What will you be doing with your 2011 ISA allowance

himbo

I've always found Santander to have good cash ISA rates. Beware though: bad service and don't forget to move after a year (even if stay with them) when the rate drops!

masonic

himbo wrote: »

I've always found Santander to have good cash ISA rates. Beware though: bad service and don't forget to move after a year (even if stay with them) when the rate drops!

It's best never to come to such conclusions about a particular bank. It will only discourage you from seeking out better deals in the future. Consistency only matters if you get it without changing accounts.

cashbackproblems

ericonabike wrote: »

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.

as long as your not day trading you shouldnt be paying £10, iii have 2/3 days every month where you can buy for £1.50 all you need to do is set the trade the day before.

relaxtwotribes

Excuse me for asking, but why a Cash ISA? I have only ever put my money into a S&S ISA so that I can achieve returns of about 20% p.a. with a tax benefit coming from the dividends (not subject to HRT).
Those Cash ISAs seem to be very dangerous to me - pay you something pathetic like 5% p.a. just so you can guarantee getting your capital back some day. What a rip off!

cashbackproblems

relaxtwotribes wrote: »

Excuse me for asking, but why a Cash ISA? I have only ever put my money into a S&S ISA so that I can achieve returns of about 20% p.a. with a tax benefit coming from the dividends (not subject to HRT).
Those Cash ISAs seem to be very dangerous to me - pay you something pathetic like 5% p.a. just so you can guarantee getting your capital back some day. What a rip off!

5%??/ Dont you mean more like 2/3%!

People who dont have the intelligence to research and buy shares and take abit of risk use cash isa's

masonic

cashbackproblems wrote: »

5%??/ Dont you mean more like 2/3%!

Well I'm getting 5% on my cash ISA.

People who dont have the intelligence to research and buy shares and take abit of risk use cash isa's

So you'd avocate everyone investing in S&S ISAs then? Even if they have no other savings, or they need the money within a short timeframe?

ericonabike

cashbackproblems wrote: »

as long as your not day trading you shouldnt be paying £10, iii have 2/3 days every month where you can buy for £1.50 all you need to do is set the trade the day before.

Learning all the time! How do I find out which days of the month?

cashbackproblems

ericonabike wrote: »

Learning all the time! How do I find out which days of the month?

Log into your account, go manage my account, then regular investments, then under "investment plan" set the date of trade (the next available date is 17th of Feb) and below set the trades, and you will see how much it costs per trade e.g. 1.50 then stamp duty.

relaxtwotribes

cashbackproblems wrote: »

5%??/ Dont you mean more like 2/3%!

Yeah. I regard 5% as pathetic and 2/3% as even pathiccer (sp.).

To masonic,
the banks know that people will put their money into Cash ISAs in order to achieve a tax saving, even when they want their money to be available short term. That's why the interest rates are so appallingly low. You are getting 5%, but once you have 2 or 3 times the rainy day money you need at short notice, then the surplus should be put into shares. You are missing out if you don't and you are well advised to spend the time to find out how to invest in stocks and shares in order to increase your wealth.
(Not trying to be patronising, but might come across as such.)

Lokolo

relaxtwotribes wrote: »

Yeah. I regard 5% as pathetic and 2/3% as even pathiccer (sp.).

To masonic,
the banks know that people will put their money into Cash ISAs in order to achieve a tax saving, even when they want their money to be available short term. That's why the interest rates are so appallingly low. You are getting 5%, but once you have 2 or 3 times the rainy day money you need at short notice, then the surplus should be put into shares. You are missing out if you don't and you are well advised to spend the time to find out how to invest in stocks and shares in order to increase your wealth.
(Not trying to be patronising, but might come across as such.)

masonic won't disagree with that, but thats not what cashbackproblems said. Shares can be good when you can afford to invest over a longer period with excess money.

But saying that people shouldn't save in cash and should always use investments is plain stupid!