Maxed out LISA but have more to contribute! Any advice please?

Jsutherland7

Hi there I’m currently saving for a house deposit,
ive been using MoneyBox for the last 2 financial years and have maxed both years out. But still with 6 or so months left of the year I’d still like to contribute to my savings to speed up my house buying and was just wondering what my best option is to contribute money to whatever account is best?

if anyone could get back with some advice that would be amazing
tia
james

Emmia

Stocks & Shares ISA? Moneybox also offers those (in 3 risk levels) if you want to have it all on the same platform to make management easier.

Alternatively it may depend on how long you plan to save for / how quickly you'll need the cash to buy a place.

Jsutherland7

Emmia said:

Stocks & Shares ISA? Moneybox also offers those (in 3 risk levels) if you want to have it all on the same platform to make management easier.

Alternatively it may depend on how long you plan to save for / how quickly you'll need the cash to buy a place.

I’m not familiar with stocks and shares to be honest but did notice moneybox had them.. I’m unsure of exactly when I need the money by but each month will be different, the sooner the better of course 

only problem I worry about the stocks and shares is the risk of my hard earned cash? 

Emmia

How much are you looking to save? What is your timeframe for saving?

Moneybox does risk based investing where typically a low risk portfolio would have a greater proportion in cash/government bonds in than stocks, a medium risk is a mix of cash/bonds and stocks - more heavily weighted to stocks, and the high risk is mostly stocks with very little in cash. Have a poke around in the app, they do explain/ set it out quite well. 

In terms of Moneybox I'm currently using the medium risk option, and I think I'm currently up around 5% - but over the last 12 months it's been down by around 12% and up by about the same amount. My HSBC S&S ISA (which I've not paid into this year, in accordance with the rules) is also medium risk and is doing about the same overall. I'm investing for the long term though - 5+ years.

I'm a total novice at this and pretty risk averse when it comes to money/savings, but I've found the Moneybox platform easy to understand and engage with, HSBC less so to be blunt.

Typically more risk offers the option for greater returns, but also losses. If you want super low risk with fairly easy access, then NS&I is the way to go, possibly with some premium bonds (also NS&I) to give you a chance at winnings.

You could also look at things like the HSBC regular saver if you're looking to put money away regularly over the course of a year.

masonic

Jsutherland7 said:

Emmia said:

Stocks & Shares ISA? Moneybox also offers those (in 3 risk levels) if you want to have it all on the same platform to make management easier.

Alternatively it may depend on how long you plan to save for / how quickly you'll need the cash to buy a place.

I’m not familiar with stocks and shares to be honest but did notice moneybox had them.. I’m unsure of exactly when I need the money by but each month will be different, the sooner the better of course 

only problem I worry about the stocks and shares is the risk of my hard earned cash? 

Unless you definitely won't be buying a house for at least 5 years, but preferably 10 years, you can cross a S&S ISA off your list of options. Interest is not going to be material in shortening the time required to save your deposit, and other than the loss leader 2.75% regular saver accounts mentioned above, which could tie up a few £k of savings, NS&I income bonds look the best option in the market at the moment.

grumiofoundation

Jsutherland7 said:

Emmia said:

Stocks & Shares ISA? Moneybox also offers those (in 3 risk levels) if you want to have it all on the same platform to make management easier.

Alternatively it may depend on how long you plan to save for / how quickly you'll need the cash to buy a place.

I’m not familiar with stocks and shares to be honest but did notice moneybox had them.. I’m unsure of exactly when I need the money by but each month will be different, the sooner the better of course 

only problem I worry about the stocks and shares is the risk of my hard earned cash? 

If you need the money in the short/medium term (which seems likely if saving for a house) stocks and shares are not suitable for you unless you are willing to risk the money invested dropping in value.

If you want to look at stocks and shares there are far better options than moneybox anyway.

