Where to get the best one-time advice?
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Thank you all for the advice so far. The first few replies were extremely helpful and have given me a direction in which to channel my research.
It basically seems that stocks and shares ISA (both regular and junior) seem to be the way forward from here.
Now it's just a case of deciding on a provider - and looking at what's out there AJ Bell's YouInvest products and Hargreaves Lansdown both look like decent options for the amount I'm currently looking to invest, particularly as it'll mean I can have my ISA, the junior ISAs and a SIPP all at one place to hopefully make managing them and keeping tabs on them a little easier.
I'll let you know how I get on.0 -
Not really - you should first decide what you want to invest in before sorting out which platform to use, especially given your earlier comment that you wanted to "buy around £40k worth of stocks/shares in a few companies of my choice". Most on here would recommend collective investments such as funds rather than individual shares for example....It basically seems that stocks and shares ISA (both regular and junior) seem to be the way forward from here.
Now it's just a case of deciding on a provider....0 -
One more thing. Both HL and AJ Bell (and others) offer junior investment accounts as well as junior ISAs.
Am I right in thinking the only advantage of a junior investment account over a junior ISAs is that the money's not locked away until they're 18, there's no yearly limit on how much can be paid in, and we can access it at any time (providing it's for the benefit of the child who's account it is, obviously)?
And even though of course it won't be taking advantage of an ISAs tax benefits, does a child still benefit from the £11,700 personal tax allowance an adult does?0 -
Not really - you should first decide what you want to invest in before sorting out which platform to use, especially given your earlier comment that you wanted to "buy around £40k worth of stocks/shares in a few companies of my choice". Most on here would recommend collective investments such as funds rather than individual shares for example....
Fair enough, thank you! I'll take that into account and start researching the various funds are available too before I commit. I won't ask for fund recommendations here as I'm sure there are plenty of other threads with that already.0 -
And even though of course it won't be taking advantage of an ISAs tax benefits, does a child still benefit from the £11,700 personal tax allowance an adult does?
In answer to my own question I've just found the following information on the HL site...
The child's tax position
Most children can ‘earn’ up to £17,500 per year without incurring income tax (personal allowance of £11,500, dividend allowance of £5,000 and personal savings allowance of £1,000), as well as having the same Capital Gains Tax (£11,300) allowance as adults. This means that while their investments may be taxable, there is often nothing or very little to pay. The numbers quoted apply to the 2017/18 tax year.
The donor's tax position
Children can only benefit from income of up to £100 per year on money given to them by each parent. If they receive more, the parents must pay tax on all interest or dividends at their highest rate. There are no such problems if a grandparent, other relative or family friend has contributed the capital. Only interest or income over the child's personal allowance would be taxed.0 -
Malthusian wrote: »DIY platforms are in general more expensive than IFA platforms.
on average, especially if the average is weighted by number of customers, that's probably right.
what i was trying to say was: if you shop around (competently) for the cheapest platform that does the job, and you have a big enough amount invested to benefit from a fixed-price platform, then you can save significantly on platform costs by going DIY instead of using an IFA. since IFAs appear not to use fixed-price platforms.
and, since IFAs mostly don't work with smaller investors, i would think most of their customers do have enough invested that they'd benefit from a fixed-price platform.
there are also fixed-price platforms which carry unit trusts and OEICs. which is where your argument breaks down.DIY investors can take advantage of platforms which charge a fixed fee if you only hold ETFs and investment trusts, which can be very cost-effective if you trade rarely. However, an IFA would be extremely unlikely to recommend a portfolio consisting of nothing but ETFs and investment trusts ...A number of DIY platforms are pricing themselves low to buy business and are not sustainable. Either to quickly get to a profitable stage or to attract a buyer.
a fair point.
i don't know whether interactive investor, who are now the biggest fixed-price platform (since they took over td direct), are profitable. but it's owned by private equity, so they will have an exit strategy in mind.
i'd perhaps me more hopeful about halifax share dealing (a.k.a. iweb, and other names). they've stuck with the same low fixed prices for funds since RDR2 came in about 4 years ago. again, i don't know whether funds are profitable for them. but it may help that it is more of a sideline from share dealing for them. and they it doesn't look like they've spent much money on it! e.g. it's a very basic website. and ISTR they switched in 2014 from offering dirty funds with no rebate to offering clean funds only (and forcing holders of dirty units to convert to clean) - which means they've avoided ever having to obtain software which handles fund rebates.
right. so there is a good reason for this.D2C platfoms wont work with IFAs. There are levels of regulatory reporting involved and the need to provide IFAs data and to be able to transact.0 -
i'd perhaps me more hopeful about halifax share dealing
They are an anomaly. Lloyds has a record of destroying subsidiary companies in non-core areas. It starves them of finances and then sells them or closes them down or repositions them putting prices up. Halifax share dealing has avoided the Lloyds curse so far. However, Lloyds are using them for their direct investment sales process at the moment. So, it sees a purpose for it at present.I am an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA). The comments I make are just my opinion and are for discussion purposes only. They are not financial advice and you should not treat them as such. If you feel an area discussed may be relevant to you, then please seek advice from an Independent Financial Adviser local to you.0
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