Help!!! Can anyone give advide concerning halifax isa's Please

kymdarby

My Parents have had approx 30K - 40k invested with Halifax for the last few years. When they had their last review last year they were told it had hardly grown at all because of the market, in fact it was less tha if they had put it in a normal savings account!!
They have an apt with them as they are concerned about their money being at risk with the credit crunch/debt problems in the UK. Can anyone suggest anything better they can do with the money to achieve best but safe results?
Thanks

jem16

Cancel the appointment with the bank and see a proper Independent Financial Adviser.

JimmyTheWig

Agree with the IFA suggestion. For that amount of investment it's probably worth it.

The answer will depend on how safe they want to be.
If they want safe safe, then put the money into the highest interest savings accounts they can find. They should stick to the limit of 35k per institution. Assuming they are married, they should put the money in the name of the lower earner for tax purposes.

But if they are happy to invest the money for a long time (e.g. 5-10+ years) then a stockmarket investment should outperform a savings account.
It might not outperform it. It might go down. It might, even, be wiped out. But over that sort of timescale it should be the better option.
They should go for something broad (e.g. something that tracks the FTSE-100 - can you still get tracker ISAs? I think I've got one) rather than something specific (e.g. shares in Tescos) to minimise the risks.
If you buy shares in one company, that company could go bust and you would lose all your money. If you buy shares in a range of companies to track the FTSE-100 it is very unlikely that the whole of the FTSE-100 will go bust, so very unlikely that you lose all your money.

If the problem is Halifax (e.g. if Abbey's similar product has grown over the last few years) then they can transfer their ISA to a different provider.
if the problem is the market over the last few years then they need to make a decision whether they want the risk (i.e. leave it in the market on the assumption that over the long term things will pick up) or have no risk and move it into cash savings.

jem16

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

Agree with the IFA suggestion. For that amount of investment it's probably worth it.

The answer will depend on how safe they want to be.
If they want safe safe, then put the money into the highest interest savings accounts they can find. They should stick to the limit of 35k per institution. Assuming they are married, they should put the money in the name of the lower earner for tax purposes.

Cash has its risk too - risk of inflation eating away at the money over a longer term

They should go for something broad (e.g. something that tracks the FTSE-100 - can you still get tracker ISAs? I think I've got one) rather than something specific (e.g. shares in Tescos) to minimise the risks.
If you buy shares in one company, that company could go bust and you would lose all your money. If you buy shares in a range of companies to track the FTSE-100 it is very unlikely that the whole of the FTSE-100 will go bust, so very unlikely that you lose all your money.

Most people will buy funds rather than individual shares. Each fund invests in different companies. With £30-£40k and IFA would have enough to organise a spread of funds to suit the investor's risk profile. FTSE 100 trackers have been consistently at the bottom for the last 14 years so I can't see anyone wanting one of those.

If the problem is Halifax (e.g. if Abbey's similar product has grown over the last few years) then they can transfer their ISA to a different provider. if the problem is the market over the last few years then they need to make a decision whether they want the risk (i.e. leave it in the market on the assumption that over the long term things will pick up) or have no risk and move it into cash savings.

The main problem will be the Halifax or indeed any bank. Never go the bank for investment advice. As from next year the banks "advisers" will not be able to use the term adviser and will be known as what they really are - salesmen.

The money will probably be invested in one or two, fairly rubbish, funds.

The ISAs need to be transferred to a funds supermarket where a suitable range of funds can be chosen. It can be done yourself by using Hargreaves Lansdown if you know what you are doing.

Otherwise see an IFA.

Mikeyorks

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

They should go for something broad (e.g. something that tracks the FTSE-100 - can you still get tracker ISAs? I think I've got one)

As you've today posted for advice on your tracker ISA .... this isn't exactly a profound piece of advice? FTSE 100 trackers aren't 'broad' .. they're extremely narrow. And as the OP gives no data whatsoever (Halifax do a lot of FTSE 100 tracking with their 'investment' ISAs) ..... 'see an IFA' is about as good as the advice can get.

JimmyTheWig

Mikeyorks wrote: »

As you've today posted for advice on your tracker ISA .... this isn't exactly a profound piece of advice? FTSE 100 trackers aren't 'broad' .. they're extremely narrow. And as the OP gives no data whatsoever (Halifax do a lot of FTSE 100 tracking with their 'investment' ISAs) ..... 'see an IFA' is about as good as the advice can get.

I posted for advise on my tracker ISA after posting this comment above and seeing the reply which slated them.
When I posted the above I believed they were good.

davidlee

Go and find a financial advisor who could give you proper guidance and help you in your problem.