Cashing in ISA's

hamer

Hi everyone, me again.

Thanks again for your comments/ suggestions to my earlier queries and concerns but due to my inexperience I kept on dithering and ultimatley have paid the price.

This I believe is due to taking the advice of a good friend, who is experienced with financial dealings, who told me to ride it out.

I am now in the position to realise that due to the state of the market, our initial investment is now aprox 15% down.

I have since spoke again to my friend and expressed my dissapointment with his advice who in turn has reasoned that at the interest rates being offered at present it will take some seven or eight years to attain the level of the initial investment and that growth will be quicker in a shorter term, as and when the market improves.

Does anyone agree or otherwise.

Thanks,
Hamer

jamesd

Hamer, it remains the case that holding investments is likely to be the better approach than selling them and that you are likely to be better off transferring that one to a fund supermarket and choosing from the broader range of investments available there.

It also appears that you aren't really a suitable person to be using investments of this sort, since you appear very concerned over quite modest value changes during a time when extraordinary movements in the markets are happening that you've been mostly isolated from by this quite cautious investment. Given what has been happening, it's performance has been entirely reasonable. Still better to switch as discussed above.

The fund supermarkets will offer you access to cash funds and money market funds that you can use to reduce the potential movement in the future if you wish. I wouldn't do that or really recommend it, instead I'd suggest now that you consider some corporate bond funds. However, those could see a decrease in value even now, so if you're most concerned by that in the short term, they wouldn't be suitable for you even if they might work well in the longer term.