What's your opinion on stocks and shares isas?

[Lea79]

Hi guys

[Cointreau]

You might want to consider a storage company such as Goldmoney. Silver might be very scarce in eighteen years.

You can buy the silver for not much more than spot price, you pay no vat and the storage fees are negligible. And you

can have the metal stored abroad.

[Paul]

Good start points for research are 

• http://www.fool.co.uk (discussion boards)
• http://www.monevator.com/ (passive investing/trackers etc.)
• http://www.diyinvestoruk.blogspot.co.uk (basics- also see books recommended there)

 

A few sovereigns a years is a good idea also, i do this with my two nephews I have got (no kids myself) over x18 years there will certainly be a tidy accumulation ready for them

 

If you are going to educate your children to merits of precious metals, they have a ready made nest egg, they can choose to continue to add to it, use it for house deposit, tuition fees, or whatever.

[Lea79]

I don't kno if I trust these companies to have all the Pm's they say they have.

[Lea79]

Hi Paul

Thanks for the links I'll have a look in a bit see if I can pick up some tips. I've started showin my step son who's 8 some of my silver collection and he likes it so much he wants to spend all his Xmas money on silver!!! I've got him some silver plated superman coins as a test to see if he can look after them b4 I help him pick some real silver to collect just in case he loses them lol. That's a very nice thing ur doing for ur nephews I bet ur the favourite uncle

[HawkHybrid]

watch the flow, stocks and shares are expensive now and pm's

are cheaper(historically speaking). whilst this situation can continue

for months or even years from this point, I would be more interested in

investing in the right thing at the right time.

my vote is premium bonds if it's a toss up between the two. whilst it's not

usually smart to put all your eggs in one basket sometimes having them

in the only basket that is least likely to make you losses is temporarily

the best choice.

 

remember that many books, articles are skewed to favour the

position of the writer. the number of people telling others to buy when

they have current interests to sell is unbelievable.

 

HH

[Lea79]

I was thinkin about the stock market being on an upward trend and Pm's being cheap but I figured over an 18yr period with drip investing it should theoretically even out. My only concern with investing for children in Pm's is if the market is at a low at the time they need the cash then waiting it out may not be an option. Then again same could b said for stocks and shares I suppose lol.

[HawkHybrid]

drip investing over a long time frame is not as good as drip

investing during a smaller time frame where research shows

it's likely to bottom. share prices are currently high in comparison

to the only practical indicator: earnings. ignore all the other

smoke and mirrors and concentrate on the fact that if it doesn't

make you money then it's not worth your investment.

(investing in good cause companies are called donations)

 

share prices may still be able to continue going up from this

point but without a reasonable rise in their earnings it's just a

matter of time before practical behaviour kicks in and corrects it.

 

HH

[Pete]

I like the on-line company Hargreaves Lansdown and have most of my conkers invested in various funds through them.

Check out some of their recommendations in their Wealth 150 fund series.

Personally I would stay clear of stocks and shares and stick with UK growth and income equities.

There is a new fund opening in January called the Hargreaves Lansdown UK Growth Fund.

This is a mixed fund made up of the leading funds but managed by H&L experts who will constantly rebalance the fund and move in and out of funds according to performance.

Growth funds with dividends reinvested automatically will work best and you can drip feed monthly.

Don't be put off with the funds called UK equities thinking you are investing wholly in the UK market.

These funds are global and generally big blue chip ( relatively safe ) companies and institutions.

Definitely open the ISA where you can invest up to £15,000 per year and all growth is tax free.

 

I am not sure but you might be able to open a SIPP for a young child and place £3600 ( gross ) per annum into the same funds.

The beauty of the SIPP is you only pay 80% so hand over £2,880 and HMRC adds £720 so an instant gain of 25% on your investment.

With the new pension rules from April a SIPP does merit consideration as you can have the same funds in the SIPP as an ISA and switch as necessary often with no charges.

[SilverPirate]

ISA.

I have a junior ISA for my youngest and this is not available to him until he is eighteen, i have got it set up online so i can add to it when funds are available.

Premium Bonds.

My mother has £20k in premium bonds and these where giving here about 3 cheques a year for £25 at a time so that is roughly the returns your looking at,

 

I personally would go for the nice safe slowly slowy catchy monkey ISA with the sovereigns.

[Lea79]

I'm still not sure which way to go.... Did think about investing temporally in gold money like Cointreau suggested as silver is so low at the minute, waiting for it to rise and the stock market to fall (assuming they correlate) then puttin it in a stocks and shares Ida when the market is lower. This way I will hopfully make a few quid on top. Maybe I should put my eggs in all the baskets and add premium bond too lol.

[Danny-boy]

I'm still not sure which way to go.... Did think about investing temporally in gold money like Cointreau suggested as silver is so low at the minute, waiting for it to rise and the stock market to fall (assuming they correlate) then puttin it in a stocks and shares Ida when the market is lower. This way I will hopfully make a few quid on top. Maybe I should put my eggs in all the baskets and add premium bond too lol.

Diversification is the way to go IMO.

[Lea79]

I have looked in2 Hargreaves and landsdown but the platform seems to b one of the more expensive out of the lot. I looked at those links Paul posted and I thought passive investing in a 50% accumulated ftse all share tracker and 50% into a uk gilts is rite up my street. I've got time on my side so I'm gonna research for a while and in the interim put some cash in2 gold money I think. Even tho I didn't like this idea at first silver is something I kno and the price has gotta rise sooner or later.

