Stocks & Shares Isa? Is Now the time to invest.....

mrsmoneypenny9

Hi,
I would like the forums opinion as to whether or not now is a good time to invest in a stocks & shares Isa.

I have 12k to invest and no where to put it, both mine and OH's Cash Isa allowances have been used up, my mortgage is fully offset, so the only tax free option left is the stock & shares isa.

Any comments gratefully received. :beer:

[Deleted User]

Pension? Tax free on the way in and partially tax free on the way out.

dunstonh

I am going to assume you mean stockmarket funds in a stocks and shares ISA. No-one can say if we have hit bottom yet. Probably not. However, it is better than any time since 2006.

You could phase the investment over the next 12 months or you can use non stockmarket funds or better still a combination which averages out to match your risk profile. Stocks and share ISAs do not require you to invest in stocks and shares. There are lower risk options as well such as fixed interest funds, bonds etc.

mrsmoneypenny9

You assume correct dunstonh, I was speaking to lloyds yesterday and they can offer me one were my capital amount is quaranteed not to drop, and the investment period is 6 years, it sounded ok and was with Scottish Widows which has a good reputation I think. He was say that had I invested 6 years ago the return would have been 57% over the term. I have an apointment on monday with a whole of market guy at the skipton bs, so I will see what he has to say as well.

jem16

What you are describing is a GEB which most people on here are very critical of.

There has been a similar discussion recently here;
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=983521

Other thread here;

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=719557&highlight=guaranteed+equity+bond

You would be best to stay away from the banks for investing. Either go DIY with a discount broker like H&L or see an IFA and get a proper spread of funds as Dunstonh suggested.

nicko33

mrsmoneypenny9 wrote: »

so the only tax free option left is the stock & shares isa.

There are other tax-free options
http://www.nsandi.com/savingneeds/taxfreeinvestments.jsp

purch

so the only tax free option left is the stock & shares isa

Choosing any Investment solely on the criteria of being 'tax free' isn't really a good way to approach the decision.

dunstonh

He was say that had I invested 6 years ago the return would have been 57% over the term.

To put that in context, the FTSE nearly doubled over that period and GEBS on offer at that time would have turned in 90-150%. So, 57% seems very poor by comparison.

I have an apointment on monday with a whole of market guy at the skipton bs, so I will see what he has to say as well.

Be on guard. Whilst they are whole of market (which is better than Lloyds as they will be able to offer the Scot Widows product as well as many others), they are still a salesforce and have an employer. This does not make them fully independent. They will have rules set by the employer which may limit the companies available they can deal with (effectively a panel) and sales managers pushing them with targets etc and that is not a good way to get advice (tied, multi-tied or whole of market).

GEBs are very easy to be sold as they have all the soundbites novice investors like to hear. Guarantee, no charges etc. However, when you analyse many of the GEBs they have hidden implicit charges (no dividends for example which means you are not gaining around 3% p.a. from those - so effectively thats a 3% p.a. charge). This makes the product popular with salesforces as generally lower skilled advisers work for them and their remit doesnt allow proper portfolio planning. So having a single product with no portfolio planning fits nicely.

si1503

mrsmoneypenny9 wrote: »

Hi,
I would like the forums opinion as to whether or not now is a good time to invest in a stocks & shares Isa.

Well it is better than anytime in the past year in value terms assuming you are looking for a long term investment.

Be prepared for things to fall a little lower in the short-term, but in the long-term my personal opinion is that the current market is throwing up some excellent buying opportunities.

The question is - in-light of stagflation, high re-payments, high cost of borrowing, job cuts and so on does anyone have the money to invest? I believe general economic conditions need to improve significantly until we are back to good times. However this has not stopped me making one or two investments recently based on my own entry criteria.

Simon