Stocks and shares ISAS

LadyWentworth · 2023-01-22T22:56:27+00:00

I have some savings in a S&S ISA, started about 20 years ago. It just sits there really but is my emergency back up fund. For years I had a dd of £50 a month but did manage to increase it to £100 a couple of years ago. I don’t follow or know anything about stock markets and I worry this isn’t the best place for it. It doesn’t seem to grow very much. I know the stock market will have ups and downs. Is it likely to be worth leaving it there or would I be better moving it to a cash ISA or somewhere else?

PuppaDontPreach · 22/01/2023 22:57

What are you invested in?

caringcarer · 22/01/2023 23:10

Try picking your own shares. Commodities are doing well at the moment. This is what my shares are in. Shell, Chevron, Total Energies, ExxonMobil, Freeport McMoran, Hess, Rio Tinto, Diagio and BAE Systems. Have increased a lot over last 2 years almost doubled. As long as war in Ukraine ongoing will keep. If war over may sell some but keep BAE systems as they make parts for weapons of war and even when war over weapons will need to be replaced.

Honper · 22/01/2023 23:16

How much has it gone up? If it's anything more than .5% a year you've still done better than regular savings accounts up till now so I wouldn't fret but it may be time to review now that interest rates are rising. There are quite a few accounts that will give you around 4.2-4.4% fixed for 12 months now that don't involve s&s at all so there's no risk. They don't have the ISA wrapper though if you need that (eg if you're a higher rate taxpayer or if you'll be getting over £1k in interest).

hamstersarse · 22/01/2023 23:19

I do my own trading, it’s not as scary as you think. Well, that’s not strictly true as I think I am used to the ups and downs now but at the beginning when a stock fell it would ruin my day 😆

what have you got your money in?

MonsoonMadness · 23/01/2023 06:17

caringcarer · 22/01/2023 23:10

Try picking your own shares. Commodities are doing well at the moment. This is what my shares are in. Shell, Chevron, Total Energies, ExxonMobil, Freeport McMoran, Hess, Rio Tinto, Diagio and BAE Systems. Have increased a lot over last 2 years almost doubled. As long as war in Ukraine ongoing will keep. If war over may sell some but keep BAE systems as they make parts for weapons of war and even when war over weapons will need to be replaced.

What about the ethics of investing in companies who make war weapons??

snowlolo · 23/01/2023 06:36

caringcarer · 22/01/2023 23:10

Try picking your own shares. Commodities are doing well at the moment. This is what my shares are in. Shell, Chevron, Total Energies, ExxonMobil, Freeport McMoran, Hess, Rio Tinto, Diagio and BAE Systems. Have increased a lot over last 2 years almost doubled. As long as war in Ukraine ongoing will keep. If war over may sell some but keep BAE systems as they make parts for weapons of war and even when war over weapons will need to be replaced.

So your advice is invest all your money in war and fossil fuels Maybe it will make you money if you don't give a damn about destroying the planet.

snowlolo · 23/01/2023 06:39

OP you could check out the author Andrew Craig. He's written a couple of very accessible books that will teach you the basics.

You need to educate yourself really as asking on a forum like this will return very mixed opinions, everyone prioritises different things with their money (as we can see above around investing in fossil fuels/ war or not!)

SpaceMonitor · 23/01/2023 06:45

You haven’t said what the money is invested in OP. If it was in the S&P 500 you would have made a lot of money over 20 years.

BarbaraofSeville · 23/01/2023 07:03

I don't understand how you've had money in a S&S ISA for the last 20 years that hasn't grown very much. Are you sure?

Who is the provider and what are their charges? That could be the issue.

If you choose a low cost provider and properly diversify your investment then you should get a decent, higher than cash, return over time.

However if you've not done this, the charges could have significantly affected your return, but it could well be the wrong time to try and change it, because if the funds you have invested in are down, then for any money you take out of them, you crystallise the losses, whereas if you leave it in there, it could go back up.

But I'd advise against picking your own shares if you're not knowledgeable and don't want to be an active investor. You might get lucky and pick a winner, but equally, you could lose part of your investment, or at the very least, not see much growth.

DontMakeMeShushYou · 23/01/2023 16:38

When you say it hasn't grown much, can you give a ball park figure of what it is currently valued at and the date when that valuation took place?

I ask because 22-ish years ago I set up a stocks and shares ISA, paying in £50 a month and have continued plodding away with it ever since, so very similar to you. It will depend on what level of risk you agreed to when you set it up, but I think the growth for mine has been reasonable. It's gone up and down over the years depending on how the market is performing but right now it is looking pretty healthy. I can see today's valuation. But if, for example, the last valuation you have for it was last September/October when Kwarteng and Truss tried to destroy the economy, it might be looking rather less fine.

ChicCroissant · 23/01/2023 16:56

Our stocks and shares ISA are the best performing investment we've had over time, and that's including the fact that they dropped a bit at first. If yours haven't grown much over the same period of time, who are they with?!

Original poster

LadyWentworth · 23/01/2023 19:47

Sorry, it was late last night when I posted and just checked back. I’ll have to check who it’s with now - it’s changed companies quite a few times. Initially it was through the Nationwide - we saw a financial advisor when we took out a mortgage and he recommended it. We don’t get details of what exactly the shares are in, just that units are bought and sold. As I said, we’ve just left it apart from the £50 going in every month. I think we did take some money out of it a good while ago, when we bought a car -roughly £3000. At the moment its value is about £10,000, which I think seems very low for the length of time we’ve had it. I’ll check on the last statement what they say the growth has been over time. It’s just been there really and I haven’t thought much about it until now. Thank you for all the advice - I really will have to look into it more.

