What convinced me was that my ISAs have been in stocks and shares, and havent moved in the last 5 years. I understand that this may have been a difficult time, with covid, and Liz Truss, etc. I prefer the thought of them guaranteed to grow by a third, rather than take a chance of the stock market picking up. Although I do have a SIPP invested in stocks and shares, so if it does pick up, all is not lost.
Get a Stocks and Shares ISA and select your own stock picks. You will probably do better than the so called professionals.
I wouldnt have a clue.
You can make more money before breakfast than you can earn in a year with those things.
You can of course loose it as well if you are not careful.
Need to study the market and pick your stocks carefully.
What convinced me was that my ISAs have been in stocks and shares, and havent moved in the last 5 years. I understand that this may have been a difficult time, with covid, and Liz Truss, etc. I prefer the thought of them guaranteed to grow by a third, rather than take a chance of the stock market picking up. Although I do have a SIPP invested in stocks and shares, so if it does pick up, all is not lost.
Get a Stocks and Shares ISA and select your own stock picks. You will probably do better than the so called professionals.
I wouldnt have a clue.
You can make more money before breakfast than you can earn in a year with those things.
You can of course loose it as well if you are not careful.
Need to study the market and pick your stocks carefully.
What convinced me was that my ISAs have been in stocks and shares, and havent moved in the last 5 years. I understand that this may have been a difficult time, with covid, and Liz Truss, etc. I prefer the thought of them guaranteed to grow by a third, rather than take a chance of the stock market picking up. Although I do have a SIPP invested in stocks and shares, so if it does pick up, all is not lost.
Get a Stocks and Shares ISA and select your own stock picks. You will probably do better than the so called professionals.
I wouldnt have a clue.
You can make more money before breakfast than you can earn in a year with those things.
You can of course loose it as well if you are not careful.
Need to study the market and pick your stocks carefully.
What convinced me was that my ISAs have been in stocks and shares, and havent moved in the last 5 years. I understand that this may have been a difficult time, with covid, and Liz Truss, etc. I prefer the thought of them guaranteed to grow by a third, rather than take a chance of the stock market picking up. Although I do have a SIPP invested in stocks and shares, so if it does pick up, all is not lost.
Get a Stocks and Shares ISA and select your own stock picks. You will probably do better than the so called professionals.
I wouldnt have a clue.
You can make more money before breakfast than you can earn in a year with those things.
You can of course loose it as well if you are not careful.
Need to study the market and pick your stocks carefully.
'I remember passing the test to become a financial adviser. We had a bloke in the office to answer any questions that we couldnt. Needless to say we all passed. I remember thinking how ridiculous it was that every financial adviser had to quote the same 3 rates of growth on an endowment. So if you worked for a really good company with a terrific track record, or a sh1t company that had shocking results, you had to quote the 3 rates of growth.
'
OK let's cover the points you raised.
I have been in the industry for 35 years, you are right the tests used to be easy. At that time I worked in an office with 50+ sales people, Other than me, I would have trusted two or three of them, maximum. The industry is very, very different now.
The tests have since changed, they are now exams set by external companies and subject to full exam conditions. To advise on pensions and investments you now need to be qualified to at least level 4, which is first year degree level, they are not easy exams to pass, especially if you are working full time too. This change, combined with a change from commission to fees, came about as a result of the Retail Distribution Review in 2012. If you couldn't pass the exams you couldn't continue to advise clients. These changes apparently led to 70% of the bank's advisers leaving the industry.
We asked the FCA what proportion of their staff were qualified to level 4, the answer at the time was 15%. We asked if they intended to ensure that all staff became qualified to level 4, their answer was 'no, because we don't advise clients'! The fact that they regulated those that did advise clients seemed to not be important.
Maximum growth rates quoted on illustrations are set by the FCA, companies can and do now use lower growth rates if they think they are more applicable to their product. In some cases now negative growth rates are used, that needs some explaining to clients!
Working for a 'good' company or a 'sh1t' company? Make sure whoever you get advice from is an Independent financial adviser (IFA), we don't recommend 'sh1t' companies.
