are stocks based ISAs a good idea?

Twopints

Thank you for correcting me on my various mistakes. That will teach me to read Martin's articles properly in future.

A little knowledge etc...

cheerfulcat

ard123en wrote:

Hi Alll

Ive had a mini cash isa every year for the past 3 years and put a little extra into an on-line savings account

and have also started a save as you earn scheme this year with my employer

I dont have a pension at the moment the financial planner at my bank RBS has advised me to use some of my 4k allowance in a stocks based mini isa is this a good move ?

ard123en

Hi, ard123en,

A lot depends on your circumstances. If you have no debt, at least six months' worth of expenditure tucked safely into a deposit account and some spare cash which you won't need for five years or so ( and can afford to lose ), then having some exposure to shares is a very good thing indeed.

Cheerfulcat

ard123en

that about sums up my situation its the "can afford to lose" part im having probs with

though not sure how ill feel watching my hard earned cash going down

but want to give it a go just need to find a starting point been playing lots of advisers off against each other to try and get a cross section of ideas/options

cheerfulcat

though not sure how ill feel watching my hard earned cash going down

That's all part of the excitement :-). But seriously, it is *vital* to take a portfolio approach to investing - don't put all of your money into one share, sector or asset class. If you don't have enough cash to diversify efficiently, save up until you do. Or another solution, perfect for beginners, is to make monthly payments into an index tracker - or two, even, if you want to diversify.

but want to give it a go just need to find a starting point been playing lots of advisers off against each other to try and get a cross section of ideas/options

Have a look here -

http://www.fool.co.uk/lrninvnov/startinvesting.htm?ref=lrninvnov

TMF has a couple of newbie boards, too -

http://boards.fool.co.uk/messages.asp?mid=9497021&bid=50000

http://boards.fool.co.uk/Messages.asp?mid=9466637&bid=50014

Edit: I'm sorry about the stupid pop-up ad in the first link. If you have a pop-up blocker, it may prevent the page from loading. Try pressing the ctrl key while you click in that case.

oldagetraveller

As has been mentioned, this type of maxi isa has to be viewed as a long term investment and if the money can be tied up in this way then fine.
I invested the maximum £7000 in one of these in each year 2000 and 2001. After the 11/9 events the value plummeted and even now I'm still almost minus £2000 but improving. So in my case not a particularly good decision!

carnet

oldagetraveller wrote:

I invested the maximum £7000 in one of these in each year 2000 and 2001. After the 11/9 events the value plummeted

The FTSE100 had actually peaked on New Year's Eve 1999 and markets globally were in full retreat from March 2000 until well into 2003 - largely due to the bursting of the TMT bubble.

So, although 9/11 undoubtedly had some adverse effect, markets were already well into their 3 year downturn by that time.

cheerfulcat

oldagetraveller wrote:

As has been mentioned, this type of maxi isa has to be viewed as a long term investment and if the money can be tied up in this way then fine.
I invested the maximum £7000 in one of these in each year 2000 and 2001. After the 11/9 events the value plummeted and even now I'm still almost minus £2000 but improving. So in my case not a particularly good decision!

Oldagetraveller, you are unlikely to be tied into your initial choice; you should be able to change the investments within your ISAs to something which will perform a little better.

LittleJo

Hi,
I have had mixed experiences with equity based ISAs but one thing that has always paid out well has been my employers SAYE. I always made sure that I saved the maximum.
Accepted that is a lot of eggs in one basket but shares from SAYE into ISA has been a winner for me.
Jo

ard123en

im doing saye this year (now i can after working here 2 years) have just signed up for the max of 250 per month company are offering 15% off current price as option

supprised me to find out how few people im my company take up the chance to save this way.

You cant lose if shares fall more than 15% just take the money plus bonus