with out a scooby! HELP!

tim1leg

Hello everyone please excuse my ignorance firstly, and please respond to me your thoughts. I have 20K to invest and plan to save a further 1k a month for the next 5 years, not bothered about getting access ... proper saving lol what would you all suggest, i reall do not have a scooby please repond as i thought the mortgage debt maze was complicated but this seems to be more so. Thankyou in advance for you response.

dunstonh

you need to clarify if you want to invest or save. You mention both in your post.

Investing would typically mean using risk based products whereas saving would be cash based products.

tim1leg

Hi IM open to both whatwould your advice be please.

Lokolo

First things first, fill up your cash ISA. Thinking of saving £1k a month sounds like you have plenty of income so maybe you're a higher tax payer?

But yeh, ISAs mean tax free interest which it what everyone wants, but theres a limit to this so just fill up this first.

Need more info? Ask

Regular accounts:

Now investing or just saving - how long are you planning on keeping these savings?

Investing means years and year (5+) but for a decent return.
Saving means you get resonble return but from the beginning.

Now do you honestly not care which?

Lokolo

dunstonh

At this moment the list options for you runs into the tens of thousands. You need to help narrow down what you are after as any responses will be total guesswork and may or may not be suitable.

tim1leg

ok lets go with saving only!

Jonbvn

tim1leg wrote: »

ok lets go with saving only!

OK, I would suggest as follows:

1. 3k into mini cash ISA immediately - Icesave seem to be the best no strings a/c.

2. 3.6k into mini cash ISA next tax year - from 6 April 2008.

4. Remainder into index linked saving certs, which are tax-free. They have 3 & 5 year certs, with a 15k limit per issue (total 30k).

tim1leg

Thankyou, any one else any ideas ?
and by the way i am not in a high tax bracket! Im even entitled to Working and child tax credits believe it or not.

Cozworth806

I'm sorry but how on earth can you save £1000pm and claim WTC when the limit for that is about £15,600? Are you living on fresh air? Are your kids sent down the mines to work?
I know that a parent can receive, wages, WTC, CTC, ChB and maintenance but that is extraordinary. If it is due to a legacy then I'm sorry.

If you have a mortgage then depending on the interest rate you are paying then you may want to reduce that first, as apart from ISA's and other tax free savings any investments will be net of tax and so only paying about 5.5% max.

You could drip feed some money into a stock market based fund if the money is for the longer term. There are regular saving account that are paying over 7.5-8% (6%net) that you could pay up to £250pm into 4 of them.

tim1leg

without going into to much personal details on a public forum, i have very little outgoings, I am intersted in the stock market and put out feelers here to see what responses i would get other than the ordinary. I have concerns with the current economic climate, the stock market took some heavy than average lows to day to bounce back, so far anyway!!! and i fear that a crash worse than anything we haver ever seen is in the post. Speculation and gut feeling are my only source (not an expert) i wonder if there was somewhere i could invest that neither the banks or the uk goverment would have any hand in, as for the moment i dont trust them. Sorry if I seem paranoid or if i have run out of options of where to be directed.
x

jamesd

Routine bear markets are in 30-45% range. The exceptional drop in the US in the 1930s was more than 80%. The recent falls are great news for anyone with no investments, who can buy at much cheaper prices as a result.