Finally, you mentioned endowment mortgages and pension linked mortgages earlier. Well endowments haven't been used for decades (well not by me) as ISAs are much more tax efficient. Most mortgages are repayment basis nowadays, not sure that that is necessarily a good thing but it's the way the industry, as dictated by the lenders and FCA has moved. Pension linked mortgages? Definitely has pros as well as cons, there can sometimes be reasons to recommend a savings vehicle that can result in tax relief of up to 60% to fund retirement AND repay a mortgage.
I bow to your superior knowledge. It is good to know that there has been some improvement. Although I was maybe a little young for a pension mortgage, when I was sold one in my mid twenties. I think there were probably far less IFAs in the early eighties. I didnt think it was necessarily fair to consumers to quote the same 3 projected growth percentages, irrespective of track record. Going back to those days more than 90% of mortgages that were sold, were endowment mortgages.
Buy Bricks and Mortar ...... and rent it out to Students
Just been trying to find somewhere for my Daughter .....
£700
for a room in a shared house ......Jeez
.....at least it includes Bills (tho' Students don't pay Council Tax apparently)
How are you going to manage that?
Finger on the Pulse if it's in your Home town, you can manage it yourself.... otherwise there are plenty of Lettings companies that specialise in Student Let's
the old adage advise would be to invest in a diversified portfolio and leave it alone for decades. The idea being similar to poker you would not stake your roll in one tournament, in the same way you should not stake your whole portfolio in one company/commodity/currency etc.
How true that is I dont know I studied an accounting and finance degree, but would not consider myself anywhere near as qualified as some posters here. (I got a 2.1 btw)
If I had a large excess of money I would put some in crypto some in gold some in ftse companies, some in property and some in foreign companies. I would not view gold or crypto as a get rich quick scheme more just as another hedge etc.
That been said if someone is in a situation where they don't own their own property and they make a few hundred more then their cost of living each month are they better of putting the money into an ISSA or a pension?
as I understand it you get your tax back on what you put into a pension but pay tax on what you get paid out. where as in an ISSA you dont get tax back but you do not pay tax on what you withdraw or get out.
Now if that is right basic math and understanding of compound growth would dictate that if the pension would kill the ISSA, but then you cannot access your pension until your at least 55 if I understand right. where as one can access their ISSA at any point.
This raises the question would an ISSA be better because one could then access this for a deposit for a house or rainy day money?
Buy Bricks and Mortar ...... and rent it out to Students
Just been trying to find somewhere for my Daughter .....
£700
for a room in a shared house ......Jeez
.....at least it includes Bills (tho' Students don't pay Council Tax apparently)
How are you going to manage that?
Finger on the Pulse if it's in your Home town, you can manage it yourself.... otherwise there are plenty of Lettings companies that specialise in Student Let's
Buy Bricks and Mortar ...... and rent it out to Students
Just been trying to find somewhere for my Daughter .....
£700
for a room in a shared house ......Jeez
.....at least it includes Bills (tho' Students don't pay Council Tax apparently)
How are you going to manage that?
Finger on the Pulse if it's in your Home town, you can manage it yourself.... otherwise there are plenty of Lettings companies that specialise in Student Let's
I meant paying it.
Daughter's got Student Finance ......but will get a job too
What convinced me was that my ISAs have been in stocks and shares, and havent moved in the last 5 years. I understand that this may have been a difficult time, with covid, and Liz Truss, etc. I prefer the thought of them guaranteed to grow by a third, rather than take a chance of the stock market picking up. Although I do have a SIPP invested in stocks and shares, so if it does pick up, all is not lost.
Get a Stocks and Shares ISA and select your own stock picks. You will probably do better than the so called professionals.
I wouldnt have a clue.
You can make more money before breakfast than you can earn in a year with those things.
You can of course loose it as well if you are not careful.
Need to study the market and pick your stocks carefully.
Do you do it?
I do. Have done for years.
Thats very clever.
I just take the view that I prefer to speculate with my own money rather than let other people do it for me.
Buy Bricks and Mortar ...... and rent it out to Students
Just been trying to find somewhere for my Daughter .....
