Investment Management Association

The benefits of investing regularly in funds

You may be earning enough to live on now, but will that always be the case? By saving and investing, you can improve your chances of living comfortably in the future. There are many benefits to regular saving or investing. As well as the satisfaction of building up a lump sum, investing small sums regularly helps smooth your returns. The earlier you start, the less you will need to save in any one period to achieve your goal.

Most fund management companies and fund supermarkets offer regular savings plans from as little as £10 per month.

Regular saving means that you do not have to worry about investing at the top of the stockmarket when prices are high and so risk losing money. You avoid trying to time your investment. Also, if you save the same amount every month during a time when the fund price is moving up and down, you can reduce your average cost per unit or share. This is known as "pound cost averaging".

Read more about the benefits of regular saving in funds in our ‘Monthly savings’ guide