Tryign to work out ISAs

Tils

Hi,

well im probably the 1,000th person to ask this.

Ive been reading on ISAs and its well.. confusing. I have plenty of money to invest so not sure if I should be looking at mini or maxi, I can invest 7k if needed but isnt that a mix of stocks and shares not just cash?

Im also really lazy so Im kinda willing to take a hit if i can do internet banking as getting to a bank/building society is a pain.

Been looking at moneysupermarket and this west brom one seems ok... (has internet banking)

http://www.moneysupermarket.com/ISA/IsasDetails.asp?IsasID=1692&Amount=3000



its variable though or should I be looking at fixed?

oh and I wont need to access that money...so if theres a 5 year one or something I can do that too.

One thing I wont want to do though is invest and come out worse so I think those stock ones are too high risk?

Lastly in addition I see theres that 105% FTSE account for National Savings....that worth investing in or risky? (dont want to lose money!)

....anyway any advice would be appreciated.


Thanks

Tils

dunstonh

If you want absolutely zero risk then you can only have £3000 this tax year in a MINI cash ISA.

£7000 applies to a MAXI ISA and this can be invested in a wid range of areas. This involves unit trusts, stocks and shares and OEICS. The risk of these will vary from extremely low risk corporate bonds and gilts (which are popular with those in retirement due to low risk and the way they generate income) right through to specialist investment funds at the opposite end of the scale. It is a sliding scale of risk with a MAXI ISA so just because you dont like shares, doesnt mean you shouldnt look at the low risk end of the MAXI ISA.

To give you an idea a stockmarket linked bond with capital security would be considered higher risk than a MAXI ISA investing in fixed interest, gilts or corporate bonds which have no capital security on them.

Robert_Sterling_3

Well you are not the first and will not be the last but you are not the 1000th.

You probably can bung £500 a month into the Abbey Account that pays 7% and another £250 per month into the Halifax Version which also pays 7%.

Tils

Well the 7% accounts I was going to look after I looked at the ISAs because I was trying to follow the guide here..

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid1091670686,99383,

But thats definatly an option to do...I just need to think how much I need to transfer every month for that.

Tils

Reaper

Been looking at moneysupermarket and this west brom one seems ok...  (has internet banking)

http://www.moneysupermarket.com/ISA/IsasDetails.asp?IsasID=1692&Amount=3000

Well MoneySuperMarket have been useless on this one. Looking at your link you asked for ISAs to put £3000 in and instead it returned a "Regular Saver ISA" account with a poor rate of 4.8%. Even after basic rate tax the non-ISA Halifax regular saver pays better than that!

I suggest that having got a shortlist you check on the providers web sites to get the real details.

deemy2004

Try this link

http://www.moneysupermarket.com/ISA/BestBuysResults.asp

Though they are instants, and the big one ! The halifax 5.8% fixed for 5 years is not there.

Tils

I god...well this seems to be a mine field....so im trying to find that 5.8 one you mentioned getting this list (link from the ISA options)

http://www.halifax.co.uk/investments/our_fundrange.shtml

and i have NO clue....

anyone have any good tips on finding a good indipendent financial advisor in Cardiff area? who doesnt charge? :P  

Also do they all charge for having an ISA account ?

"There is an annual management charge between 1% and 1.5%"

I really dont understand it all  ???   do they purposly make it complicated?

Tils

dunstonh

anyone have any good tips on finding a good indipendent financial advisor in Cardiff area? who doesnt charge? :P  

Also do they all charge for having an ISA account ?

"There is an annual management charge between 1% and 1.5%"

I really dont understand it all  ???   do they purposly make it complicated?

Tils

If you want to get advice on only a cash ISA then expect to pay a fee.

Annual management charges only apply to unit trust/OEIC funds and not Cash ISAs.

Tils

I know theres some legal reason you cannot get advice over the internet so no Im not trying to get free financial advice here if thats what the P.S means.

I also know that my mother gets free advice from a company called chase de vier (sp?) so Im aware that there is abiltiy to do this. However she has had issues which i wont go into here with those so I was trying to get an idea who else give the same advice as those. (edit to add: Maybe this depends on what level of investment you want?)

Where Im lazy I ment I was lazy going to the actual bank. Im not lazy when it comes to reading up on things which I have tried to read the threads here prior to my posting in the first place.

Ive been trying to understand this for 3 days reading various articles but what im finding is theres so many terms I dont understand as like the in my first post I asked difference between fixed and variable. Now I totally understand the meaning of them what I dont understand is what the beneift of one of the other is.

Currently I have 45k sitting in a Cahoot savings account 5.1%?

Also maybe Ive come accross as dull but Im not, however dont understand Finance side of life that well. Ive generally just stuck my money in a savings account and let it stay there for many years (I had the money above in a 4.6% account 2 months ago. Well I was simply looking into trying to learn.

This to me is as specialist as computers is to an IT person. If I started talking about IT things I know for a fact I would lose people because they dont understand the "terms". This is my problem in banking.

Thanks for your time

Tils

Reaper

OK, here are some pointers for you.

1) You say your mother gets free financial advice from Chase de Vere. Actually there is no such thing as free. Independant Financial Advisers are close to free in that they cost you nothing but get commission from the companies they arrange for you to invest with. I say "close to free" because if you are willing to skip the advice there are ways to get some of that commission paid back to you. Also if you go to an IFA and want advice solely on something that will earn them no commission at all, like a building society account, then they are likely to ask for a fee.

2) You ask about the benefit of fixed over variable interest - well the obvious one is that if you are in a fixed account you will be better off than variable accounts if interest rates fall, but worse off if they rise. Currently the expectation is that interest rates will change by no more than 0.25% for the forseeable future. Also note that fixed rate accounts often tie you in for a set period, such as a year. If you need flexibility then stick to variable accounts (and even then check the account details).

It sounds as though you are making an effort to understand money, I think you made a mistake describing yourself as "lazy" in your first post. You will find people here tolerant when people need help even with the basics (ok there are 1 or 2 exceptions!), but have less time for people too lazy to put in any effort themselves.

Some people here are very anti-IFAs, some are pro, some are IFAs. In your case I think it may be worth seeking one out if you are looking for investments and not just savings and are feeling confused. The reason is that there are lots of factors to consider before making a choice, such as how much risk you are willing to take, how long you are investing, the need to quick access, you tax status etc. All the information is available online, but it is spread out. Perhaps you could start with an IFA and then move on to doing it all yourself once you feel a bit more confident.

Robert_Sterling_3

I welcome the clarification you have given.
I have edited my remarks having regard to your explanation.