Getting my first ever ISA tomorrow!

welshdragon1

Hi people, I'm new here and to the world of ISAs. I've done some research on the net but was wondering if anybody here can help me out aswell?

1. I have decided to invest £3,600 in a Barclays Tax Haven ISA. Is this the best option for me at the moment? I was thinking about Abbey's Super ISA but have read some negative comments about it.

2. How long should I wait (roughly) before transferring to another provider? I note that the 6.50% interest rate only lasts for around a year? And who shall I transfer to? Or is it too early to say?

3. I am also thinking about investing in a S&S ISA. However I know practically nothing on this topic, and would bore you with all the questions I have. Therefore could anybody link me to an idiots guide on the topic?

Many thanks for your help

Lokolo

Ok, when you say you invested £3600 in tax haven isa, you haven't you have saved. Investment is to do with part 3, the stock market.

You have the 1% bonus for a year, look for ISAs nearer the time at the end, it takes 30 days to transfer so what you really want to do is start looking Jan and Feb and then transfer end of Feb at latest.

The stockmarket: um well you can either a) create your own portfolio b) pay someone a % (usually 2% a year) to have a Fund, which is basically a collection of different shares that someone will choose.

Also the stock market will require aroud 3-5 years to get a good return.

http://www.iii.co.uk/guides/guide_display.jsp?guide_id=5839516

That is a guide to funds, any questions, others are here around who will also likely reply to this thread so you don't just have my views.

tradetime

I note that the 6.50% interest rate only lasts for around a year? And who shall I transfer to? Or is it too early to say?

It may be erroneous to assume that Barclays ISA will remain at 6.5% for a year, if I remember correctly this is a variable rate ISA with a 1% bonus, not a fixed rate ISA, as it's variable it can drop when it wants, the only thing that is guaranteed is that in a year it's likely to drop sharply by 1% when the bonus expires