Geddon

Thinking of doing a Stocks and shares mini ISA.
After some advice or pointers please
Currently paying off a load of debt ~20k but its getting boring knowing the rates are fixed and its always the same amount bla bla....

I want to put ~ £50 a month in some kind of savings that has the potential to earn more faster than using that money just paying off debt at the same insipid rate. (if that makes sense!) I do realise it can go the other way too.

I like the idea of the mini S&S ISA being tax free and would like something that I can track online and start learning that sort of thing.

Any places I should be looking or avoiding? Clearly I could talk to my bank but would like to get some other people's thoughts first please

***Nemesis***

First - don't talk to your bank!
Second - talk to an IFA

Otherwise if you are determined to DIY try one of the consumer money sites such as moneysaving expert.com or motley fool as a starting point but an ISA is only as good as the investments you put into it.

The Snug Rhino

waste of time - £50 a month is better spent on your debt.

TopBanana

Definitely... put it all on your debts. You could try signing up to moneysavingexpert forums, you'll get some good advice there from others in the same position.

Matteeboy

He might be debt free!
Recently paid that last of my student loan off (had deferred it for ages so had a bit left) - APR had doubled from 2.4 to 4.8%!!
I'd just stick it in a high interest on-line saver or similar.

EddScott

If you can't guarantee that your savings rate won't remain higher than your debt rate theres no point.

No point paying £50 a month to get 5% but your debts cost you 6%.

Mortgage aside, I've got 5K in cards (stupid I know but learnt a lesson). I'm hoping to half it by christmas and get shot of the lot early next year.

At this point, I want a Lancia EVO which will probably end up with 5K on the cards again to keep the bugger going

JTaylor

Indeed. The statement below may simply have been made in a cunning ruse to make us all think he was in debt.

Matteeboy

What a blind gimp I am!!

Pay off debts definitely.
Only loans worth having at the moment are those that are 0% APR!

Geddon

Oh believe me I'm in debt
Theres just no excitement paying off debt at the same rate.
Plus half of the 20k is fixed at 5.8% so surely there is some benefit somewhere?

TopBanana

No benefit at all. Pay off your debts!

Bakerman

If you want to play with £50 in stocks/shares then be prepared to lose it, sounds like you shouldn't run the risk of losing it so pay of debts then play the game.

Matteeboy

If you were lucky you could make about 0.2% over your debt costs but it's hardly worth it.
Debts are evil - pay them off ASAP.

thesyn

Slightly off topic but I remember about 10 years ago paying £50 a month into some South American share sceme for a couple of years then forgetting about it. Then last year a horrendous tax bill appeared and I was truly scraping the bottom of the barrel, found the old certificates checked the prices and found remarkably that they had done ok over the years so I was able to pay Gordon.
Time and compound interest do sometimes work out.
I'd still get debt free first though

Brit_in_Japan

Stocks & shares ISA's will return only what the market does, depending on how you choose to invest. Tracker ISA's have done well over the past couple of years are the general stock market has increased, so you would have got back more than if you had just get a mini cash ISA or stuck it into a bank, and more than the interest you would have paid in the meantime on that amount of debt. Tracker ISA's also have lower initial fees and maintenance fees. I have had some ISA's grow on average 20% the past couple of years, invested in Ecology funds and natural resources. On the other side of the coin I have seen little net growth in some ISA's for 5 or 6 years and I would have been better paying of debt in those instances!

Your choice, caveat emptor.

LostUser

You really would be better putting the £50 a month towards getting your debts paid off.

There's nothing to stop you reading up on trading in the stock market though and alot of brokers (I know HSBC do) allow you to set up a virtual portfolio where you buy and sell with virtual money. If after 6 months or so your virtual portfolio is in profit then maybe it's worth pursuing. If you've lost money then maybe you'll figure it's not for you. There are plenty of newbie mistakes to be made in the stock market and better to make those with virtual money.

Hope it helps.

Geddon

Thanks for the last 2 posts- just what I was after