Holly Mckay
Holly MackayFounder and CEO
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    • Home • Advice • Common questions

    How should a 74-year-old invest £20,000 for capital growth?

    08 April 2026

    Question by John

    I'm 74, mostly retired, and have £20,000 in spare cash I'd like to invest for capital growth. I don't need income, and I'm not averse to risk. What would you suggest?

    Answered by Holly Mackay

    Thanks for your question.

    Good for you – I hope you have a fun (sort of) retirement!

    It’s not my style to suggest the latest ‘hot’ thing or individual shares. You’ve worked for your money, and it would be a shame to risk it in something speculative or not well-diversified

    . (Nor am I regulated to give financial advice by the way).

    I genuinely think that looking for a low-cost way to access the average growth of global stock markets is a sensible approach if you’re OK with the ups and downs of the markets. You could buy a single Exchange Traded Fund which has over 1,000 global shares under the bonnet. One which tracks the MSCI Global index or similar. iShares and Vanguard are reputable providers of ETFs, and you can buy these on most platforms.

    You can see the bestselling ETFS in our recent article, which shares this. If you have already maxed out your £20,000 annual ISA contributions, then I suspect this will just sit in a , so keep capital gains tax in mind too. This will be a volatile ride (the last month has reminded us of this), but I think it’s the simplest way to hitch your wagon to growth in every market in the world. If you want to be more specific to any sector, theme or region, then ETFs are a good way to access these. But there is a lot to be said for diversification. My sense is to keep things simple and look for an easy diversified collection of global shares which can just tick along. And you can get on with more fun things instead. As soon as you start to think that you might need this money in less than 5 years (minimum), it might be time to consider moving into something less volatile.

    Answered by

    Holly Mackay

    Founder & CEO, Boring Money

    I’ve worked in investment markets for over 20 years. I started out at Merrill Lynch Investment Management and worked at a few big names before setting up my first business in 2008.

    Important stuffHolly and the team have worked in the finance industry for many years but we are not regulated to give you personal financial advice. For every story on this website about a good investment, or something which went up by 10% or made someone £200, we could also share a story about a bad investment, something which fell in value or lost someone £200. We aim to provide general information and pointers – and btw we are totally agnostic about which providers you might pick – but if you have complex affairs, want personalised advice or need specific recommendations, please look at advice pages and see if regulated digital or traditional financial advice would be the best solution for your needs. Boring Money Ltd is a limited company registered in England and Wales under registration number 09459832 and we have our registered office at 10 Lower Thames Street, London, England, EC3R 6AF.
    InformationHistorically, money invested for more than five years grows more than cash savings. Remember that investments can also fall, so you might not get all of your money back. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and may change.
    Boring Money Ltd is a limited company registered in England and Wales under registration number 09459832 and we have our registered office at 10 Lower Thames Street, London, England, EC3R 6AF.