Jsutherland7

grumiofoundation said:

Jsutherland7 said:

Emmia said:

Stocks & Shares ISA? Moneybox also offers those (in 3 risk levels) if you want to have it all on the same platform to make management easier.

Alternatively it may depend on how long you plan to save for / how quickly you'll need the cash to buy a place.

I’m not familiar with stocks and shares to be honest but did notice moneybox had them.. I’m unsure of exactly when I need the money by but each month will be different, the sooner the better of course 

only problem I worry about the stocks and shares is the risk of my hard earned cash? 

If you need the money in the short/medium term (which seems likely if saving for a house) stocks and shares are not suitable for you unless you are willing to risk the money invested dropping in value.

If you want to look at stocks and shares there are far better options than moneybox anyway.

Thank you!
so Would you reccomend going with the NS&I premium bonds then? 

Emmia

Jsutherland7 said:

grumiofoundation said:

Jsutherland7 said:

Emmia said:

Stocks & Shares ISA? Moneybox also offers those (in 3 risk levels) if you want to have it all on the same platform to make management easier.

Alternatively it may depend on how long you plan to save for / how quickly you'll need the cash to buy a place.

I’m not familiar with stocks and shares to be honest but did notice moneybox had them.. I’m unsure of exactly when I need the money by but each month will be different, the sooner the better of course 

only problem I worry about the stocks and shares is the risk of my hard earned cash? 

If you need the money in the short/medium term (which seems likely if saving for a house) stocks and shares are not suitable for you unless you are willing to risk the money invested dropping in value.

If you want to look at stocks and shares there are far better options than moneybox anyway.

Thank you!
so Would you reccomend going with the NS&I premium bonds then? 

Premium bonds only offer "interest" in the form of prizes - so you might be lucky, or you might not... and if you're not, you'll get back exactly what you put in. However they are fairly easy access - payment takes 3 days (I think) if you cash them in, but its not instantly accessible money. Prizes can also be automatically reinvested. 

I buy some via monthly standing order (as part of a mixed approach to saving) as frankly it's marginally more "exciting" than your average savings account (I might win!), its no risk, as it's government backed, and given where interest rates are I'm not really sacrificing a load of interest.

They've also got income bonds which are interest bearing, and I think at the moment are offering some of the best rates around, again government backed - so almost zero risk. You'd need to check the notice period though to see if these are suitable for your needs. 

masonic

Emmia said:

They've also got income bonds which are interest bearing, and I think at the moment are offering some of the best rates around, again government backed - so almost zero risk. You'd need to check the notice period though to see if these are suitable for your needs. 

Income bonds (paying 1.15%) have no notice period, although individual withdrawals of >£50,000 take 3 working days to complete.

Albermarle

I'm investing for the long term though - 5+ years

In investment terms , long term means 10 years + . This length of time is recommended as historically you would not have  lost money over any 12 year period ( I think that is correct ) and would be pretty unlucky over a ten year period to lose.

Between 5 and 10 years the odds are still quite positive , but clearly  the longer the better to ride out the ups and downs.

Premium bonds only offer "interest" in the form of prizes - so you might be lucky, or you might not

The more bonds you have and the longer you keep them ,  the more likely you will average luck and 'earn' interest =  around 1.2% 

Emmia

Albermarle said:

I'm investing for the long term though - 5+ years

In investment terms , long term means 10 years + . This length of time is recommended as historically you would not have  lost money over any 12 year period ( I think that is correct ) and would be pretty unlucky over a ten year period to lose.

Between 5 and 10 years the odds are still quite positive , but clearly  the longer the better to ride out the ups and downs.

Premium bonds only offer "interest" in the form of prizes - so you might be lucky, or you might not

The more bonds you have and the longer you keep them ,  the more likely you will average luck and 'earn' interest =  around 1.2% 

Thanks for the advice - my intention is to invest for significantly more than 5 years, but if 2020 has taught us anything, it is that you never really know what is round the corner, and if push comes to shove these investments ultimately might need to be liquidated.