Halifax Stocks and Share ISA

SPL

Good morning everyone

i wonder if you be so good to share your opionions and advice with me

12 years ago i took out a stocks and share isa which was to be used to pay off mortgage of an old property. When i sold the property the value of the isa was so low becuase of the drop in share prices etc i did not cash it in but kept in and continued to pay about £60 in monthly.

It took years and years before I got back to a break even point (just equal amount of money put in - no interest or increase on base amount credited)

then last year it actually got to a point where it was earning (although still not a lot) I have been checking the balance regularly and last week again the value had gone down and today the value has gone down by another £400 since last week!! i now have about £9k

i dont know what to do - this is our savings and although for the long term i am nervous that it could crash and i could lose all - is that a possibility? what would others do cut losses now and cash it in ? or let it ride out a bit longer?

thanks for taking time to read

dunstonh

i am nervous that it could crash and i could lose all

That cannot happen.

then last year it actually got to a point where it was earning (although still not a lot) I have been checking the balance regularly and last week again the value had gone down and today the value has gone down by another £400 since last week!! i now have about £9k

late 2007 and early 2008 has been a bad time for existing investments. You get them every now and then. Its a good time to be paying monthly though.

what would others do cut losses now and cash it in ?

Go see an IFA and get them to explain how it works to you so you understand it. At the moment you appear to have very limited understanding and that is worrying you and could lead you to make the wrong decision. I would also expect the IFA to transfer the ISA to a fund supermarket and use better funds than Halifax has to offer.

Bank investment products are generally weak and expensive and easy to improve upon.

SPL

thanks dunstonh

you are very right in saying that i dont really understand it - i really dont!!!

re seeing an IFA can you recommend, or if not recommend point me in the right direction of where to find somebody - i assume that i will have to pay for the services do you have any guide as to how much this would cost?
Thanks again

dunstonh

re seeing an IFA can you recommend, or if not recommend point me in the right direction of where to find somebody - i assume that i will have to pay for the services do you have any guide as to how much this would cost?

Being an IFA it isnt really right for me to recommend an IFA. There are IFAs all over the country. The database is at https://www.unbiased.co.uk and you can postcode search to find your nearest.

If you work to commission basis you should aim for the commission to be 1.8% or lower. This has to be disclosed before you sign up so it cannot be avoided. You may find it is cheaper even with that because many bank ISAs (and PEPs) had 3-5% initial charges. You may also find an IFA willing to take on a mortgage related ISA without initial commission. This was discussed recently in a meeting I attended and quite a few said that they have made no initial charge or a much reduced initial charge on these.

You can do it yourself but you need to know what you are doing as you could make it worse rather than better.

libra10

My OH took out a Halifax (now HBOS) pep over 12 years ago, he then followed up with further funds about a couple of years later, exactly £12000 in all. The value at present is just over £17000. The value has been higher but seems to be decreasing just now. The PEPs certainly haven't increased in value as much as we were advised by the Halifax adviser!

Good luck