Making my money work for me.

pushaton12

Hi there guys and girls, this is my first post on the forum so hopefully I'm posting in the right section.

I've managed to save up £15,000 which is currently in a instant access savings account earning very little interest.

I would like some feedback and opinions on what people think is the best thing to do with that £15,000.

Look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Gromitt

Well, that depends, do you need access to the cash? If so, when? This will affect the interest you get.

Do you have an ISA? If not, grab one now. Top of the screen, "Banking & Saving". Click it. Find one you like.

pushaton12

I don't necessarily need instant access but I was hoping for more options than simply just lumping it in an ISA.

Are there any recommendations however?

marathon_man_3

There is very little interest to be earned out there right now, thanks to current Bank of England policies, so there are few options available to earn decent rates with the banks and/or building societies.
I have no idea as to whether you want to take a gamble with your money, in the chase for higher returns, or just get a better return by playing safe.
If the latter, then a cash ISA could well be the way to go with the rest in a fixed term bond. Alternatively, you could have a combination of an ISA and the balance being invested in a fund.
You need to provide a bit more info.

pushaton12

Thanks, I am open to all suggestions.

I certainly wouldn't want to be in danger of losing the £15,000 but don't mind taking risks.

Honestly I'm not very good with how to use the money to my benefit and other than an ISA have never looked into anything else.

What would people do if it was their money?

ccbrowning

What sort of time frame are we talking about? Personally, I'd put a chunk into a Cash ISA and a chunk in a S&S ISA spread across some index tracker funds. That would only cover £11280, though - so what you do with the remainder depends on how long you plan to invest or save the money, etc.

pushaton12

Thanks ccbrowning, short term is preferable but again this is something I have very limited knowledge of.

Are there any particular cash ISA's that people recommend?

I've tried to look in S&S ISA's before but have been put off by the complexity of it, any tips on how to approach?

ccbrowning

I'd definitely recommend getting a copy of 'Smarter Investing' by Tim Hale and having a read - it's a great start.

In the short-terms, stocks and shares can be quite risky, although historically they do well in the long-term. If you have a very short period of time available to 'invest', you're more towards having to rely on interest from savings accounts, although most of them probably lose money due to paying less than inflation in most cases.

This forum has a subforum - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=18. There are some sticky threads at the top that cover ISAs so are worth a read-through. Not really too complicated, although a little bit of research is required.

Also, check out http://monevator.com as the site has quite a few articles on index investing. Personally my S&S ISA is on HL (can probably get better deals elsewhere though) and in Vanguard and Blackrock Index trackers - but do some research and see what is right for you.

pushaton12

Brilliant! Thank you ccbrowning, very helpful.