Thanks for all the advice guys

[shemyaza]

I use Interactive Investor which is good, have a read up on them to add to your thoughts along with a read of what Dividend Mantra does on his website.

[Keithoil]

I also use iii for my share dealing.

 

I read somewhere they are one of the better value ones.

 

http://www.iii.co.uk/

[Pipers]

I would recommend Cockroach investing  this is where you split the money into 4 groups 25% in each.

 

Bonds,            Always try to beat inflation

commodities,  (Gold, silver)

shares,           (you could wait until the next big fall back then just set up a tracker)

cash  

 

Be careful of fees, 

 

What ever you choose congratulations with the baby, 

[Lea79]

I've been reading up on It a bit and have learnt about the different asset class amoung other things. I've decided to go with an index linked tracker as these tend to perform well all round and is more of a passive investment. I'm considering adding in some dividend paying shares such as coca cola or tescos but I'm unsure about them yet so it's back to the books and charts to learn some more lol. I've got at least 6mths to work it out.

And cheers pipers

[Clens92]

I've been reading up on It a bit and have learnt about the different asset class amoung other things. I've decided to go with an index linked tracker as these tend to perform well all round and is more of a passive investment. I'm considering adding in some dividend paying shares such as coca cola or tescos but I'm unsure about them yet so it's back to the books and charts to learn some more lol. I've got at least 6mths to work it out.

And cheers pipers .

 

Avoid Tesco for the time being - lots more trouble ahead for the foreseeable future.  Coca Cola has always struck me as a strong investment - share price is stable enough and the market is basically unlimited.

[ChrisSilver]

Take a look at a 15 year chart of the FTSE 100 and imagine if you invested at the high of 6930, on Millennium Eve.

Currently the FTSE 100 is around 6749. Adjust for inflation and owch.

[Cornishfarmer]

Take a look at a 15 year chart of the FTSE 100 and imagine if you invested at the high of 6930, on Millennium Eve.

Currently the FTSE 100 is around 6749. Adjust for inflation and owch.

Depends if the ones you invested in have gone up or down and what dividend you recieve.

[ChrisSilver]

Depends if the ones you invested in have gone up or down and what dividend you recieve.

I mean imagine if you invested into the index itself. Dividend payments are already factored into the price I think.

But if you were to buy specific stocks, even if the share price is lower you could of course had made overall profit from the dividends.

[Cornishfarmer]

I mean imagine if you invested into the index itself. Dividend payments are already factored into the price I think.

But if you were to buy specific stocks, even if the share price is lower you could of course had made overall profit from the dividends.

If i was into stocks they would have been at peak in 2000 and gone scat last year just like my gold purchases!!!

[ArthGoch]

I've been reading up on It a bit and have learnt about the different asset class amoung other things. I've decided to go with an index linked tracker as these tend to perform well all round and is more of a passive investment. I'm considering adding in some dividend paying shares such as coca cola or tescos but I'm unsure about them yet so it's back to the books and charts to learn some more lol. I've got at least 6mths to work it out.

And cheers pipers .

 

If you are looking for passive investments  the Vanguard Funds have consistently proven to be value for money and in part due to their low operating costs. There are a number to choose from and they are principally based on a Tracker formula

 

I also like the methodology of Smith Fund and whom I invested with from the start in 2010. Principles are to keep costs to a minimum and to only invest in blue chip and mainly consumer focused companies. Fund has grown at an average of 18% p.a over the four years of its existence, and although the fund may now be over valued, over the timescale you have mentioned this will correct itself and still give you plenty of room for growth 

 

Keeping costs down is as important as potential for growth, and as other have mentioned it is important to have right stockbroker. You have highlighted yourself that Hargreaves Lansdown are expensive. For transparency Charles Stanley Direct are one of the best, while there are a myriad of others out there who all can give you the service that you need - good luck!   

[Stu]

Just renewed my 2 sons child trust funds this week as a hedge against SHTF. This was on the back drop of payments being suspended by me after 2008 when the value in each dropped by about 45 %. In the interim I have been saving their money in cash. One son has a fund through a mutual society, the other through RBS (before I knew better) and after getting the documentation through from the mutual yesterday, much to my horror, JP Morgan's details are on the policy and they are punting derivatives. I contacted Scottish Friendly who advised that they are a mutual and invest only for the company and customers and JP are only involved to oversee and ensure that the trust are operating in a legal and proper way, I could not help but laugh at this point.

I am currently starting to invest my sons money one third in each- trust fund/ precious metals/ cash savings. Is there any financial advisors can give me a steer?

[sovereignsteve]

The stock market is close to an all time high and now isn't the time to put in a lump sum. By all means put the money in a bank account and set up a drip feed amount in to  a couple of investment trusts (cheaper fees than unit trusts), tracker funds and also UK equity income trusts. The latter sector has done really well over the long term as it invests in good dividend paying companies. Over the long term, nearly all growth in the stock market is down to re-investing dividends, capital growth goes up and down and barely moves on average once adjusted for inflation. You can't beat any income fund run by Neil Woodford, he's a legend, check out his past performance. Recently started his own investment fund and is continuing where he left off at Invesco Perpetual.