S & S Isa's

Mikey17

Hello, forgive my noobness. I have been looking at stocks and shares Isa's, for the very first time.I am completely baffled.
Obviously there is risk involved. Can you please answer some basic questions
1 Can you invest in a cash isa with one company ( eg Halifax ) and a S & S Isa with another ?
2 I read somewhere, investing S & S's with places like the Halifax may incur lots of charges.Would somewhere like Bestinvest be better ?
3 Looking at Betsinvest Isa's, I clicked on their suggested Isa portfolios, clicked on
' growth cautious ISA' only to find, the minimum investment was £7143, why is this ?
4 Considering my total lack of knowledge, in this area, what do you think. Is it better to talk to someone from the Halifax, use Bestinvest or put my money in a savings account.I do not mind a very low risk.

Your comments are very much appreciated, ( please don't be too unkind )

dunstonh

Can you invest in a cash isa with one company ( eg Halifax ) and a S & S Isa with another ?

yes

2 I read somewhere, investing S & S's with places like the Halifax may incur lots of charges.Would somewhere like Bestinvest be better ?

Banks tend to have higher charges and lower quality investment funds. As it happens Halifax are not that expensive but their funds are lower quality.

Bestinvest, like any other platform, will offer a much wider range and allow virtual whole of market access but the charges could be higher and you would not get consumer protection as you would with an advised investment. However, you could get lower charges as well depending on the investments selected.

3 Looking at Betsinvest Isa's, I clicked on their suggested Isa portfolios, clicked on
' growth cautious ISA' only to find, the minimum investment was £7143, why is this ?

Perhaps it was just an example?

4 Considering my total lack of knowledge, in this area, what do you think. Is it better to talk to someone from the Halifax, use Bestinvest or put my money in a savings account.I do not mind a very low risk.

You shouldnt seek advice on investments from a bank. There is no point seeing a sales rep with a limited investment range. Your options should be either to see a local IFA (which gives you whole of market access) or to DIY. DIY will probably be cheaper for small amounts but like anything you DIY, if you do it well, you save money. If you get it wrong you can make a pigs ear of it and it can end up costing you more. That is individual choice for you to make.

Rollinghome

Mikey17 wrote: »

Hello, forgive my noobness. I have been looking at stocks and shares Isa's, for the very first time.I am completely baffled.
Obviously there is risk involved. Can you please answer some basic questions
1 Can you invest in a cash isa with one company ( eg Halifax ) and a S & S Isa with another ?
2 I read somewhere, investing S & S's with places like the Halifax may incur lots of charges.Would somewhere like Bestinvest be better ?
3 Looking at Betsinvest Isa's, I clicked on their suggested Isa portfolios, clicked on
' growth cautious ISA' only to find, the minimum investment was £7143, why is this ?
4 Considering my total lack of knowledge, in this area, what do you think. Is it better to talk to someone from the Halifax, use Bestinvest or put my money in a savings account.I do not mind a very low risk.

Your comments are very much appreciated, ( please don't be too unkind )

1. Your cash ISA and S&S ISA can be entirely separate from each other.

2. IFAs are paid two kinds of commission by the unit trust managers for selling their products: initial commission, usually around 3% or so which comes from the initial charge, and trail commission paid each if they persuade you to keep the investment which is usually around 0.5% each year but can be double that. (Many low cost "tracker funds" don't pay commission and are therefore usually avoided by IFAs.)

Bestinvest normally refund the initial charge and Hargreaves Lansdown normally refund both the initial charge and a small part of the annual trail commission.

3. The minimum lump-sum for a H-L ISA is £1000 and I'd expect Bestinvest to be similar.

4. Don't be in any hurry to invest before you fully understand it all. S&S ISAs can be of limited value for many people so make sure you understand it all first. An "adviser" at the Halifax is little more than a salesman working on bonuses, as are most IFAs working on commission (most IFAs are former bank or insurance salesmen). Whether stocks and shares or cash savings are best for you depends very much on your personal position.

MacsReturns

Well, my plan is to build a diverse portfolio of high-yield equities for income rather than capital growth to put into a self-select ISA. The most important part of the plan is I'll be spending the next few months in research before parting with any money. The second most important part is spending the next few months in research before parting with any money. After that I'll probably spend a bit of time girding my loins to accept exposure to risk

I think the two best 'rules' I've heard so far are "Do your own research" and "Don't invest in anything you don't understand". At least that way, if you come a cropper it's only because you screwed up or were unlucky, and not because someone gave you bad advice or ripped you off...

Mikey17

Thanks for your replies, much appreciated

fairtrade

Very low risk?

Are you looking for investment or a guaranteed return?

How much to you want to invest and over how long?