At nearly 19 years old what should my priorities be?

bobbyj_2

getting your leg over i'd have thought.

Judwin

rictus123 wrote: »

So right now priority is to fill my ISA every year. Just think what choices il have if i fill my isa every year between now and when im 30. About £60k not including intrest.

This would be a msitake I think. It's exactly what I did, and I think it was a mistake. A cash ISA is great for an emergency cash fund - 6 months salary etc. Or for saving for something in the short term - house deposit, wedding, etc.

Buit, if the intention is to "save" for 10-12 years, then you shouldn't be using a Cash ISA, at least some should be a SS ISA. With a cash ISA you will be lucky to get more than 2% greater than inflation as interest. In a well chosen SS ISA portfolio you might/should be able to achieve 5-10%, depending what you invest in.

Yes an SS ISA carries investment risk, and yes the value of your fund will go up and down daily, but over a 10 year period it is almost certain to massively out perform your Cash ISA.

IMHO
Cheers,
Judwin

PS - and I really-really think you should be putting at least something into a pension whilst you have the excess cash.

MacsReturns

With the sort of saving rate you can achieve, I wouldn't bother with a pension.

Why? Because you can save enough to be financially independent long before normal retirement age and you can't 'get at' a pension until then. Work at it and you could probably retire at 40...:beer:

opinions4u

Judwin wrote: »

Yes an SS ISA carries investment risk, and yes the value of your fund will go up and down daily, but over a 10 year period it is almost certain to massively out perform your Cash ISA.

Most stocks and shares ISAs sold are FTSE trackers. Can you show me how much they have massively outperformed cash ISAs by over the last 10 years please.

(It's not that I disagree with the general concept of the suggestion made, but when the FTSE100 was at 7,000 points a decade ago and is hovering at around 5,000 points today, any investor should have their eyes well and truly open before commtting their savings in such a way).

Judwin

opinions4u wrote: »

Most stocks and shares ISAs sold are FTSE trackers. Can you show me how much they have massively outperformed cash ISAs by over the last 10 years please.

(It's not that I disagree with the general concept of the suggestion made, but when the FTSE100 was at 7,000 points a decade ago and is hovering at around 5,000 points today, any investor should have their eyes well and truly open before commtting their savings in such a way).

My original statement was :

The SS ISA, I'd go with buying 3 or 4 funds on a monthly basis. Personally, I'd go risky on this (I can hear DunstonH firing up the Quattro on me!) - Emerging markets, China/Far East, BRIC etc.

Which I followed by :

In a well chosen SS ISA portfolio you might/should be able to achieve 5-10%, depending what you invest in.

Trackers dont constitute 'well chosen' to me. You may be correct that most SSISA's are Trackers but nowhere did I say I'd use Trackers - I don't like the UK stock market, and I really don't like the FTSE100. I would keeping approx 50% in cash, and 25% in medium risk Personal Pension funds, and 25% in 'risky-er' SS-ISA such as those mentioned above.

Cheers,
Judwin

atsoc15

My opinion is that if you don't know about shares then don't invest in them.

Im 24 and quite a traditional saver. The accounts i have for my savings are as follows.

Santander first home owner earning 5% and paying in 300 per month

3 Lloyds TSB Vantage accounts earning 4% (transfer 1k between themevery month) takes 2 minutes online

1 santander flexible isa paying 3.2% lumped 5200 into it (now only available to santander current account customers)

1 nationwide champion ISA paying 2.8% (for previos years isa's)

1 halifax rewards paying £5 /month (transfer 1k in and withdray it at time of down lloyds tsb vantage transfers)

1 egg 3% savings for the fivers i get from halifax rewards and interest from lloyds tsb vantage accounts.

You may be able to get better fixed rates for longer term however I plan to buy a house next year so need everything available when i need it.

rictus123

Cheers for the advice guys. I dont know a thing about trading/stocks and shares so im staying well away for now. Once my Isa is filled up im going to open one of them first time buyer accounts. Payday tomorrow. Going to empty my current account tonight, stick it all in my Isa then live off my pay until 2 weeks time, a day before next pay and do the same. Little by little im hoping for the 5k asap.



Im not bothing with any pension contributions at all, thats a complete no no just now.

But who was that above, how could i possibly retire at 40? I would love to but i just dont see how i could.

rictus123

Well point me in the right direction please?

Should i fill my Isa then invest in shares with whats left then?

rictus123

No thanks.

If inflation is making having cash worthless then whats a good place to invest it?

bodmil

Have you considered living abroad or doing seasonal work? It's fantastic fun and really quite insightful and liberating and while you can do it at any age, doing it when you're young is heaps better. It might not be your thing but I wish I had done it when I was 18.