Newbie - 12K to invest - is a Maxi Isa best and if so any recommendations?

clama1288

I have £12,000 to invest. Is a Maxi Isa the best place to invest it? A friend of mine has their money in a Virgin Maxi and is pleased. I looked for info on Maxi's on this website but couldn't find any recommendations. Is there a better way than a Maxi Isa to invest teh money? Can anyone help? I am brand new to this making money work for you - it was seeing this website that gave me inspiration to do it! Any advice/tips are very welcome!! Thank you!

dunstonh

A friend of mine has their money in a Virgin Maxi and is pleased

Very easily pleased then. It isnt a good choice of provider and the fund range offered is far too limited for £12k.

I looked for info on Maxi's on this website but couldn't find any recommendations.

It would be impossible to have any recommendations as investing doesnt work that way.

EdInvestor

A maxi ISA is a tax wrapper.You can put 7k a year in it, which means that the capital gains and income from the money invested is not subject to tax.

More important is what you want to invest the money in.Have you considered that?

Shares, commercial property and bonds are the three main investment asset classes.

clama1288

Thanks very much for your reply. Am I going down the wrong track with a Maxi Isa then? No, I hadn't given any thought to what to invest the money in as I though a Maxi Isa made that decision for you by spreading it across a number of things. The other option I heard about was Guaranteed Equity Bond with NS&I although I would have to wait until next year for that. Would that be a better option? I really am confused by what is out there as it's so new to me. I know that I need to get this 12K working for me, I simply don't know how and am scared of making a bad decision and ultimately losing it!

clama1288

Thanks very much for your reply. I think I need to totally reassess and do some research! Any suggestions for the best way to make this 12K work for me?

dunstonh

Am I going down the wrong track with a Maxi Isa then?

Not at all.

No, I hadn't given any thought to what to invest the money in as I though a Maxi Isa made that decision for you by spreading it across a number of things.

It doesnt do it by itself (unless you pick an ISA provider that only offers one fund). You have to pick the funds or get a financial adviser to do it for you.

The other option I heard about was Guaranteed Equity Bond with NS&I although I would have to wait until next year for that. Would that be a better option?

Worse.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=196334&highlight=guaranteed+equity+bond

That thread will make good reading for you and put you off any GEB straight away.

I really am confused by what is out there as it's so new to me. I know that I need to get this 12K working for me, I simply don't know how and am scared of making a bad decision and ultimately losing it!

You need to work out your risk profile and then select a range of funds to suit your risk profile with amounts going into each that average out to meet your risk profile. That can take a lot of understanding and reading up on and some just ignore if and plump for the virgin ISA limited fund options.

Your choice is to do the reading up and learn or get an IFA to do it for you.

clama1288

Ok, I'll have to do some reading. Thanks very much for taking the time to help me, i really appreciate it.