My First £{AMOUNT} Investment: Where Should It Go?

You have a lump sum, no investments yet, and a strong sense you might do something daft with it. This walks you through the decisions you need to settle first, given your age, time horizon and emergency-fund position: risk tolerance, ISA versus pension, the basics of asset classes, and whether you should even be investing this money at all. For first-time investors who want the order of operations.

I have £{AMOUNT} I want to invest for the first time. I am {AGE} years old, my investment horizon is {YEARS} years, and I currently have {MONTHS_EMERGENCY} months of expenses saved as an emergency fund. I have no existing investments. Please walk me through the key decisions I need to make before choosing where to put this money, covering risk tolerance, account type (ISA vs pension), asset class basics, and whether a simple global index fund is the right starting point. Explain each step clearly without assuming financial knowledge.