stocks and shares isa advice please

jamesey

im going to cash i think and just pay a lump off off my mortgage

jamesey

its a l&g uk index tracker isa

dunstonh

jamesey wrote: »

its a l&g uk index tracker isa

So its not underperfoming then. It is performing exactly where you would expect it to be for a UK index tracker.

jamesd

jamesey wrote: »

its now at 51k and it has another 4 years fixed at £415 per month , im wanting to know if i ought to cash the s&s isa in and pay the 10k off the mortgage along with the 4k i have saved up in my bank , will it be worth more nxt year maybe?

You've heard of buy low, sell high? You'd be doing the opposite. It's a good time to be buying investments like this one and a bad time to be selling them. We're still seeing reduced prices (so good for buyers) and are in the early stages of an economic recovery which is likely to produce a significantly higher value three or four years from now than it will today.

If you really can't resist it, do it in steps, taking a fifth out this year and the same again each year until the last one. That way you'll probably be better off than selling it all and are much less likely to be kicking yourself four years from now.

If you do cash it in, remember that you'll need to replace the insurance part if you still want that.

sheeslookinhot, well, you get three out of three for bad advice: not factoring in how much the insurance cost was, so you don't know whether there's been a gain or loss, not apparently knowing that this is performing as expected and not apparently knowing that values are likely to increase over the four years from now until the planned end, so it's a bad time to be selling.

mickra7851

Hi,
I have a cash Isa and a S&S ISA, both with the Halifax. Now the Cash ISA allowance will go up to £5.1K. I was thinking of cashing in the S&S and firing it into my Cash ISA then topping up through the year. I am getting the feeling on some of the forums its best if you are going to fill an ISA to do the cash one first?? I am also planning on over paying my mortgage so i wont have too much extra cash. Sorry I dont have any more details bar its a Halifax S&S ISA. I await your replies?

Mick

C_Mababejive

Should i self select with a S&S isa or buy into a fund?

My experience of funds is that they promise the world and deliver not that much.

Maybe ive been unlucky?

dunstonh

Should i self select with a S&S isa or buy into a fund?

My experience of funds is that they promise the world and deliver not that much.

Maybe ive been unlucky?

The answer is would your choices have been any better in the same periods?

Typically, the only reason a fund would not deliver is if you didnt understand it. Even the poor quality funds tend to follow the markets the invest in. So, if it doesnt do what you expect then that suggests you didnt understand where its investing. i.e. invest in a collection of UK shares individually and invest in a UK equity fund and you will generally get similar trends of performance.

C_Mababejive

dunstonh wrote: »

The answer is would your choices have been any better in the same periods?

Typically, the only reason a fund would not deliver is if you didnt understand it. Even the poor quality funds tend to follow the markets the invest in. So, if it doesnt do what you expect then that suggests you didnt understand where its investing. i.e. invest in a collection of UK shares individually and invest in a UK equity fund and you will generally get similar trends of performance.

I appreciate the point you are making and also that you have expertise in these matters.

But despite the small print...I'd say most people buying into funds have an expectation of growth,not loss.

These funds are marketed full of pazzezz smoke and mirrors which allude to growth of various amounts,usually based on notional or past history yet in reality,it can sometimes be that you actually feel the need to "get out" to cut your losses.

For example, A certain JPMorgan premier equity growth acc fund which turned 7K into £6.3k over a period of 7 years.

It does make one nervous of trusting such products...

dunstonh

For example, A certain JPMorgan premier equity growth acc fund which turned 7K into £6.3k over a period of 7 years.

It's not a great fund but I cant see how it made a loss in the last 7 years. Fin Express shows the last 7 years as 57.41% growth. This time last year its possible that it would have been but then that was the lowest point of the crash. You would have been in the same position with shares and most other UK equity funds.

edit added: 01-02-20002 to 01-03-2009 showed an 18% loss. So, in line with what you would expect. (FTSE100 was down 4.99% in same period). You had two major declines in that period. About a 25% loss in the first year, followed by an 80% gain over the next 4 years followed by a the large loss in the credit crunch and then global recession. If you had rebalanced against other sectors then you would have had gains. If you left it to its own devices (invest and forget) you would have had losses. If you hatnt have pulled out last year you would be 22% up

It does make one nervous of trusting such products...

Its not to do with trust. It's to do with knowing that there will be periods when it goes up and when it goes down and you could end up with less than you invested at certain times. If you don't understand that then you should not invest. That fund is a medium/high risk fund. Volatility of +/-40% is typical with that sort of fund. And that is exactly what you got. Over the last 12 months it made 41.67% and in 2008 it lost 37.77%. Both around the typical maximums for the level of risk. In the last few years we have seen both extremes which is unusual but always a possibility.

C_Mababejive

Well ...i guess i might be willing to give funds another chance with the upcoming new isa year but where and what? Theres too much information out there and too many products.