[Doug Holloway]

Hi Guys

ISA's will give a marginally higher rate than a normal account but if you cut out all the middlemen and just invest yourself you will do well over the medium/long term and quite possibly over the short.

Remember every 1% which an advisor who probably knows about as much you takes, is 1% less of your money, not much if you have 1000 but quite a lot if you have 100000.

The keys to successful investing seem to be, reinvest dividends, don't pay commission and invest for the longer term.

Of course if you happened to be good at investing you could do a whole lot better but it's riskier.

Just bear in mind with Dividends that Vodafone will pay almost 5%, BT 3.5%, Barclays 3%, HSBC 4.5%, no high street Isa is going to give you that, apart from introductory offers which soon drop well below.

You will soon become confident and ultimately much wealthier.

Cheers

Doug

[wynne jones]

I noticed rich people like buying property and businesses on the cheap from the desperate. It's a great strategy if you have the stomach for it.

[jasonl]

Hi Guys

ISA's will give a marginally higher rate than a normal account but if you cut out all the middlemen and just invest yourself you will do well over the medium/long term and quite possibly over the short.

Remember every 1% which an advisor who probably knows about as much you takes, is 1% less of your money, not much if you have 1000 but quite a lot if you have 100000.

The keys to successful investing seem to be, reinvest dividends, don't pay commission and invest for the longer term.

Of course if you happened to be good at investing you could do a whole lot better but it's riskier.

Just bear in mind with Dividends that Vodafone will pay almost 5%, BT 3.5%, Barclays 3%, HSBC 4.5%, no high street Isa is going to give you that, apart from introductory offers which soon drop well below.

You will soon become confident and ultimately much wealthier.

Cheers

Doug

Doug , why not see an advisor ?  you will be amazed , one client I saw happily pays .5% of £3 million plus to have his money managed , these advisers have access to funds that blow ISAs well out of the water, ISAs are a retail product , very much like buying vanish to clean carpets , customers think they do a good job , they are most popular , but in the majority of cases totally unsuitable and ineffective.

Also tax , especially inheritance tax , is very avoidable , but this is a specialist area that the amateur investor just cannot possibly get right.

[Paul Clapham]

Thanks for your answer Jason.

Another quick one , so the client is paying 0.5% of £3 million to have his money managed, what happens if that money shrinks and becomes £2 million is the "adviser" responsible ? will  he guarantee that he will make up any short falls if the investment shrinks due to his advice ?

I know the answer is going to be no  , and this is what would make it very difficult for me to hand over my money to an adviser, I would rather manage my own capital, have very low returns, and keep it very very safe, even if the investment is going "backwards" due to inflation, I would still have my capital.

Very interesting subject, and a very complex one,

Cheers
 
Paul

[*Hector*]

Paul and Doug.........

Do you advocate that your customers clean their own carpets??

Or do you, being the professional know more about carpets, stains and the pitfalls of carpet cleaning than your customer? Who after all can look up on the interweb how to clean carpets......

If you don't (which I suspect is the case, or you would be out of work) why are you taking such a cavalier and if I may say so hypocritical attitude to financial advisors??


Just askin like 

[Paul Clapham]

Hector, I give a guarantee if the customer is , in the end, not happy with my service, I give a full refund, how many IFA will do that !

And like many households and business owners, I am a realist, I will do some things my self, for example, I cut my own lawn, not very well and its got weeds in it, I could use a specialist, but I don't, the same goes for the general public and carpet cleaning if they want to clean their own they will do.

The list goes on , I cook , but I don't bring in a chef every evening, I drink beer but I don,t brew my own

I wash my own van and don't use the professionals,

I don't like heights so we use  a window cleaning professional

I can paint so I don't use a professional decorator...............

I look after my own money, ( and have done quite well ) and don't use an IFA


and the list goes on etc etc 

but each to their own !

cheers

Paul.



 

[jasonl]

Thanks for your answer Jason.

Another quick one , so the client is paying 0.5% of £3 million to have his money managed, what happens if that money shrinks and becomes £2 million is the "adviser" responsible ? will  he guarantee that he will make up any short falls if the investment shrinks due to his advice ?

I know the answer is going to be no  , and this is what would make it very difficult for me to hand over my money to an adviser, I would rather manage my own capital, have very low returns, and keep it very very safe, even if the investment is going "backwards" due to inflation, I would still have my capital.

Very interesting subject, and a very complex one,

Cheers
 
Paul

The question you are asking is about risk , a large part of the training is about how to manage risk , and measure a clients attitude to risk.

Returns of 15-20% are available in high risk investments , but safe ones often manage 8% , in fact ,investing  in an ISA means the bank will hand your money to a fund manager who will indeed get 8% return , taking a fat fee sharing it with the bank.

If the IFA fails to follow protocol , and an investment loses money , then there is a very robust complaints procedure available .

Most IFAs will not look at an investor with under 100k to invest, maybe they will take on a young client if they show potential to be profitable later in life.

You can have a low risk investment with an IFA , and invariably it will still beat self investing.

[wynne jones]

Hector, I give a guarantee if the customer is , in the end, not happy with my service, I give a full refund, how many IFA will do that !

 

In that case he would assume you are risk averse and put your money where it makes jack poo. Most people are happy to take a higher risk with some of their money that at least has a chance of giving a high return.

[Doug Holloway]

Hi Guys

I am not adverse to IFA's just that an awful lot are not very good and the ones that are probably wouldn't be interested in my' pile'.

I am not risk adverse in fact I have taken quite a few gambles but I can research a company and make my own decision. I am thinking of CFD's and have opened an account but have not yet been bold enough to take the plunge.

My original point was that you, the small man, can invest in shares and own a small part of the big companies and this will give you a greater return than the 2% currently on offer.

Cheers

Doug

[jasonl]

I an earlier post I mentioned having a holistic approach to financial planning, this is where an IFA really comes in useful.

For example Shaun saying he wants to give 2 houses to his kids , that screams big tax liability on his death , so proper planning means getting the right combination of insurance against inheritance tax, putting assets into trust out of HMRC reach and timing of transfers.  These kinds of transactions are nearly impossible to get right for the amateur investor, a few grand to an IFA for setting it all up properly saves tens of thousands in many cases .

[jasonl]

I take your point Doug that many IFAs are not very good , are you aware that 20% have deregistered this year as they cant/wont take the degree level exams that are now necessary in order to practice.  The study required takes 2 years and is very in depth , I am a third of the way though my qualifications, and it is tough.

[AshWhite]

Doug, CFD's are great tools. Chuck a few hundred quid in - find a company after doing some research, make your your stop losses are in place, and have some fun. It's quite exciting stuff - but you've got to be prepared to lose what you put in.

[Doctor Carpet (Ret'd)]

Doug, CFD's are great tools. Chuck a few hundred quid in - find a company after doing some research, make your your stop losses are in place, and have some fun. It's quite exciting stuff - but you've got to be prepared to lose what you put in.

Certainly agree with that!

Rog