How to maximize my savings

FirstTimeSolo

DireEmblem said:

First things first - although your money is fairly safe in Marcus, you are only covered up to £85k in any institution under the FSCS scheme, so you might want to spread it out a bit for some more comfort.

Yes, I have only kept £85k in Marcus. Rest in ISA, premium bonds and savings accounts. 

colsten

FirstTimeSolo said:

colsten said:

FirstTimeSolo said:

Thanks. I’m not ‘wild gambling’ I’ve only put in a small amount of £1000, I’m not using leverage and the stocks I’ve invested in is based on advice from friends who trade professionally. I’ll have a look at vanguard and hsbc, thanks for those. 

Single stock investment is wild gambling. No respectable professional trader would risk all their money on just one company, and amateur investors (which most investors will be, for their entire lives) don't generally have the time or the skills to assess the likely performances of a given company - and even if they had the time & skills, they could get their predictions horribly wrong. Glad you will be looking into Funds, as they can spread your risk. 

Yes, I have the £1000 across 3 stocks. This is just a taster though, not something I will put all my money in. More likely to go down the S&S ISA route. 

S&S ISA is not an alternative to holding individual shares. An ISA is simply a tax wrapper. Within that wrapper, you can hold individual shares and/or funds. 

The comparison you need to make is between individual shares and funds. That comparison is the same whether you hold them inside or outside an ISA.

FirstTimeSolo

colsten said:

FirstTimeSolo said:

colsten said:

FirstTimeSolo said:

Thanks. I’m not ‘wild gambling’ I’ve only put in a small amount of £1000, I’m not using leverage and the stocks I’ve invested in is based on advice from friends who trade professionally. I’ll have a look at vanguard and hsbc, thanks for those. 

Single stock investment is wild gambling. No respectable professional trader would risk all their money on just one company, and amateur investors (which most investors will be, for their entire lives) don't generally have the time or the skills to assess the likely performances of a given company - and even if they had the time & skills, they could get their predictions horribly wrong. Glad you will be looking into Funds, as they can spread your risk. 

Yes, I have the £1000 across 3 stocks. This is just a taster though, not something I will put all my money in. More likely to go down the S&S ISA route. 

S&S ISA is not an alternative to holding individual shares. An ISA is simply a tax wrapper. Within that wrapper, you can hold individual shares and/or funds. 

The comparison you need to make is between individual shares and funds. That comparison is the same whether you hold them inside or outside an ISA.

Thanks. Yes I understand what you are saying. I would move my cash isas into S&S ISA (approx £60k) and most likely invest in both funds and individual shares. 

Eco_Miser

For actual savings, rather than investments, Regular Savings accounts as listed at https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6106986/regular-savings-accounts-the-best-currently-available-list/p1 still give better rates than normal savings accounts, and are ideal if you are saving from income, but also useful being fed from lower rate savings accounts.  Also consider fixed term accounts.

george4064

If you are managing to save around £2,000 per month you must be earning a decent salary, it would be very worthwhile to ensure you are contributing enough from your salary to your pension pot to benefit from higher rate tax relief.

For example, a £10,000 contribution to your pension will cost you only £6,000 in post-tax earnings.

alex132

Marcus: interest rate of 0.50%  fixed for 12 months