# Beginner Portfolio Split **URL:** \ **Category:** đź“Š Investing\ **Created:** [August 22, 2020, 5:00pm UTC](https://community.trading212.com/t/beginner-portfolio-split/16885 "2020-08-22T17:00:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jobloggs](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/community.trading212.com/jobloggs/32/5398_2.png) [@Jobloggs](https://community.trading212.com/u/Jobloggs)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2020, 5:00pm UTC](https://community.trading212.com/t/beginner-portfolio-split/16885/1 "2020-08-22T17:00:28Z")
Hi All, I’m pretty new to this and always researching and reading up on bits. Just wondering what your thoughts were on the way to split up my portfolio? Any advice would be appreciated. I’m only starting out with a modest £3k and going to top up around £300-£500 per month. I’m looking to play the long game really. Is it worth keeping a bit of float for when you think/researched a low stock for a quick scalp? (I’m only talking around 200). I have (like most of us) made some errors really early on. Now I’m thinking as I’m 32 and looking at my retirement fund at having 40% dedicated to an S&P index and the remainder split across various stocks, the pie on BETA looks perfect for me. How many companies/sectors would you recommended? I have selected around 18 companies so far to diversify, companies I like and trust. Any advice would be appreciated! ---
**Author:** ![kali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a88e57/32.png) [@kali](https://community.trading212.com/u/kali)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2020, 5:54pm UTC](https://community.trading212.com/t/beginner-portfolio-split/16885/2 "2020-08-22T17:54:43Z")
Hi, 32 is still pretty young, even if you are just starting. Your question is very generic and there are probably millions of correct answers for it 🙂 If you scroll a little bit under “active trading” category, there are bunch of people posting portfolios for opinions. they range from a few ETFs to set of complete shares. I am pasting some examples at the bottom of this post. But to anyone who is starting to invest, my biggest recommendation would be to first invest in yourself. Spend may £50-100 of that 3K and you can buy plenty of good books. Not books like “how to get rich in 3 steps” but fundamentals like _“The Intelligent Investor”_ or _“Rich Dad Poor Dad”_ > [@Newbie building my first ever portfolio](https://community.trading212.com/t/newbie-building-my-first-ever-portfolio/15022): > > Hi. Would love any feedback on the following ideas for a more prominent dividend portfolio, also have a couple of growth stocks too. The idea is to add to the portfolio in small amounts each week, also to build a cash fund for any major drops in prices. I’m thinking both US & UK holdings and maybe an ETF to see how i do against it. The stocks i would have are all companies i have a little knowledge about, most household names, so that does help me. I would also reinvest any dividends back int… > [@Question About Dividend Investing](https://community.trading212.com/t/question-about-dividend-investing/15530): > > Hi all, complete newbie here needing advice on a group of shares I’ve chosen for a dividend investment portfolio. I have a pension account with Vanguard which i use to invest in funds and ETFs but i wanted to start investing in individual shares for passive income. Plan to place all these stocks in an ISA wrapper on here and start small (money wise) and then re-invest dividends and add to monthly to build. Planning to hold the shares for long term as well (is this something any of you would re… > [@Portfolio Critiquing](https://community.trading212.com/t/portfolio-critiquing/10275): > > Hey wave everyone! I wanted to share my current portfolio of companies really for educational purposes. To hear what others, more experienced investors think and where I could improve, how to better minimise exposure to risk etc. I’ve only been trading stocks for 2 months so any feedback would be most welcomed. My portfolio Datadog Fastly Livongo InMode Warner Music Group Flying Eagle Acquisirion Corp. (SPAC) Churchill Capital Corp III (SPAC) I am hoping to add the following to the portf… > [@Your thoughts on this portfolio](https://community.trading212.com/t/your-thoughts-on-this-portfolio/13551): > > So ive been investing now for around 3 months and I’m curious what feedback might be given on my current portfolio distribution: A few notes: My aim has been to have diversity in my exposures informed by what seem to be fair prices under current circumstances based on weighted consideration of the businesses overall and previous, pre crash performances and speculation on long term viability. I’m also currently in the process of rebalancing the portfolio to have … > [@My current buy list (future pies)](https://community.trading212.com/t/my-current-buy-list-future-pies/16676): > > Disclaimer: Obviously this is not financial advise, I am not qualified and not even close! My overall investment strategy for the last two decades have been buy and keep until forever. For the last 5 years or so I’ve started selling things as well but very rarely. I only sell stocks under two conditions It is bought with a theory in mind and despite giving it plenty of time market has not proved the theory correct. These shares go into “doghouse” to be sold at an acceptable price point. Rece… ---
**Author:** ![Jobloggs](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/community.trading212.com/jobloggs/32/5398_2.png) [@Jobloggs](https://community.trading212.com/u/Jobloggs)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2020, 8:26pm UTC](https://community.trading212.com/t/beginner-portfolio-split/16885/3 "2020-08-22T20:26:32Z")
Thanks for the reply! I’ve got 3 books I’m working through now. And you’re right about the get rich and quick thing, I followed the wrong advice at the start. I’m still up fortunately but needed a more rational strategy. ---
**Author:** ![Abel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Abel](https://community.trading212.com/u/Abel)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2020, 8:57pm UTC](https://community.trading212.com/t/beginner-portfolio-split/16885/4 "2020-08-22T20:57:43Z")
Hi Jobloggs, I can only second what @kali said in regards to educating yourself and looking other people’s posts to get some ideas. But I would recommend that you first clarify your goals and timescales. You mention a retirement fund but what age were you planning to retire? 55yrs, 68yrs, 80yrs?. This will give you an idea of your investment horizon. Then what are your goals for the retirement fund? Are you planning to take an income from it via dividends or selling the shares to take an income…or a combination of both? If so how much annual income are you thinking you will need? Choosing any of the retirement age suggests a long time scale so you could look at building a portfolio more skewered towards shares. As they give a higher return compared to other asset classes in the long term. If you are not looking for income, then growth shares may be more preferable to ensure you reach a sizeable retirement fund. As you near the retirement age, you would skewer your portfolio to “safer” assets such as bonds to protect your retirement fund. You can achieve this by buying individual shares. But if you do not have the time or inclination to monitor the shares yourself then using ETFs would be ideal for both shares and bonds as a way to diversify your portfolio. Because we are dealing with long time scales where the price of shares may drop in the short term, then it is a sound idea to have some cash as a float to take advantage of these opportunities when they come along.