Best S &S Isa

[Serasar]

I’m looking to put £20,000 into an s&s isa. I need it to be one that I just deposit the money, forget about it for 10 years or so and then add to it next April.

I am not very good at buying stocks etc. I put £100 into Trading 212 and didn’t have a clue what I was doing! A poster did suggest AJ Bell Dodl? It needs to be very simple! One more question- because of this £100 in T212, does that mean I can only put in £19,900? Thank you for any help

You can put the rest into the same Trading212 account. Search for S&P500 and put the lot into it. Then you can forget it for the next decade. You don’t need another account on another platform where you have to do the same steps I have mentioned, but if you do then yes put 19900 there.

Columbia Threadneedle - one of their managed funds

Ok thank you @FitnessIsTheOnlyWealth. They have a choice. Should I be looking at one in particular?

I don’t know what you mean @Gardenalia. I’m a bit clueless though!

To recommend someone just put £20k into the S&P 500 without knowing anything about their wider financial situation or risk tolerance is very irresponsible. Maybe stop doing that.

Just add £19,900 to your trading 212 stocks and shares ISA. It will then ask you what you want to put it into. Select ready made pie. Then select vanguard global tracker. Job done. You can then move this at any time into one of their cash isas if you prefer (and back again)

My piece of advice is don't take investment advice from people on here. We don't know enough about your wider financial situation or risk tolerance.

Someone has suggested the S&P 500 which is the largest 500 companies in the USA. That may be something you are happy with, it might not be. For beginner investors it is often recomended to keep it super simple, low cost and diversified. I personally put 95% of my investments in a global ETF.

I'd suggest looking up some of the following on youtube as part of your own research: Rebel Finance School, Damian Talks Money, James Shack, Meaningful Money.

Also do some reading on Trading 212 if you intend to keep using it, I’ve heard about some issues people have had with it, such as very poor customer service and accounts being terminated seemingly out of nowhere. It’s a great free platform, but worth doing some research on for the amount of money you want to invest.
Somewhere that actively manages your investments like AJ Dodl would be better definitely even if you have to pay fees for it.

For a £20k investment that’s unlikely to be good advice.
Trading 212 is a great platform which enables people to invest without incurring significant fees. The traditional investment firms don’t like it of course.

Avoid Columbia Threadneedle, absolutely terrible customer service (plus returns are poor & fund fees high)
Do some research about types of investment, risk appetite etc as suggested above. Choose a low/medium fee platform with good reviews rather than a "free" one.

Martin Lewis site is best for questions like this. I have T212 S&S ISA and am very happy with it…easy to use but remember to actually invest the sum otherwise it will sit as cash.

As others have said, do your own research. Had not a clue what I was doing until I did and found Toby Newbatt's videos, linked below, explained everything so simply. I find Invest Engine much simpler than T212 interface but they're both free so no harm in trying both...
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCFVJXpieNgHSbISq227TBzghf3RETTPH&si=4yOd3v2J5pwb1Wtx

I would agree with the suggestion to put an additional £19,900 into your T212 account as it’s one of the cheapest. What you invest in after that is the issue and with more information about your timeline or attitude to risk no one can safely advise you. I would listen to to a few online investment podcasts or YouTube videos to get a better understanding of what is right for you.

But you get what you pay for though, Trading 212 is free for a reason. If you’ve never hit a problem it’s great, but there are issues with the platform that have been widely reported.
Someone just starting out who has no idea about S&S and doesn’t want to actively manage their own portfolio, another company who charge may be a better fit.
Hopefully the OP will feel better informed now anyway, even if they don’t think my suggestion is right for them.

I mean you quite literally do not get what you pay for if you use a broker who charges you to open a S&S ISA and put your money into a global ETF. They will be taking a cut. Anyway I'm sure the OP will do some research.

But presumably, for example, their customer service if there is a problem will be much better than that of 212, whose is reportedly, appalling, that’s what I meant.

Thank you for this information. I’ll have to have a look at some of the links provided. I was hoping someone could say do this, this and this and all being well, you’ll have more money in 10 years.

I’m reluctant to use Trading 212 as I find it very confusing even though others say it’s simple. Too much choice I think! I don’t know what I find so difficult about it.

Have a look at meaningful money website and YouTube. Really accessible advice there.

I will do @threepiecesofsellotape. I think I have a mental block with this. I drew out some money in August, used the £100 to try it, got confused, so put it back into a high interest account. So frustrating.

Is it the investment side of things that puts you off? You could still invest the full amount in the T212 S&S ISA but keep it as uninvested cash…that would still generate interest on your balance, mine is earning 4.05% at the moment, which isn’t bad. At least you’d be generating something while you get more comfortable with the actual investment side of things.

Thanks @Mum2Fergus. I’m scared I guess of doing it wrongly as I did with the £100 in trading 212. They did explain withdrawal to me on a chat line but it was so many words and jargon I got confused so it’s still sitting in some weird ‘pies’ making not very much money! Not a loss though.

I do have other money so maybe I ought to find a financial investor and pay for a one off meeting. I ‘ve seen that mentioned a few times. I find it a big scary to just sign over to an ifa and lose sight of everything and using my phone or a laptop to hand over thousands of pounds seems scary to me.

A bit scary, not big

Also thank you to pp trying to help. It must be frustrating to watch someone so clueless. Rebel Finance looks a good shout.

Ok, so if your £100 is sitting in a pie then it’s been invested and (hopefully!) it’s growing.

Assuming you’re using app on phone, you click on the 3 horizontal lines in bottom right corner, on next page make sure correct account is highlighted (Stocks ISA for example) then select Manage Funds, then Deposit. That should default to the bank account you set up originally, type in how much you want to deposit and let the transaction happen.

once deposit goes in, it will sit as cash until you decide where to invest it…you could add it to your current pie, or select a new one. I use Vanguard FTSE all world (acc) VWRP - it’s generally the one recommended by Rebel Finance School.

If you opt instead for an IFA please make sure you fully understand the fees involved.

Ok thanks. I’m not ifa type wealthy just that I have more than just this £20,000 I meant. I was thinking I could pay a one off fee to one. Anyway, lots of viewing/ listening for me over the next few days

I think the advantage of the online platforms is you can see minute by minute what the position is with your money and you can react swiftly if you need to.

we have about 2/3 of our investments with a financial advisor in managed funds. We have 1/3 in a trading 212 stocks and shares isa. I’m literally in the process of moving the money from the financial advisor because I want more control and visibility and to be able to move quickly if something unexpected is happening in the markets.

I personally think trading 212 is excellent and have had no issues at all with it. I can’t see loads of negative reviews of it online either. The key thing however is to make sure you are comfortable because it’s your money.