ISA question

[Kai1977]

I've got a few thousand sitting in the bank that I need to put in an ISA before the end of the FY. I'll also have a regular lump sum (more than a thousand per month) which I want to dripfeed into the ISA from April.

Usually I would just start putting it into a FTSE 100 tracker stocks and share ISA (which I think has a chance of better returns than cash in the mid to long term) but with the stock market at a record high I'm wondering if I should put in cash for now and then move to shares when the market falls and drip feed that way?

Thanks

Pound cost averaging is a useful tool to avoid exposure in a falling market, however if you are talking about a few thousand then I wouldn't worry to much.

Do an investment risk profile questionnaire and invest in risk rated funds according to your outcome and you will be fine.

I have a Diploma in financial advice.

Ah so that's the official term for dripfeeding, sounds much better when it's described as pound cost averaging.

Good to know, thanks!

There are 11 working days left in which to do that dripfeed for this FY!

This dilemma is the same for everyone with money to go into an ISA - screwed both ways. But with inflation well over 2%, money in a cash ISA will definitely lose, whereas money in an S and S only might lose.

thanks, Carney.

Thank you, yep that was my instinct. Just to clarify though, the first payment would be a few thousands this FY (I've already used most of ISA allowance this year), the dripfeed would start from late April onwards.

How often are the stock markets on an all time high?

...quite often, it seems. And of course we all want that to be the case when we cash in. Nuts, isnt it.

But this is the highest for quite a long time right? 5 years or more?

Ever!

Definitely put the cash lump sum in before the end of FY, then drip feed that money into fund(s) alongside your monthly payment.

You could have one or more funds for the monthly payment and separate funds to drip feed the lump sum into.

Do you have a stockbroker you use already? We use Hargreaves Lansdown, they have a long list of funds that you can choose!

Use a more global tracker, not just a FTSE one.