If you haven’t already considered a Stocks and Shares ISA for retirement, you could be setting yourself up for disappointment.
At just £12,548 a year before tax, the UK State Pension is far below the average UK salary. Despite this, many Britons rely solely on it for retirement.
Fortunately, even those on minimal income can improve their situation before it’s too late. For investors without another plan, compounding savings in an ISA can be a life-saver – particularly when taking into account the tax benefits.
Let’s break it down.
Start small, limit risk
The number one reason most people don’t open an ISA is because they don’t feel they have enough to invest. The second reason is fear — they don’t understand how to manage the risks.
In almost every case, these beliefs are unwarranted. Even just £100 a month can make a huge difference in 10-20 years. And the risks — while real — aren’t as overblown as sensationalist news would have you believe.
For instance, shares in the FTSE insurance giant Admiral Group (LSE: ADM) tanked 50% in 2022. That metric alone would be shocking, but zoom out and the price has actually been steadily climbing for over 20 years. Any sharp dips have always been replaced by growth within a few years.
More importantly, it’s been paying a solid, unbroken stream of dividends for 22 years. That matters when planning for retirement — let me explain why.
A dividend reinvestment plan
When building a retirement portfolio, many investors use a dividend reinvestment plan (DRIP). This simply means putting all dividends back into the pot, thereby slowly building up a larger position, and compounding the growth exponentially.
How does that look in practice?
Admiral’s yield typically hovers between 5% and 6% and its annualised 20-year growth is 9.2%. So by reinvesting dividends, it boosts the total return to around 14%-15% a year.
With those averages, just £100 a month could grow to £151,695 in 20 years. Using the recommended retirement withdrawal rate of 4%, that could net the ISA holder an extra £6,000 a year.
Meanwhile, the reinvested dividends alone would be feeding over £7,500 back into the pot.
So is Admiral the best stock to consider?
Diversification is key
No stock is the ‘best’ stock, which is why you can’t just focus on one. Admiral is a great example — its annual revenue has climbed from £1.23bn in 2019 to £5.57bn today, and its assets consistently outweigh liabilities.
And barring a few reductions, its dividend growth shows steady increases averaging 5%-6% per year. That’s what you want to look for — steady revenue growth, a strong balance sheet, and a progressive dividend policy.
Still, insurance is not exactly a smooth sailing industry. Admiral relies on investment returns to drive profits, so economic instability or fluctuating interest rates are key risks. And that’s not to mention the stiff competition if faces and the regulatory risks.
The bottom line
Building an ISA portfolio of 10-20 stocks with similar characteristics (but from different sectors) can help reduce risk while targeting steady growth.
A few others top options off the top of my head include Unilever, Tesco, National Grid, GSK, Rio Tinto, and Shell. But there’s one stock I like even more than those right now.
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Mark Hartley owns shares in Admiral Group, Unilever, Tesco, National Grid, and GSK.