OP posts:

DontMakeMeShushYou · 23/01/2023 20:55

OK, in that case it is doing a lot worse than my Scottish Widows one. But, as I say, it will also depend on what you said about how much risk you wanted to take.

FurierTransform · 23/01/2023 21:30

caringcarer · 22/01/2023 23:10

Try picking your own shares. Commodities are doing well at the moment. This is what my shares are in. Shell, Chevron, Total Energies, ExxonMobil, Freeport McMoran, Hess, Rio Tinto, Diagio and BAE Systems. Have increased a lot over last 2 years almost doubled. As long as war in Ukraine ongoing will keep. If war over may sell some but keep BAE systems as they make parts for weapons of war and even when war over weapons will need to be replaced.

I don't think it's a good idea for regular people to choose individual stocks for their savings TBH. It's very much into "only do it if you can afford to lose" territory.
BAE was the top performer of the ftse1000 in 2022 - I have shares in it too, but nobody can pick that consistently.

Far safer to just buy a low cost market/world tracker ETF.
OP, if I were you, I'd at the least look to transfer what you have to a different S&S provider, if only for having a more convenient management/app. I like Freetrade.

2023bebetter · 23/01/2023 21:57

@LadyWentworth

I could be wrong but I wouldn't trust a nationwide seller of stocks and shares anymore than del boy on the market trying to flog me a Rolex watch.

20 year's x 20??

50 x 12 x 20.

What a shame!

Do your own readings try and find out what it's in... things have taken a dip but it sounds like yours never got off to a good start.

Have a look at index funds, read about them, check them out via morning Star and trust net and Google.

Move it to a self investing platform'and manage it yourself.

Original poster

LadyWentworth · 23/01/2023 22:47

I have checked and it is managed by Aegon funds, who seem quite solid from what I can see but as I’ve said, I know very little. Out of interest, what would you expect a S&S Isa to have returned in that time, with a similar investment? I’m not confident enough to invest myself. If we are in a dip, it might not be the best time to move it. I will have a look around for another option though - either another place to manage investing it or a higher interest savings account. Thank you

OP posts:

PuppaDontPreach · 24/01/2023 08:33

The S&P average return over the last 100 years was 10% pa. Take off 1% for charges. £50 per month for 20 years with a 9% return gives you about £33k.

What are you actually invested in? Do you know the name of the fund(s)?

Original poster

LadyWentworth · 24/01/2023 09:10

It was Legal and General, then changed to Aegon. I imagine I would have opted for low risk when given the choice as I’ve never had lots to play around with.

OP posts:

tribpot · 24/01/2023 09:21

You need to know what fund it's invested in, rather than just who is managed it. Can you look at the fund name? I have a stocks and shares ISA with Virgin Money and it's split between a green fund and a tracker fund. The tracker tracks the FTSE 250 I think, that's the kind of info you need.

If you chose a very low risk fund back in the day this might explain your low return. A stocks and shares ISA isn't a single thing like a savings account, it's a way of doing investment and the lower the risk the lower the maximum return will be (but it also limits your losses). Your return seems so low, though, that you might as well have just put the money under the mattress? You've not lost anything I don't think (depends how many years you put in 50 and how many 100) but it doesn't seem like you've made anything at all.

OpportunityKnockss · 24/01/2023 18:58

I have S&S ISA’s with Fidelity and they always seem to be doing well. Every time it goes up £500 i withdraw the profit. Last month it paid for Christmas (£850) and this month I just paid a £1000 off my DC’s mortgage and it’s since gone back up in value as if I hadn’t withdrew the £1000.

ExtremeJean · 24/01/2023 19:09

I recommend the book How to Fund the Life you want. It explains it all in basic terms and advises how's to find really low cost products. You may be losing a lot of your returns in fees.

2023bebetter · 24/01/2023 19:30

Op I know it can feel daunting when thinking about doing it yourself but I didn't pass maths and don't get maths.

It took me a long time to get to gripes with it. You need a small spread of index funds.

I would whip it out now and get it into somewhere with low ish fees ....and invest in some vanguard fund.
Life strategy perhaps?
100% equity if you're under 55.

2023bebetter · 24/01/2023 19:31

@OpportunityKnockss

That's extremely good going at the moment I. A dip!

OpportunityKnockss · 24/01/2023 19:35

That's extremely good going at the moment I. A dip!
I know I’ve been very lucky. I have quite a lot in FTSE all share tracker and a Legal and General Health fund and they’re both doing really well.

FurierTransform · 24/01/2023 20:56

It's probably just invested in a basic fund that holds low risk assets like bonds. Nothing unusual or wrong with that per se. Lower risk means lower returns. It's fairly pointless comparing to returns others have had with equities - different investments.

As a first step, I'd definitely open another S&S ISA with another company, then look to transfer the existing one in and just reinvest it all in a similar fund. You won't be any financially better/worse off, but Just having it on a platform that is easy to access and use makes a massive difference & will be a great encouragement to getting on top of it. E.g I can topup my freetrade ISA via online banking on my phone in something like 5 clicks/1 minute. The apps integrate together perfectly.