A sensible - if unexciting - investment strategy allowed me to retire by 55

Nigel Scott of Cumbria started reading Money Observer, when it first appeared. He was still in his twenties and concerned about getting on the housing ladder quickly as prices had doubled between 1971 and 1973. He says: 'I clearly remember the power building societies held at that time. They wanted you to have been a member for at least a year and have at least £100 in an account. So I was quickly into the procedure I used many years later for carpetbagging, of opening three or four accounts and moving my very hard-earned £100 around just before requesting a mortgage. This was still the era of "don't borrow, save up and buy when you can afford it".'

However, he then realised that inflation made borrowing a sensible option, as the debt stayed constant as salaries and assets grew apace. 'By the mid-1980s we had a large house with a large mortgage, but our initial equity in housing had risen from around £2,000 to nearly £100,000.' When life assurance tax relief and mortgage tax relief were still available, he thought endowments seemed a tax-efficient way to save. Using Money Observer comparisons and charts he opted for Standard Life and Equitable Life.

'Although I started to follow some of the Money Observer share tips I had mixed success. I soon came to realise that I did not have the time to monitor the shares adequately so I again used advice to start saving monthly in a generalist fund.

'Editor John Davis regularly recommended investment trusts, so £50 a month went into Foreign & Colonial.

'In the privatisation era I started cautiously with BT but was soon buying shares for my wife and children. The aim was to buy four or five times more than I needed and sell the extra for a profit so I ended up with free shares. Money Observer came to the fore with advice on how to buy and sell, how many to bid for, closing dates and so on.

'With building society carpetbagging I checked Money Observer's recommended societies, opened numerous accounts in many, and made a fair profit. I felt a bit guilty doing this and was not surprised when the societies insisted on giving shares only to long-term members. I still have two or three left, so these might still pay off.

'After this, I started investing in Peps, Tessas and Isas. Money Observer was always at hand to advise on funds or rates. I remember being disappointed that many investment trusts were initially not available for investment. But over time this has changed to today's quite flexible options.

'With the stock market down in recent times I have put significant money into buy-to-let and so far this has worked out well. I have chosen an area in the south with significant demand.

'My successes have been planning for retirement from my early thirties, saving using broad-based worldwide funds, particularly investment trusts, investing in housing, privatisations, business expansion schemes and using the internet for savings.

'My failures have been following tips and getting emotionally involved with shares, taking on a fixed-rate mortgage because of my belief in Europe and the UK's membership of the exchange rate mechanism and buying Equitable Life endowment policies.

'I have achieved all my initial ambitions and retired by 55. But I have been cautious. I have taken Money Observer' s advice to go for broad-based stock market investments, maximise my pension and maintain savings in a high-paying account. It has hardly been an exciting investment strategy, but I have avoided most disasters.'

'It has been my primary financial teacher for 25 years'

Ron Shelton of Alresford, Hampshire, started
his subscription to Money Observer in 1979, when
he retired. He says: 'I had a few unit and
investment trusts which were not performing, but I
had been too busy to look at them - and too
ignorant. Money Observer has been my primary
teacher and I did fairly well in choosing funds
until the last boom. Because I remember the
1920s slump, when a depression was called a
depression, and several more since, I was
reluctant to invest in the more speculative funds,
so I missed the best of the gains and the
privatisation booty.

'Today I have accepted that what I call the real
economy (making things or exporting rather than
taking in someone else's washing) no longer
matters and that any half-competent fund
manager would show a small but steady growth
in value, so early in 2000 I passed most of our few
assets to the care of one. Now they are worth
about 70 per cent of the original value after four
years invested in the four "safe" managed funds.

'The moral is keep active control and read Money
Observer or put it all into the savings account and
hope its real value will not deteriorate faster than
the owner.'