Vanguard LifeStrategy

Vanguard have a popular range of funds called LifeStrategy. These funds are actually made up of lots of other Vanguard funds, and are designed to have exposure to global stocks and bonds markets.

The LifeStrategy funds are a good choice if you want the minimum of hassle. The first step is to pick the LifeStrategy fund which is right for you, which involves deciding what split you want between stocks and bonds.

As a ball park, financial advisors recommend that the split should be 100 minus your age.

Stocks are preferable when you're trying to build wealth. Historically, they tend to return more than bonds. They are more volatile, but if you're investing for the long term, then the stock price should recover.

Bonds are typically quite stable, and if you are nearing retirement then you don't want large drops in your investments when you're looking to sell in the near term.

Once you've decided on which LifeStrategy you want to invest in, make sure you invest in it regularly, and then try and forget about it as much as possible.

The only downside with LifeStrategy funds are the fees are about 0.22% per year, which is higher than some other Vanguard funds. However, it's not unreasonable when you look at what investments the fund actually holds - there are some emerging market stocks, which typically carry higher fees.