Is it a bad idea to keep investing in a S&S ISA at the moment?

[confusedlots]

I opened a S&S ISA at the start of the year for the first time, and am investing around £500 per month. Obviously I know that it will go up and down, and it's a long term investment and leaving your money there long term should hopefully ride out the fluctuations. But it's obviously a bit disheartening to look at it and see that I'm over £100 down already.

Is it silly to keep investing each month while it's obviously just going down? Or should I be saving that money elsewhere and then move it across when things look to be on the up again?

I'm happy to leave the money I've already invested there, but I just don't know if I should stop adding to it for a while?

I don’t know the answer OP as I’m in the same boat as you - saved in a S&S isa for a year and a minus 2.52% loss. I’ve withdrawn a chunk and put it in my Chase savings account which pays 1.5% interest for now. I’ve left some in the ISA just to see how it performs over a few years. The general consensus with S&S isa is to leave your money in for around 5 years I think, as the rate will go up and down even when things are fairly stable.

Assuming you’re in a low cost passive ETF tracker fund. Leave it in, the worse thing you can do is take it out as that just crystallises the loss.

stocks and shares are for the long term, and you should wait before doing anything. If anything, think of it like they’re on sale at the moment and buy more (that’s what I’m doing!)!

Well things are down from Russia, from high inflation and interest rate rises. We could see a huge longer term impact on the economy and a recession (and you know how the stock market reacts to one of those). So it really depends where the funds are invested to answer that question. It certainly all a bit dodgy right now.

Keep at it. Remember you will be buying low with each regular investment which means bigger returns once the market picks up. If you’re truly in it for the long haul (10+ years) the best thing you can do for your own sanity is to not look. Pay down and forget about it until you want to cash in.

I'm putting what I was going to put in my s&s ISA into an account which offsets my mortgage for now. At the end of the year, depending on what's happening I may move into an ISA.

I was told keep paying when it's low and it paid off last year. Unfortunately you do need to keep it in long term to see the benefits, taking it out at a low point just means the money is lost. It's not fun though, mine has lost money too!!

Buy low, sell high.

if it feels too risky, you could reduce your payments in each month and use another saving vehicle for the rest of your money (I.e. Keep more in cash cushion) but the worst time to sell is in panic after a drop in the market.

You are buying when share prices are lower, yes they can drop further, but over a significant period they should rise.

Buying when share prices are high means they have to continue to rise to make a profit.

Investing £500 a month is a well recognised way to balance out stock market fluctuations.

The idea with S&S ISAs is they will fluctuate but over time the value roses. The only thing that matters is what are the worth when you want to sell.

As long as you can afford it and are in for the long term you should keep investing. You are effectively buying low at the moment so should see growth in the longer term (although no guarantees).

Shares etc are a long term investment, usually 5+ years, especially when making regular monthly investments. It's not a good idea to obsess about short term losses and to be honest, you'd be better to stop looking at just review every year or so. Withdrawing monies so soon after investing it isn't a wise move as you've no chance at all of recovering the short term losses if you sell up and move the money into a low interest paying account. Usually better to carry on investing so you're buying more shares for your money. Over the long term, most shares increase in value so as long as you're invested in a good spread of investments then you should be fine. Did you not discuss long term risks with your IFA when you set up the ISA?

I’ve been paying into mine for a couple of years now and currently have around £11k in there. I need to withdraw it for our house purchase at some point in the next month and it’s so frustrating that I’m currently down £250! Wish I’d listened to the warnings that it’s a long term investment option and stuck the money in my savings account instead.

Investing now is ideal. Try to pay monthly to spread investing over market fluctuations.
Although the value of the investment will rise and fall with the markets you'll only lose money if you cash out at lower than your investment price.
Market volatility is ideal to make significant gains so don't be scared off now. At present inflation rates your sure to loose value if it's in a bank account.
S&S ISA are really for longer term investing.

"What matters is time in the market, not timing the market"
If you're not going to withdraw it within the next 5 years then keep investing every month and forget about it.

Paying in a regular premium alllows you to benefit from pound cost averaging, you are buying units at a cheaper price when the markets are down. No one can time the markets, its is about remaining invested and participating inthe markets - the highs and lows. If you've lost your appetiite for risk, and investing in financial markets always comes with risk, then stop the regular contrubutions and save in to a cash account. No one has a crystal ball to predict the future, however inevstments should always be considered for a 5 year plus timeline to ride out the highs and lows of market fluctuations.

It depend What you are buying but overall the market is on sale!
Buy!!

I wish I could buy right now

I buy low cost index funds like a basket of everything!.

My sipp has "tanked" to 25 % it's normally 35%.

DC Jas tanked to 11%.