asset allocation and geography is reviewed reasonably regularly). Some passive funds I have see have extortionate fees which can really eat into returns.