Stocks, Shares and Investment Portfolio

perth_worker

Hello,

I have around 40K in savings. I have 18k in nationwide e-isa which as I understand pays 3.1% interests annually and the other money is in an Australian bank account which pays 5% interest (minus tax).

I would like to put some money into a stocks and shares isa. I have never invested money before and was after some advice; more specifically if someone could answer some of the following questions that would be a great help
- Which stocks and shares isa are good and with which bank
- How much should I put away and for how long
- What are the potential interest rates (and loss) I might receive and how can I find out about past performances of these stocks and shares. Are past performances a good indication of what will do well and what won’t do well
- Has anyone had good or bad experiences with the stocks and shares.

It goes without saying but any advice would be greatly appreciated.

A bit about me; Im 26 years old. Have no proper financial commitments (apart from my student loan) but no other debts. I currently live abroad but have a UK passport so I assume I should be eligible for ISA. I rent, and don’t own a house. I have used none of my isa allowance this yr. I save between 2-2.5k a month. I spend around 1-1.5k a month.

Dippy269

Does anyone know where I can change a lot of money?? I save in a jar 1 and 2 pound coins. I managed to save 700 pounds and my bank would only take 5 bags at a time??? How can i get it changed so my bank will take it? Or is there a bank that will takemore than 5 bags???

psychic_teabag

Dippy269 wrote: »

Does anyone know where I can change a lot of money?? I save in a jar 1 and 2 pound coins. I managed to save 700 pounds and my bank would only take 5 bags at a time??? How can i get it changed so my bank will take it? Or is there a bank that will takemore than 5 bags???

You should start a new thread rather than hijacking another thread for an unrelated question.

gadgetmind

perth_worker wrote: »

- Which stocks and shares isa are good and with which bank

Pretty much no investment product or advice from any bank is good.

Your other questions suggest that you don't (yet) have the background knowledge required to make sensible investment decisions, which is fine as no-one is born knowing this stuff.

The best approach would be for you to do a bit of reading, and there were a thread about this recently.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3973853

The most important thing to establish first is your investment goals and time scale.

CLAPTON

the nationwaide e-isa has a bonus attached which may or may not have run out; have you checked you really are getting 3.1%?


stocks and shares should be viewed as a longish term investment i.e. 5 years or more
Whether the S&S are in an ISA or not doesn't make a lot of difference for smallish sums

better at you age to keep the money readily accessible for a deposit on a house i.e. forget S&S and use savings accounts.

dunstonh

- Which stocks and shares isa are good and with which bank

banks have a very poor reputation for investments. Even those attached to known brand names where they will usually use funds which are designed to be retailed by the bank for their own benefit (internal compliance, share of charges and an acceptance of lower quality staff members). You should avoid using a bank.

- How much should I put away and for how long

Aren't you doing this back to front? You are asking for solutions before you know what your needs are. What are your objectives and over what period?

- What are the potential interest rates (and loss) I might receive and how can I find out about past performances of these stocks and shares. Are past performances a good indication of what will do well and what won’t do well

You wont get interest unless you used fixed interest securities but it wont be interest in the way it is with deposits. Past performance is no indication of future returns. Over a long period, it is a good indication of how it can perform in both negative and positive periods. i.e. if it saw a 40% loss in both the dot.com (and other events) at the start of the millennium and saw another 40% loss during the credit crunch then its fair to say that you should accept that it can happen again and should be willing to accept it will happen again.

- Has anyone had good or bad experiences with the stocks and shares.

Yes. There will be people with good and bad experiences. Most bad experiences will be down to a lack of understanding of risk. i.e. typically investing above their risk profile and pulling out after a drop that was always going to happen and then missing out on the recovery. They then go on to say they will never invest in the markets again but in reality it was their own fault.

I currently live abroad but have a UK passport so I assume I should be eligible for ISA.

That is an incorrect assumption. Residence for tax purposes bar some exceptions (crown employees for example)