Stocks, shares, and funds ISA. HBOS..

IT_nerd

I'm currently moving all my banking to Halifax since natwest don't open on a saturday. This was fine when I was a student but now it's damn near impossible to pay in cheques or even talk to someone.
So I've opnened my current account and I'm opening a cash ISA there (£3,600), a standard instant access saver (£10,400) for the bulk of my money, and a stocks and shares ISA (£1,750).
The FA (Not IFA obviously) set me at a medium risk investor by getting me to answer some questions. And I think that's right.
I was planning to put in £250 into my S&S ISA and then £250 into my savings account each month (allthough when next financial year starts £250 will be going into my Cash ISA rather than savings account).

With the S&S ISA I don't plan on touching that money before 5 years is up, and I want to keep it in there for 10+ years really..

Does this sound like a good plan for the future? To get some decent savings going.
In the current climate with BoE base rate drop I feel my money wont be working at all for me if I leave it in a standard saver.

Any advice?

The FA is looking into funds for me at the moment and I have a second meeting with him at some point.

jem16

IT_nerd wrote: »

Does this sound like a good plan for the future? To get some decent savings going.

The savings side of it sounds a good plan. Which savings account is it?

However the S&S ISA plan with the Halifax is not good. Halifax investments are rubbish - just do a search on here and you will find many complaints.

The FA is looking into funds for me at the moment and I have a second meeting with him at some point.

The FA will simply offer you funds that fit into your risk profile. You will make the choice. You will probably end up with it all in one single fund.

You would be far better off seeing an IFA who will select the funds for you - probably around 5 to diversify.

Blah99

I'm surprised your Natwest doesn't open on a Saturday. My 4 local ones always have, and they're running a big advertising campaign about how late they open on Saturday (or something).

Anyway...

I was planning to put in £250 into my S&S ISA and then £250 into my savings account each month (allthough when next financial year starts £250 will be going into my Cash ISA rather than savings account).

So you're only paying into your S&S ISA this year, then you're putting all your cash into your Cash ISA next year? Any reason you're doing that?

Anyway you don't need to mess around with IFAs etc who will charge you fees for selecting funds. Go to a site like Interactive Investor's Funds page (http://www.iii.co.uk/funds) and use their fund selector and fund builder functions. You're not doing anything different to your IFA, and the vast majority of the time IFA's can't make better decisions than the rest of us. Remember, simply being qualified as an IFA doesn't make them a magic financial genius...

dunstonh

The FA is looking into funds for me at the moment and I have a second meeting with him at some point.

Is that because you want low quality funds that are likely to be closed in the new future (when Scot Widows take them over) and you want to be sold to rather than advised?

Anyway you don't need to mess around with IFAs etc who will charge you fees for selecting funds.

If the OP is considering using Halifax then its fair to assume they dont know anything about the subject. No-one in their right mind would use Halifax for investments if they knew the subject. So, telling them to go DIY isnt really going to help as no doubt they would just end up fashion investing or going above their risk profile (as far too many inexperienced DIY investors do.

IT_nerd

Blah99 wrote: »

I'm surprised your Natwest doesn't open on a Saturday. My 4 local ones always have, and they're running a big advertising campaign about how late they open on Saturday (or something).

I know! I saw their "satwest" advertising campaign and thought that was that. Went there on a saturday, not open.
Went there at lunch during work and they said they wouldn't be opening on a saturday and had no plans too.

Blah99 wrote: »

So you're only paying into your S&S ISA this year, then you're putting all your cash into your Cash ISA next year? Any reason you're doing that?

Nooo. This year i'm going to max out my Cash ISA allownece right away. £3600 into it right away. So I can't regular save £250 into that. So I will be putting £250 into my savings acount (not isa) and £250 into my S&S ISA.
Then when the next financial year comes I will be putting £250 into my cash isa and £250 into my S&S isa.
Each month,

Also, I'll look at that iii webstie.

As for halifax funds being bad, I searched the forum for posts about "bad halifax investments" and it was basically just returning posts from a user by the name of "dunstonh" over and over. I come back here and I see that he/she has posted in my very thread about how bad halifax investments are... A little fishy if you ask me.


Really what I want is a FTSE 100 linked ISA. Which they do seem to offer.
Oh, and a self select portfolio builder too.

Blah99

dunstonh wrote: »

So, telling them to go DIY isnt really going to help as no doubt they would just end up fashion investing or going above their risk profile (as far too many inexperienced DIY investors do.

Hopefully the OP will go and look at the link, play around with the settings then come to the realisation that they currently have a knowledge gap. They'll then decide they want to manage their money properly. They'll then go and spend some time reading some books and websites, improving their knowledge of financial principles. The end result is that in a few weeks to a month or so they'll have a decent knowledge base from which to make their investment decisions.

There is an incredible lack of financial knowledge in this country. Everyone needs to take personal responsibility for teaching themselves the foundations of proper financial management. Far too many people just don't bother, or erroneously believe it's "too hard".

jem16

IT_nerd wrote: »

As for halifax funds being bad, I searched the forum for posts about "bad halifax investments" and it was basically just returning posts from a user by the name of "dunstonh" over and over. I come back here and I see that he/she has posted in my very thread about how bad halifax investments are... A little fishy if you ask me.

Nothing fishy about it.

Dunstonh is an IFA and a well respected member of this forum. You will find that he has responded to most threads regarding investments.

Really what I want is a FTSE 100 linked ISA. Which they do seem to offer.

So you want to track the index that over the last 14 years has been the worst performing? OK no guide to future performance but you would be far better at least tracking the all-share index.

If you really want to go DIY than Hargreaves & Lansdown would be the way to go for funds. However I'm not sure you are at the DIY stage yet.

Keensaver

Hi,
Have recently planned to open a HBOS S&S ISA portfolio which is medium risk. First time at doing this..and have not started my first payment yet...
Looking to drip feed £300 a month into it...hoping in 5 years I will make a reasonable return.

Are HBOS really that bad?!!!

dunstonh

Are HBOS really that bad?!!!

Yes. Havent you checked for yourself before you hand the money over to a sales rep?

jem16

Keensaver wrote: »

Are HBOS really that bad?!!!

Banks do best at savings - stick to that with a bank and they are fine.

For investments they are poor quality but fairly typical of what banks offer.

Lansdowne

I would suggest that the local Halifax branch being open on a Saturday is a fair reason to switch your bank account and regular savings to them. It is a rubbish reason to use them for fund or shares investments.

I was persuaded by a (non independent) adviser at the building society to invest in their own (Norwich Union) fund. What I wasn't told there is that 5% is creamed off at source so only 95% of your money is invested in the fund. Whereas by going to Hargreaves Lansdown, iii, etc, they absorb most or all of this initial charge. I have now signed up with Chartwell Direct who not only absorb the initial charge but offer cashback on annual renewal charges.

Going this route, of course, you're on your own as far as choosing the right funds, so an IFA may be the better option for you.