Complete novice to stocks and shares ISAs

noelphobic

I have put the maximum annual amount in this years cash ISA. I have other savings getting pretty poor interest rates. I have owned shares in the past and still have some Santander ones (not in an ISA). I got my fingers burned when the stock market crashed (too many Alliance and Leicester ones!) so am risk averse. However, interest rates are so dire at the moment that I have considered investing in a stocks and shares ISA. Other than knowing the annual limit, I think (is it £5760?) I don't know a great deal about them. Can anyone advise or point me to a good source of info please.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

BLB53

Its fairly easy to open a S&S ISA a/c with an online broker - I use Sippdeal but there are lots to choose from.

If you are investing for income, you could consider 2 or 3 investment trusts which will give you around 4% at current prices - most pay out quarterly. I have City of London, Temple Bar, Edinburgh and Murray International.

For more reading visit https://www.monevator.com and https://www.diyinvestoruk.blogspot.co.uk/

You are correct - £5,760 is the limit if you have put money into a cash ISA (you can put £11,520 into a S&S ISA if you haven't subscribed to a cash ISA).

dunstonh

I got my fingers burned when the stock market crashed (too many Alliance and Leicester ones!) so am risk averse.

Or writing that another way, you invested badly before by using high risk investments and lacking diversification. It isn't that it should make you averse to risk. It should make you more careful in future to not make the same mistakes. Investing above you risk profile and investing badly is a common DIY error for inexperienced investors. So, you are not alone.

At least you are doing something different to the others that make the same mistakes and considering reinvesting. Going forward, you need to diversify and make sure your investments are within your risk profile and your capacity for loss. That way you won't suffer the same issues again.

noelphobic

dunstonh wrote: »

Or writing that another way, you invested badly before by using high risk investments and lacking diversification. It isn't that it should make you averse to risk. It should make you more careful in future to not make the same mistakes. Investing above you risk profile and investing badly is a common DIY error for inexperienced investors. So, you are not alone.

At least you are doing something different to the others that make the same mistakes and considering reinvesting. Going forward, you need to diversify and make sure your investments are within your risk profile and your capacity for loss. That way you won't suffer the same issues again.

I worked for Alliance and Leicester at the time and got them through the Sharesave scheme. Although I did well when I sold some of them I held on to others for too long. I also had Bradford and Bingley shares that I got when I had an account with them. I made the mistake of putting all my eggs in one basket and in the same sector. Not one I'll make again!

The only shares I currently hold are the Santander ones that were converted from the Alliance and Leicester ones.

EdGasket

x-o is a cheap execution only service. You could buy 2 ETFs, iShares IUKD and IAPD for UK income and Asia pacific region income repectively. These pay > 4% and have lower fund charges than conventional investment trusts. As they are funds, they contain many shares so your risk is reduced compared to owning individual shares. You could still lose capital value though in a general stockmarket crash but equally you could increase capital as well as collecting dividends.