Savings plan / investment info

Tigerstripe

Hi guys. I've been trying to digest some of the top info on this site. My wife and I have some savings and I have a few questions. We have approx £80,000, 30k each in ISAs + 20k in an esaver.

#1 Our current plan is just to find best rate possible for new ISAs & savings account and then to drip feed cash from the savings to a regular saver. Is there anything more advantageous I could do?

#2 We're unsure whether to transfer money from the esaver to one of the ISAs for this years allowance as rates are so low. Better to use savings / regular savers if aggregate rates after tax beat ISA?

#3 I would like to start up a investment account with a small amount £1-2k to invest in funds/ stocks after I've done research. I've traded derivatives in the past but no experience in long term investing. I've got a good selection of books to read at home but are there any resources I should be looking at to get to know what products are out there?

Thanks for any help. It makes my head spin trying to work out which products to go for.

Yorkie1

Noah, you've just copied and pasted from Wikipaedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Individual_Savings_Account

However you haven't actually provided anything useful to help the OP decide which direction to go in. Do you have any specific comments as I'd be interested in the answer too?

atush

You obv ned a cash savings buffer, so cahs ISAs are a good idea but you do need to look to transfer to better paying ones where you can.

The problem these days is, that rates don't match/meet inflation, so dripp feeding into equities is your best alternative. Be in an ISA, a pension (with tax relief added on for free) or in unwrapped investments.

You do take a risk with equities that they can fall after you buy, but drip feeding can reduce/remove this fear as you are not investing all at one time and if prices drop you can buy units at cheaper prices. This method does smooth volatility (and therefore worry ) from some investors. Also helps in that you don't have to keep such a close eye