£700
for a room in a shared house ......Jeez
.....at least it includes Bills (tho' Students don't pay Council Tax apparently)
How are you going to manage that?
Finger on the Pulse if it's in your Home town, you can manage it yourself.... otherwise there are plenty of Lettings companies that specialise in Student Let's
I meant paying it.
Daughter's got Student Finance ......but will get a job too
Buy Bricks and Mortar ...... and rent it out to Students
Just been trying to find somewhere for my Daughter .....
£700
for a room in a shared house ......Jeez
.....at least it includes Bills (tho' Students don't pay Council Tax apparently)
How are you going to manage that?
Finger on the Pulse if it's in your Home town, you can manage it yourself.... otherwise there are plenty of Lettings companies that specialise in Student Let's
I meant paying it.
Daughter's got Student Finance ......but will get a job too
My Granddaughter is threatening to go to Swansea University, and is coming to live with us.
Buy Bricks and Mortar ...... and rent it out to Students
Just been trying to find somewhere for my Daughter .....
£700
for a room in a shared house ......Jeez
.....at least it includes Bills (tho' Students don't pay Council Tax apparently)
How are you going to manage that?
Finger on the Pulse if it's in your Home town, you can manage it yourself.... otherwise there are plenty of Lettings companies that specialise in Student Let's
I meant paying it.
Daughter's got Student Finance ......but will get a job too
My Granddaughter is threatening to go to Swansea University, and is coming to live with us.
All the raucous parties. The drug-taking. The noisy sounds of making whoopee.
Still-your granddaughter will get used to it in time It's her decision to live there...
Buy Bricks and Mortar ...... and rent it out to Students
Just been trying to find somewhere for my Daughter .....
£700
for a room in a shared house ......Jeez
.....at least it includes Bills (tho' Students don't pay Council Tax apparently)
How are you going to manage that?
Finger on the Pulse if it's in your Home town, you can manage it yourself.... otherwise there are plenty of Lettings companies that specialise in Student Let's
I meant paying it.
Daughter's got Student Finance ......but will get a job too
My Granddaughter is threatening to go to Swansea University, and is coming to live with us.
All the raucous parties. The drug-taking. The noisy sounds of making whoopee.
Still-your granddaughter will get used to it in time It's her decision to live there...
Buy Bricks and Mortar ...... and rent it out to Students
Just been trying to find somewhere for my Daughter .....
£700
for a room in a shared house ......Jeez
.....at least it includes Bills (tho' Students don't pay Council Tax apparently)
How are you going to manage that?
Finger on the Pulse if it's in your Home town, you can manage it yourself.... otherwise there are plenty of Lettings companies that specialise in Student Let's
I meant paying it.
Daughter's got Student Finance ......but will get a job too
My Granddaughter is threatening to go to Swansea University, and is coming to live with us.
All the raucous parties. The drug-taking. The noisy sounds of making whoopee.
Still-your granddaughter will get used to it in time It's her decision to live there...
Buy Bricks and Mortar ...... and rent it out to Students
Just been trying to find somewhere for my Daughter .....
£700
for a room in a shared house ......Jeez
.....at least it includes Bills (tho' Students don't pay Council Tax apparently)
How are you going to manage that?
Finger on the Pulse if it's in your Home town, you can manage it yourself.... otherwise there are plenty of Lettings companies that specialise in Student Let's
I meant paying it.
Daughter's got Student Finance ......but will get a job too
My Granddaughter is threatening to go to Swansea University, and is coming to live with us.
All the raucous parties. The drug-taking. The noisy sounds of making whoopee.
Still-your granddaughter will get used to it in time It's her decision to live there...
I have dealt with what I consider to be a professional, reputable company. The article below seems to make them negligent in their failure to make any profit on either of my accounts during the last 5 years.
This Cash ISA pays 5.9%! So why did I just buy a FTSE All-Share tracker instead?
Unless you are investing > a million in a wide portfolio then ETFs are pretty much the only way to go if you weigh everything up. The markets are too efficient for any relative layman to have an edge and that probably includes financial advisors as a general rule, and ISAs are just a bit worse than everything else, particularly cash ISA.
