I’m 86 and struggling with investing: what should I do?

Q. My wife and I are 86 years old. and I invest our savings (circa £50,000) in a Fidelity stocks and shares ISA and some cash ISAs. I am struggling a bit to keep up with the market and finding it difficult to cope. Is there a simple solution?

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A. I’m really sorry to hear you’re struggling. Managing your money is stressful at the best of times, but I imagine it must be even more so when you may also have health issues to worry about.

One option would be to speak to a financial adviser. They can help by recommending an investment strategy that's appropriate for your circumstances and, if you choose an ongoing service, take much of the burden of managing your investments off your shoulders.

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While some advisers specialise in larger portfolios, others are happy to help people with more modest savings.

Even so, you may not feel financial advice is right for you. In that case, I would ask: what is this money for?

Is it money you’re likely to need in the next five years for, say, home adaptations as you age? Or is it a contingency pot in case you need to pay for care? In these cases, you might want to consider placing the money in a high interest, easy-access savings account or cash ISA that you could draw upon for these kinds of circumstances in the next five years.

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If it’s money you definitely won’t need in the next five years and those eventualities above are covered by your cash savings, it might make sense to keep the money invested.

Before making any changes, it's worth asking whether your current investments actually need changing. If they're already invested in a diversified fund that's appropriate for your goals, doing less rather than more may be the right answer.

If they’re not, then you might want to explore a more “hands-off” strategy that spreads your risk widely and requires less active management than you have currently.

If you’re happy to take a reasonable amount of risk with the money in the hope of better returns, you could opt for a simple global stock market tracker fund. There are a number to choose from in the Fidelity Select 50, a list of our favourite funds.

However, as people age, they often want to take less risk. If that’s the case, you could use the Fidelity Navigator tool to find a fund suited to your risk level. It asks a series of questions about your goals, appetite for risk and whether you would prefer an actively managed or more automated investment approach before suggesting suitable options.

• Read: 5 money mistakes people make in their 80s

Of course, you can’t completely forget about this money. But reviews shouldn’t be onerous.

Each year, you just need to perform some simple checks by asking yourself:

• Am I still happy to leave this money for another five years?
• Am I still happy with how much risk I’m taking?
• And am I satisfied there haven’t been any major changes to my health or circumstances?

If you answer “yes” to all of those, you can probably leave things as they are. If not, it may be time to review whether a lower-risk investment or holding more in cash would better suit your circumstances.

It’s good that you are already thinking about how you’ll manage your money as you get older and it becomes harder to do so.

Have you already set up a Lasting Power of Attorney for your property and financial affairs? This is an important document that allows someone (or multiple people) you trust to make financial decisions on your behalf in case you lose the capacity to do so yourself. It’s not pleasant to think about but it will make it much easier for your loved ones to make good decisions on your behalf if you’re no longer able to.

• Obtaining External Power of Attorney | Fidelity

You can set up a Health and Welfare Lasting Power of Attorney too, giving someone else the power to make medical decisions on your behalf if you can’t.

Have you checked that you and your wife’s wills and the Expression of Wish forms on your pensions are up to date? These two documents play an important role in ensuring that your money is distributed according to your wishes.

• Expression of Wish | Fidelity

Finally, it's worth thinking about what would happen if one of you died. Would the surviving spouse have enough income to live off, know where all the accounts are held, how household bills are paid and who to contact for help? Even writing down key financial information and keeping it somewhere safe can make a difficult time much easier to navigate.

Got a burning question you want to ask? Why not drop us a line. Click here to ask your question.

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Important information - investors should note that the views expressed may no longer be current and may have already been acted upon. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and all tax rules may change in the future. Select 50 is not a personal recommendation to buy or sell a fund. Withdrawals from a pension product will not be possible until you reach age 55 (57 from 2028). This information is not a personal recommendation for any particular investment. If you are unsure about the suitability of an investment you should speak to one of Fidelity’s advisers or an authorised financial adviser of your choice.