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Instant savings for charities
I'm looking to invest some £15K for a registered charity in an instant building society account. Yesterday's papers said the Chelsea were offering nearly 3% with bonus but they say this is only for individuals and couples. They have got a special one for charities paying 0.25%!! Any ideas where I could invest such a sum,…
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Investment advice please
Hi all, I've got a fictional 100K to invest as part of a project for uni and no idea what to do with it... I need a fast return but everything I read is doom and gloom and tells me to buy property. Investments must be FTSE100 and 250 equities, gilts, cash Unit Trusts, OEICs or Investment Trusts. I've tried some equity…
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Close Brothers
I see that Close Brothers have the top slot for fixed rate savings at 4.25% for 2 years. Whilst I want to get the best rate possible, and be covered by the FSCS £85000 protection. There is something about perhaps the name and their website that just does not give me confidence in them. Am I alone with this perception or…
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Life Assurance Bonds
Hello, I am looking for information on Life Assurance Bonds. My father is 89 in a care home. We are in the process of selling his house. An IFA has suggested my father should get a life assurance bond with the proceeds from the sale of the house as these bonds are 'safe' and pay 5% interest tax free to lower rate tax…
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Principality christmas regular saver bond: 5.01%
New account form Principality, branch operated only. NEW FIXED REGULAR SAVINGS ACCOUNT. CHRISTMAS REGULAR SAVER BOND: 5.01% until 29.11.12; branch operated; earlier access on closure only and resulting in Instant Access rate being paid; consecutive monthly payments must be made; extra payments are permitted within the…
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ISA vs Mortgage repayment ?
Hi all, General: Given the parlous state of returns on any sort of investment I was wondering if it would it be better to pay off a mortgage than invest in an ISA ? Specifics: I have 2 young children - 5 & 2 - for whom we have opened ISAs into which we pay monthly.If instead we use that money to overpay the mortgage surely…
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Kingfisher Equities con
I was phoned up by a company called Kingfisher Equities a couple of weeks ago, saying they could offer me HM Treasury guaranteed bonds for up to 8% return a year with a company called North Atlantic Oil & Gas. This is a con. I have been researching the websites and find they are registered in Japan. No phone numbers on the…
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Savings for new grandchild
We and the great grandparents want to start a savings account for our new grand daughter. We want something safe that will give as good a rate of interest as possible but don't want the hassle of constantly moving cash between accounts because of short term bonuses. Ideally we'd like something like a four or five year…
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£80,000 to invest
I have £80,000 and dont need it ! I want to leave it alone for ten years or so , where should I put it ? Ideally I also want to be able to put more money into it each year.
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Defensive funds
Quiz question. Suppose hypothetically that you have to put £5K in a single fund. Your main concern is to preserve capital in the event that everything tanks in the way it easily could - Credit Crunch 2, European banking crisis etc, effects spreading worldwide. Spreads, charges and TERs are of secondary importance. Cash and…
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Independent Financial Advisers fees vs Novice Investor!
Hello I've sought advice from an Independent Financial Adviser re. Stocks & Shares ISA's. Last year we invested the full allowance for myself and my husband. We paid 3% commission to the IFA (plus annual renewal fee), plus the Fund Managers fees. This came direct from the amount we invested i.e. we weren't invoiced for the…
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Is Standard Life DRIP worth it?
I am a shareholder in Standard Life and have been offered to join their DRIP scheme: Dividend reinvestment plan (DRIP) The dividend reinvestment plan (DRIP) uses your cash dividend payment to buy more shares in Standard Life plc through a special dealing arrangement. You will be charged a dealing commission of 0.5% of the…
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What in your opinion are good asset allocations.
I have read that asset allocation is the key to investing. And as these ae academics that goes a long way My mum said "don't put all your eggs in one basket". I saw today in the Hargreaves Lansdown magazine some attempts at sampple portfolios which I thought were pretty dire. For example an income portfolio contained "UK…
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New Index Tracker charges on HL - please help a newbie investor
Hi I am relatively new to investing, having started investing only 6 months ago. Every month I put 850 pounds amonth into my HL s&s ISA and then spread this across a number of funds. My plan is to continue with this monthly plan for 25+ years ie until I retire. I have the HSBC Trackers that I pay monthly into, including…
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Made a loss on 10 year endowment plan
Hi All, My husband took out a 10 year endowment with Coventry Building Society, and it has just matured. He paid in £25 per month for 10 years..£3000 in total. The sum he is about to get back is only £2480, and that includes final bonuses. How can this be? We realised there wouldn't be much in the way of bonuses, but…
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Question about bonds
Hi, I am just about to close a nationwide savings account as the bonus comes to an end, and will probably open a 2yr Halifax on line account but notice this is classed as a bond,--with all the uncertainty around I just wandered if this is as safe as an account that does not state that it is a bond (not knowing the…
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Account with minimum limit before withdrawl?
Hi, first time poster, be kind! Seems like the right forum, but we'll see... I'm 20 right now and want to start saving cash for buying a house. However, I'm very prone to being a spender. Is there such a thing as a savings (or other type) of bank account where I could tell the bank a limit, before I could touch the money…
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Have an ISA - can I open another one this tax year?
Apologies if this has already been addressed several times! I have come into a bit of money and would like to "store it safely" for the time being. I already have an ISA that is not at the max amount, and for several reasons I would not want to top it up at once, but continue to save into it every month as I am doing now.…
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Tax on savings interest
I would be very grateful if someone could outline the tax liability in the following situation. (I have visited HMRC website and am completely confused!:o) If a person (let's call him Fred) earns £7000 p/a from his job, he pays no income tax as he is within his personal allowance. However, Fred now also gets £1800 p/a…
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Investing in KRBS 3.6% one year Bond
I have just managed to open an account with KRBS for their new special edition 3.6% one year bond I recieved a text timed at 6.oam this morning advising me that they had sent me an e-mail to advise me how to proceed to put money into the account. I thought it a little strange a text from a bank coming at 6.0am I have…