Comments
Just been trying to find somewhere for my Daughter .....
£700 per month
for a room in a 6-Bed shared house ......Jeez.....at least it includes Bills (tho' Students don't pay Council Tax apparently)
You can make more money before breakfast than you can earn in a year with those things.
You can of course loose it as well if you are not careful.
Need to study the market and pick your stocks carefully.
I do. Have done for years.
OK let's cover the points you raised.
I have been in the industry for 35 years, you are right the tests used to be easy. At that time I worked in an office with 50+ sales people, Other than me, I would have trusted two or three of them, maximum. The industry is very, very different now.
The tests have since changed, they are now exams set by external companies and subject to full exam conditions. To advise on pensions and investments you now need to be qualified to at least level 4, which is first year degree level, they are not easy exams to pass, especially if you are working full time too. This change, combined with a change from commission to fees, came about as a result of the Retail Distribution Review in 2012. If you couldn't pass the exams you couldn't continue to advise clients. These changes apparently led to 70% of the bank's advisers leaving the industry.
We asked the FCA what proportion of their staff were qualified to level 4, the answer at the time was 15%. We asked if they intended to ensure that all staff became qualified to level 4, their answer was 'no, because we don't advise clients'! The fact that they regulated those that did advise clients seemed to not be important.
Maximum growth rates quoted on illustrations are set by the FCA, companies can and do now use lower growth rates if they think they are more applicable to their product. In some cases now negative growth rates are used, that needs some explaining to clients!
Working for a 'good' company or a 'sh1t' company? Make sure whoever you get advice from is an Independent financial adviser (IFA), we don't recommend 'sh1t' companies.
Finally, you mentioned endowment mortgages and pension linked mortgages earlier. Well endowments haven't been used for decades (well not by me) as ISAs are much more tax efficient. Most mortgages are repayment basis nowadays, not sure that that is necessarily a good thing but it's the way the industry, as dictated by the lenders and FCA has moved. Pension linked mortgages? Definitely has pros as well as cons, there can sometimes be reasons to recommend a savings vehicle that can result in tax relief of up to 60% to fund retirement AND repay a mortgage.
I bow to your superior knowledge.
It is good to know that there has been some improvement.
Although I was maybe a little young for a pension mortgage, when I was sold one in my mid twenties.
I think there were probably far less IFAs in the early eighties.
I didnt think it was necessarily fair to consumers to quote the same 3 projected growth percentages, irrespective of track record.
Going back to those days more than 90% of mortgages that were sold, were endowment mortgages.
How true that is I dont know I studied an accounting and finance degree, but would not consider myself anywhere near as qualified as some posters here. (I got a 2.1 btw)
If I had a large excess of money I would put some in crypto some in gold some in ftse companies, some in property and some in foreign companies. I would not view gold or crypto as a get rich quick scheme more just as another hedge etc.
That been said if someone is in a situation where they don't own their own property and they make a few hundred more then their cost of living each month are they better of putting the money into an ISSA or a pension?
as I understand it you get your tax back on what you put into a pension but pay tax on what you get paid out. where as in an ISSA you dont get tax back but you do not pay tax on what you withdraw or get out.
Now if that is right basic math and understanding of compound growth would dictate that if the pension would kill the ISSA, but then you cannot access your pension until your at least 55 if I understand right. where as one can access their ISSA at any point.
This raises the question would an ISSA be better because one could then access this for a deposit for a house or rainy day money?
I just take the view that I prefer to speculate with my own money rather than let other people do it for me.
Still-your granddaughter will get used to it in time
Nice to see the light banter between you two.
The article below seems to make them negligent in their failure to make any profit on either of my accounts during the last 5 years.
This Cash ISA pays 5.9%! So why did I just buy a FTSE All-Share tracker instead?
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/this-cash-isa-pays-5-9-so-why-did-i-just-buy-a-ftse-all-share-tracker-instead/ar-AA1eTgCN?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=a11ebdd7ddb741dd87494ff9dac4dba8&ei=64