Stocks & Shares ISA

pbouk

just wondering what are the experiences of the forum members regarding stocks & shares isa?
have any of you made money, lost money or broke even?

JoeCrystal

Why? Due to nature of Stocks and Share ISA, holding shares, funds and other investments, you might be as well, "How your portfolio performing?"

Cheers,
Joe

BLB53

just wondering what are the experiences of the forum members regarding stocks & shares isa?
have any of you made money, lost money or broke even?

I have held a s&s isa for over 10 yrs - run mainly for income. I no longer have a cash isa as the returns are a joke and these not likely to be much change over the coming 5 yrs (imo).

TBH, I don't take a lot of notice of share prices any longer - sometimes they go up, sometimes they go down - I'm more interested in the yield - which has been steadily increasing year after year.

In the earlier years I would reinvest the dividends but now I am retired, I mostly withdraw the income to live off.

I know most people are looking at share prices and the FTSE, but from my own experience, the way to make money long term is via yield.

A good book I would recommend is 'Slow & Steady Steps..' http://www.amazon.co.uk/Slow-Steady-Steps-Wealth-ebook/dp/B007EBLN3G/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1360356548&sr=1-1

also a couple of good websites, www.monevator.com www.retirementinvestingtoday.com and www.miserlyinvestor.com

gadgetmind

The OP's question is rather odd as an ISA is just a wrapper.

In a S&S ISA you can hold -
Long dated bonds
Short dated bonds (in a fund)
Gilts
Equities of many kinds.
Property
Infrastructure
Preference shares.
And much more.

What each person holds depends on many factors as they need to choose what they hold based on their own timescale, attitude to risk, age, and much more.

What someone else has or hasn't achieved is therefore of little relevance.

Biggles

I'd be happy to tell you how much I have made in my S&S ISA but, as pointed out above, it wouldn't help you at all.

ColdIron

have any of you made money, lost money or broke even?

Yup, all of those at one time or another

buglawton

There are big differences in how you can manage your Stocks & Shares ISA. HSBC for example, gives you an online control panel with the same login as your bank account. From here you can get quotes, buy, sell, keep track etc. Can be complicated but suits some.
By contrast Santander expect you to manage it by post.

innovate

buglawton wrote: »

There are big differences in how you can manage your Stocks & Shares ISA. HSBC for example, gives you an online control panel with the same login as your bank account. From here you can get quotes, buy, sell, keep track etc. Can be complicated but suits some.
By contrast Santander expect you to manage it by post.

Why would you have your S&S ISA with a bank?

buglawton

Because it is a one stop online solution run by a huge company that has to maintain financial reserves per govt legislation. Other online ISAs probably exist which are not part of a bank.

jimjames

buglawton wrote: »

Because it is a one stop online solution run by a huge company that has to maintain financial reserves per govt legislation. Other online ISAs probably exist which are not part of a bank.

Reserves by the bank have absolutely no bearing on a S&S ISA. If anything a bank is more risky than an investment provider as the providers are not running "casino" investment banking operations. I'm not sure from the reply above that you really understand a S&S ISA and the way protection schemes apply to them.

You can get far better one stop solutions not run by banks and most people would actually discount products offered by banks due to their cost, lack of flexibility and choice.

innovate

buglawton wrote: »

Because it is a one stop online solution run by a huge company that has to maintain financial reserves per govt legislation.

• banks will invariably offer you only their own investment products - depriving you of the best part of 95%+ of the investment products available in the market
• banks invariably levvy much higher charges than brokers and fund supermarkets
• banks do not guarantee your investment in the same way they give you an £85K FSCS guarantee on your cash
• you can have one-stop online access to your investments at all brokers and fund supermarkets. Not having your investments mixed up with your day-to-day finances and savings is probably a very good idea because they have entirely different management requirements

buglawton wrote: »

Other online ISAs probably exist which are not part of a bank.

They most definitely exist, and they will almost certainly make more of your money than a S&S ISA with a bank

But each to their own - if you prefer to see your investments in one place with your other finances and are happy to pay a premium for that, that's fine.