which money supermarkets

Filey

Ex has about £100K to invest. I have always had to see to the money side of things and nothing has changed!! He is in his 70s, basic tax payer, small pension and some investments.

I am suggesting to him maximum ISAs each year, and otherwise tracker funds. Any other suggestions would be appreciated, and I am wondering whether it would be better to buy through just one supermarket such as H-L, or go through several different ones. And are any of them 'better' than the others.

Your advice will be appreciated.

Lokolo

There's no point going to more than one supermarket because you can only invest money into one each tax year.

With £100k you should be looking at 10-20 funds. Are you comfortable with this? You could end up losing money.

dunstonh

And are any of them 'better' than the others.

Not all platforms are the same. The most common starting point for differences is unbundled vs bundled. It could well be that in June this year, unbundled platforms are banned (when the FSA publishes its report on platforms). Bundled platforms work well with retail unit trust/OEIC funds as the fund houses pay the platform to market and supply their funds. So, that allows them to charge you less. However, bundled platforms tend to offer little or no institutional funds or direct investments or charge extra for it if they do. So, an unbundled platform may be better if you want those sorts of investments or you want a more transparent and honest arrangement (which may cost you more at the moment).

Once you know how you want to invest you then can look at the platforms to see which offers what you are looking for at a cost that is right.

le_loup

I would have thought that with £100,000 and no knowledge, you need to employ an Independent Financial Advisor. What you don't want to do, is plonk the lot in a tracker and forget it.

psychic_teabag

Filey wrote: »

I am suggesting to him maximum ISAs each year, and otherwise tracker funds.

When you say ISAs do you mean cash ISAs ? It's just that if you mean S&S ISA, is there any reason to specifically choose trackers outside the ISA if different funds are being used inside the ISA ?

If you did mean just cash ISA's, then he may as well also use up his S&S ISA allowance for whichever funds are chosen.

Also, with apologies for being blunt, should perhaps be thinking about reducing possible inheritance tax liabilities in the future.

Filey

>>

Lokolo wrote: »

There's no point going to more than one supermarket because you can only invest money into one each tax year.>>

I know you can only go into one ISA each year. I meant he should put money into an ISA every year.

>>With £100k you should be looking at 10-20 funds. Are you comfortable with this? You could end up losing money.

>>

He is open to suggestions. What would you suggest.

Filey

le_loup wrote: »

I would have thought that with £100,000 and no knowledge, you need to employ an Independent Financial Advisor. What you don't want to do, is plonk the lot in a tracker and forget it.

I wasn't thinking of 'a' tracker, but ten or more, hoping to cover a variety of indexes.

An IFA could well be a good option, but how can you tell if he/she is honourable, and has Ex's interests at heart rather than his/her own? That is the problem.

And I wouldn't say I had 'no' knowledge. Not a lot perhaps, and not as much as you I expect, but more than some people, so let's say perhaps 'a little'. But I appreciate your input anyway. Any other suggestions?

Filey

psychic_teabag wrote: »

When you say ISAs do you mean cash ISAs ? It's just that if you mean S&S ISA, is there any reason to specifically choose trackers outside the ISA if different funds are being used inside the ISA ?

If you did mean just cash ISA's, then he may as well also use up his S&S ISA allowance for whichever funds are chosen.

Also, with apologies for being blunt, should perhaps be thinking about reducing possible inheritance tax liabilities in the future.

No need to apologise for being blunt Teabag. It's something we should all bear in mind if the possibility arises. I don't think he would be very far over the IHT threshold, but I'll suggest he works it out accurately, or as well as is possible. I'll suggest he gives more to his children and lives for a long time!

I meant he should use his full ISA allowance for the next 5 or 6 years in cash and S&S, even though as a basic rate tax payer the only advantage of the S&S part would be to avoid capital gains if he was to sell, which may not be all that likely anyway. He wants to build up an emergency fund in cash, and the cash ISAs seem a simple tax exempt way of doing it.

Thank you for your advice.

dunstonh

An IFA could well be a good option, but how can you tell if he/she is honourable, and has Ex's interests at heart rather than his/her own? That is the problem.

Its not difficult. You go fee option (common sense on 100k) and look at the information and research presented. You may not follow it all but you should be able to tell if quality time and effort has gone into it and the reasoning makes sense. If there is none of that then you avoid that one.