saving decisions

tony_b

ok, heres the quandary...


Im 49 (50 in January) and thinking of taking it easy (semi retiring from when Im about 57ish)


I have a pensionable salary of around £55k, no mortgage and no other debts - I already pay about £400 per month into AVCs (I work for BT)


I have about £80k of BT shares of which I can only sell within my CGT allowance each year (I haven't used any of this years allowance yet)


I have a Santander 123 account with £18k balance which is rising each month by about £750 (ish)


Im looking for suggestions where to stick some savings for about 5 to 10 years, either by emptying some cash from my Santander or by moving some shares around - Im also quite a low risk person - I hate the phrase "your investments could go down etc"


Is a S&S ISA the best route?


Im also a complete novice when it comes to savings etc and will probably seek advice, just need some thoughts before that advice


Thanks all.......

Eco_Miser

Have a read of http://monevator.com/ for investment ideas. Either S&S ISA or pension (currently accessible at age 55) or both would be the vehicle for investing, but that's just the vehicle, there's a whole world (literally) of shares and bonds and funds of shares and or bonds out there to choose from.
I hate the phrase "your investments could go down etc" too, but I console myself and keep my nerve by remembering that they usually go up again, to more than they were before they dropped. Some just keep dropping of course. Funds help here as mostly they spread your money among so many companies that an individual company dropping like a stone has minimal effect on your total wealth.

AndyT678

tony_b wrote: »

I work for BT

tony_b wrote: »

I have about £80k of BT shares

tony_b wrote: »

Im also quite a low risk person

Oh no you're not!

You are taking massive risks with your future income (employment), pension and most of your wealth tied up in 1 company. Check out the BT share price from 2000 - 2001 for a demonstration of that.

jimjames

tony_b wrote: »

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I have about £80k of BT shares of which I can only sell within my CGT allowance each year (I haven't used any of this years allowance yet)

Im looking for suggestions where to stick some savings for about 5 to 10 years, either by emptying some cash from my Santander or by moving some shares around - Im also quite a low risk person - I hate the phrase "your investments could go down etc"

Is a S&S ISA the best route?

Thanks all.......

The two statements don't really stack up to me. Low risk is not holding all your investment in a single company shares. I assume from your post that you have no other investments as you've not mentioned them but if you really are a low risk investor you should diversify asap.

S&s ISAs are a good way to go as they give tax protection and you can hold all sorts of investments inside them. It may also be possible to move some BT shares into an ISA if they came from share save scheme in certain timescales.

Have a look at https://www.monevator.com for more info on investing.

tony_b

Thanks for that link - im currently ploughing through the bottomless pit of information and getting ideas. The issue I have with "all my eggs in one basket" is that Im limited to CGT allowances obviously - so moving more than I can is a non starter - last years allowances finally allowed me to be mortgage free and I simply haven't got round to moving anything this year.


Im tempted to move as much as I can into AVCs and let the tax man give me 40% back on what I move.


choices choices - thanks for the advice so far.....