Junior ISA Plummeting - What can I do?

vp123

Hi everyone

I have set up a Junior ISA for my daughter with OneFamily. I checked the value today and it has dropped by over £1,200 within 18 days!! As the account can only be accessed by my daughter when she turns 18, what can I do to protect the money I have invested for her? I know that there is a risk with investing in a stocks and shares savings account, but surely there must be a way for me to move the money to a fixed interest rate account until the financial market stabilises again?

Thanks in advance!

masonic

How will you predict when is a good time to reinvest? Did you predict that it would be a good time to sell last month?

Alexland

You can transfer it to a Cash JISA which still pay 3%+ interest rates. Although I don't think Onefamily has an option to uninvest the money while the transfer is being processed. When I transfered a JISA out of Onefamily (only signed up for the bonus) it took about a month during which time the valuation will remain volatile - but their asset allocation is less volatile than the stock market.
Unless your daughter needs the money in the next few years the best answer is probably to accept uncertainty and leave it invested for the likely recovery then derisk as you get closer to withdrawal. Selling low and buying when next high again doesn't sound like the best plan.

dunstonh

I checked the value today and it has dropped by over £1,200 within 18 days!!

Context is needed.  A drop of that size on a £2500 fund starting point is catastrophic.   A drop of that size on a £10k fund is routine.

vp123

dunstonh said:

I checked the value today and it has dropped by over £1,200 within 18 days!!

Context is needed.  A drop of that size on a £2500 fund starting point is catastrophic.   A drop of that size on a £10k fund is routine.

The fund was sitting at £6.8k and today is £5.2k. My daughter is only 8, so 10 more years of saving time ahead of us, but I'm obviously concerned that everything I've saved so far will disappear. I contacted OneFamily and they have said that the funds can be transferred to a cash-based CTF or JISA account which would have a fixed rate, but less long term growth potential.

dunstonh

 but I'm obviously concerned that everything I've saved so far will disappear.

If that happened, you wouldn't care about the JISA as you would be looking at a return to a medieval lifestyle.  Statistically, that would probably mean you would end up dead.

I contacted OneFamily and they have said that the funds can be transferred to a cash-based CTF or JISA account which would have a fixed rate, but less long term growth potential.

And you would probably never recover the money lost so far.

The loss suffered so far is less than both the dot.com period and credit crunch.   Two events that are recent history (last 20 years).  Losses of this level are pretty routine over the decades.  So, you shouldn't be surprised that a loss like this has happened.  It was always going to happen again and it will occur again in the future many more times.

The usual thing to do it keep paying in your regular contributions (as this is great news for money not needed in the near future - you need periods like this for regular contributions to do well) and close your eyes to it and wait until you come out the other side.

Albermarle

that everything I've saved so far will disappear

It might go further  down ( or up ) but it will not  go to zero , or anywhere close. 

If the global financial situation was that bad , you would be worrying about protecting your stash of baked beans from armed looters and would probably have totally forgotten about JISA.

cleoeasta

I find some of these comments very insensitive & patronising. It’s my first time on this forum - thought it was to help? My son just turned 18 & what was nearly £7k 3 weeks ago is now £5.3k. We’re not loaded. He is autistic & we need to help him move it to a normal savings “adult” isa. I understand there’s a crisis but should I just leave it where is is, dormant for several years? I never realised it could drop this badly - for us that was 2 years of our savings worth wasted and he is due the money now.

masonic

cleoeasta said:

I find some of these comments very insensitive & patronising. It’s my first time on this forum - thought it was to help?

This is a discussion forum, where people are also sometimes willing to volunteer their time for free to help others. If it's help you want, then casting aspersions at those who have so far made only constructive comments in this thread, is perhaps not going to encourage others to be charitable or those who have been accused inclined to engage with you.

As far as I can see, this is your first post on this thread and none of the comments above were directed at you.

cleoeasta said:

My son just turned 18 & what was nearly £7k 3 weeks ago is now £5.3k. We’re not loaded. He is autistic & we need to help him move it to a normal savings “adult” isa. I understand there’s a crisis but should I just leave it where is is, dormant for several years? I never realised it could drop this badly - for us that was 2 years of our savings worth wasted and he is due the money now.

This is a duplicate of https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/77009209#Comment_77009209 

Answered there.

SFindlay

cleoeasta said:

I find some of these comments very insensitive & patronising. It’s my first time on this forum - thought it was to help? My son just turned 18 & what was nearly £7k 3 weeks ago is now £5.3k. We’re not loaded. He is autistic & we need to help him move it to a normal savings “adult” isa. I understand there’s a crisis but should I just leave it where is is, dormant for several years? I never realised it could drop this badly - for us that was 2 years of our savings worth wasted and he is due the money now.

Don't see what's been insensitive or patronising about any of the replies but do find it rude that you've jumped onto 2 people's threads who asked advice and tried to take them over with your own question which is same on both threads!! Maybe you should start your own thread if have something to ask??