What will you be doing with your 2011 ISA allowance

Barros

ok ive put cash in a cash isa for a few years now, but to be honest i don't really get what a s&s isa is - does the bank manage it for me, can i lose money on it?

sorry for the basic questions

masonic

Barros wrote: »

ok ive put cash in a cash isa for a few years now, but to be honest i don't really get what a s&s isa is - does the bank manage it for me, can i lose money on it?

sorry for the basic questions

The S&S ISAs most of us are talking about are self-managed (we buy and sell investment funds and/or shares within our ISAs), and yes you can lose money.

Barros

masonic wrote: »

The S&S ISAs most of us are talking about are self-managed (we buy and sell investment funds and/or shares within our ISAs), and yes you can lose money.

Thanks Masonic, I'm not sure I like the idea of that though ... sounds a bit scary

jimjames

Barros wrote: »

Thanks Masonic, I'm not sure I like the idea of that though ... sounds a bit scary

It can do to start with. You don't have the guarantee that your money is there for you to withdraw whenever you want as with the bank. But equally the bank didn't give a return of 20% last year. The papers focus on the huge drop that happened in 2008/9. The reality is that the drop was around 40% and most of that has now been made up. If you had invested at the low point in 2009 your money would have risen by 60% to now.

If you don't need access to your money then the fact it has dropped on paper doesn't make a lot of difference.

clingwood

I have never looked at the S&S bit of an ISA is there a book, website I can start looking at because I haven't got a clue where to start or what to do!
Thanks for any info

WHITEVANMAN

Barros wrote: »

Thanks Masonic, I'm not sure I like the idea of that though ... sounds a bit scary

I find it more scary that by allowing rising inflation to help with debt reduction Govt and BoE are effectively stealing your cash savings to help pay for it by stealth.

WHITEVANMAN

clingwood wrote: »

I have never looked at the S&S bit of an ISA is there a book, website I can start looking at because I haven't got a clue where to start or what to do!
Thanks for any info

For a start you could try looking at the Isa section of this very board.

Wobblydeb

newcastleneil wrote: »

Thanks for all your replies.Its given me something to think about.I always thought the first thing to do was wallop the max into the highest ISA you could find .Just goes to show what a tit I am

Regards

PS .I might now think about a S AND S ISA now

Don't be so hard on yourself I think you got such a skewed response because you asked on the main Savings and Investments board. Regular posters around here tend to have reached the investment point in life. If you had asked the same question on the ISAs & Tax-free Savings sub-forum I think you would have got a totally different set of answers!

Whether you should put money into Cash or S&S ISA all depends upon your personal circumstances, and what your plans are for that money.

cashbackproblems

Stocks and shares not a penny in cash. What iv made in profit this yr from my shares would have taken 20years+ in interest in a cash ISA.

ericonabike

Have been into shares for almost a year now and have learnt as I've gone along. Scary to start with, but unless you are either incredibly unlucky or go for particulalry obscure companies, it's hard to see your investment becoming worthless. iii [Interactive Investor] and the othert online dealers have 'democratised' share dealing IMHO. Costs £10 a trade, but that acts for me as a reminder not to do the 'buy, buy buy/sel, sell sell!' thing too much.

Bought RBS at the bottom and doubled my money on them. Now have an ISA with money in BT, Aviva and Capita. The last one was a mistake, I think, but am waiting to see if it recovers. Having found out that S & S ISA won't include AIM [?] I've got a stack of GW Pharma shares separately.

I enjoy being in control - if I make a profit it's mine, and if I make a loss it's my fault. But start small would be my recommendation.