Any point in cash ISAs atm?

p00hsticks

LannieDuck wrote: »

I agree 5 shares is risky. But it's only for a short period - I'm diversifying to 10 in April. (And the shares I've picked are reasonably low-risk... although I understand there's not really any such thing as 'no risk' with shares).

Ten years ago I considered 'blue chip' companies like Lloyds TSB, BT and Marks and Spencers low risk ...... they are all now worth a fraction of what I paid for them....

Your investing strategy really does not tie up with your statement about you being 'relatively adverse to risk' - I'd suggest that you at least look at trackers rather than individual shares.

LannieDuck

p00hsticks wrote: »

Ten years ago I considered 'blue chip' companies like Lloyds TSB, BT and Marks and Spencers low risk ...... they are all now worth a fraction of what I paid for them....

Your investing strategy really does not tie up with your statement about you being 'relatively adverse to risk' - I'd suggest that you at least look at trackers rather than individual shares.

Yes, I'm starting to think that a tracker might be good to have as part of a portfolio. Still not sure whether to sink the £20k balance from the cash ISA into S&S ISA or not, but I think next year's S&S allowance will go on a tracker and a couple of non-UK shares.

LannieDuck

Incidentally, does anyone know if there's a way for me to edit the thread title? The spelling mistake is annoying me...

innovate

click edit, then go advanced - you will be able to change the thread title

jimjames

LannieDuck wrote: »

Yes, certainly. I'm aware there's always going to be risk there, but it seems if I keep my money in a cash ISA atm I'm certain to lose a %.

After inflation but you are guaranteed to get back the capital you put into it plus some interest. With S&S you are not guaranteed to get anything back. Unlikely it would drop to zero in a fund but at least one share could easily go bust and lose you everything.

LannieDuck

innovate wrote: »

click edit, then go advanced - you will be able to change the thread title

Ah-ha! Perfect, thank you.

LannieDuck

jimjames wrote: »

After inflation but you are guaranteed to get back the capital you put into it plus some interest. With S&S you are not guaranteed to get anything back. Unlikely it would drop to zero in a fund but at least one share could easily go bust and lose you everything.

I've rather ignored funds so far because I don't really understand them (I have no idea how to pick a good one), and I don't like the idea of investing in something I don't understand. If I'm going to go down the route of investing in something that covers many different shares, I think I'd rather choose a tracker than a fund to begin with.

Edit: I've just spent my lunch hour reading the thread on S&S portfolios (https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4279833), and it seems that a lot of MSE people hold funds for all the different markets. I think this is something I need to look into.

xylophone

I have £20k in a cash ISA with the rate due to drop to 1% at the end of the month. I've had a look around the cash ISAs available atm, and they're all lower than inflation.

Transfer to an ISA with a rate better than this while you are thinking?
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/saving/article-1583864/Best-savings-rates-Isas-Cash-Isa-accounts-fixed-rate-Isas.html

innovate

LannieDuck wrote: »

I've rather ignored funds so far because I don't really understand them (I have no idea how to pick a good one),

Start reading up on things here: http://monevator.com/category/investing/passive-investing-investing/

"passive" investing is great even for people who have lots of time tracking the markets, and it's definitely great for people with little time

But as I said before - unless you can "park" your funds for at least 5 years, better longer than that, you shouldn't really consider S&S ISAs, or any other investment.

LannieDuck

innovate wrote: »

Start reading up on things here: http://monevator.com/category/investing/passive-investing-investing/

"passive" investing is great even for people who have lots of time tracking the markets, and it's definitely great for people with little time

But as I said before - unless you can "park" your funds for at least 5 years, better longer than that, you shouldn't really consider S&S ISAs, or any other investment.

Funnily enough, I was just this moment reading that (really should be working instead... :cool:) - I was coming here to thank you for the link that I picked up off another thread.

I definitely think I need some tracker funds.

There are two things here - i) the money for the S&S ISA for next year that I'm happy to lock away, ii) the cash ISA money that I quite liked having available (and may need withing 3-5 yrs).

I think I'll go with tracker funds for i), and think about the cash ISA a bit more. I might keep it as a cash ISA for now, and just get the best return I can for it.