Year end. ISAs

securespark said:
I can no longer drive due to eyesight issues.

I do my best to get about by public transport, but sometimes I need to go by taxi, especially to medical appointments.

I don't consider it stupid crap or a waste of money.
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Betty lives in a right wing bubble, bless.

Clueless, does not do it justice.
 
securespark said:
I can no longer drive due to eyesight issues.

I do my best to get about by public transport, but sometimes I need to go by taxi, especially to medical appointments.

I don't consider it stupid crap or a waste of money.
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Then you obviously have that need.

A lot of people do not. They are just too lazy to walk or cycle, or take a bus.
 
I have to counter the assertion that people are too lazy to take public transport.

Often, it isn't convenient.

I can get a bus from where I live into Manchester City Centre. The latter part of the journey runs down the student corridor. The route is designed to harvest as many passengers as possible, but it is not a direct route, so takes much longer.

Going the other way, I can get buses to Stockport Town Centre. When we first moved in, these were 3 an hour. Then they were 2 an hour. Now there's only one every hour.

A good public transport network should be:

Cheap
Efficient
Frequent
Convenient

and with seamless, easy to navigate interchanges between different types of public transport (ie bus, train, tram etc).

Then more people will use it. It's not laziness that puts people off using public transport.
 
I forgot to add, sometimes I can be away most if not all of the day. There's time waiting for buses, travelling time and running the errands or going to appointments.
 
securespark said:
I forgot to add, sometimes I can be away most if not all of the day. There's time waiting for buses, travelling time and running the errands or going to appointments.
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Why are you making this all about you? Guilty conscience?

I don't care.
 
The point I was responding to was that most people cannot take advantage of the ISA - I disagree. I contend that a large number of people who are not doing so and not saving at all are choosing this for themselves. That is obviously up to them and I don't tell others how to spend their own money. Just as long as I'm not expected to bail them out or be sympathetic when they don't have anything to get them through the rainy days and unexpected shocks.
 
Living in a rural community public transport is either a luxury or an insult. It's rarely convenient for everyone or sometimes anyone. Village I live in has just lost it's only once a day, 5 days a week, return trip to the county town 6 miles away.
Home village has 6 visits per day, 6 days a week publicised plus one return trip for workers early morning returning late afternoon - it just about tied in with most workers hours but if you don't know about it you don't know about it.
 
JohnD said:
the "year end" thing is not very important to most people.

If you had thousands of pounds under the bed, and you forgot to invest it by 5th April, you can invest it on 6th April. The benefits are the same.

It would only matter if you had, say £40,000 to invest. Then you could have put £20,000 in on 5th April, using your tax year 2023/4 tax allowance, and £20,000 on 6th April using your 2024/5 tax allowance.

Most people don't have that problem.

It is more sensible to tuck away a wedge every month or so, if you have it available.

I'd also beware of people who tell you "International Galoshes went up 150% last year, so it's a good investment."

That was last year. No reason it will do the the same this year. Like Tesla, or Gold, or Somalia Hi Tech Index, or India. Countries, indices and funds tend to revert to the mean over time. So last years star performer is unlikely to look so good in a few years time.

There can be good reasons to invest in a region that is politically stable and has a large, well-regulated market

And to avoid one run by a dictator supported by a bunch of kleptocrats. Or one that has a demographic timebomb and is running out of people of working age. China and Russia qualify as both.

Holding your wealth in cash is a guaranteed way to lose. It will fall behind inflation and will shrink in real value.

If your employer has a pension scheme and is willing to contribute to your account, join it. Otherwise you are throwing away free money.
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Oh dear.
Tired, Pious claptrap from the ignorant. Creations of straw men out of his head so he can write twaddle in criticism.
Declarations about "most people" presumably based on his own piggy bank, don't change the facts.
Perhaps he put some money into one of his daft suggestions and left it there realising his mistake years later and now he's bitter about it.
He may be that stupid, not many are.
Or he didn't, he used a high growth 'instrument' of some sort, but resents the suggestion that anyone can do the same.
This is classic Bowler Hat Brigade.

The amount of money which IS is S&S ISAs shows that a lot of people do have an amount of money which makes ISAs, and therefore the "year end" thing, significant. It was up around £50bn, last time I saw it.
 
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diy_fun_uk said:
Tbh I'm referring to those who, rightly or wrongly, just want to do the bare minimum to try and accrue money for the future and accept investments will go up and down.
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You suggested a S & S ISA, is that what you meant, or ISAS in general? Either way, fair comment, but with reservations on the S&S version.
Once you're in a position to have more than a few thousand in the bank, the year end counts.
You can have a lifetime isa , which I haven't mentioned. They're for up to 39 year olds and iirc only a max of £1k pa.

You can put money into an isa every month as long as it's within the limits, but you have to put some brain input into where it's going. Bowler Hattist might say the FTSE is a fine proper place, but you'd have made bugger all (one and a bit percent) last year when a different but unremarkable choice would have yielded 20. You'd have been better off in that case, with a cash ISA, as long as you kept track of their rates, because they tend to turn to as little as the bank or whatever can get away with wthout incurring the wrath of the press.

Cash Isas operated that way are little better than the worthy in a region that is politically stable and has a large, well-regulated market FTSE, which like most stock based options, can go negative or underporform what migh be called a slightly intelligent strategy.
Unfortunately, as far as I'm aware, there aren't simple places to put or add to a fund which is managed with that slight ntelligence, for you. By overall, I mean do some moving about, including into cash when appropriate.
There are managed funds, but they're all pretty narrow and ultra cautious, and also go negative.
In the medium (months/years) term, some sectors do better than others. technology is the obvious one. Sooner or later they pause, like the tech one is starting to do, so other sectors appeal.
India, derided above, had been doing very well for long enough for it to be a decent ploy for months at least. It has risen 25% in the 6 months since I chose it.
Glocal tech is also up 25%, and Japan 30%.
If they slow down or drop they'll be sold or switched.

The past year: Ignore the yellow one, the three mentioned are the India/Tech/Japan, FTSE is the blue one
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By next year, large companies in China are forecast to make an appearance.
 
Justin Passing said:
Yes it has to be in for a year.
You can keep paying in to a pension (SIPP) up to age 75. I don't think it matters about other pensions etc.

It takes a few weeks iirc, for the tax part to be credited to the account. It's not much but it's free.
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Justin Passing said:
Yes it has to be in for a year.
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Where do you get this from? I can't see it referred to elsewhere.
Justin Passing said:
You can keep paying in to a pension (SIPP) up to age 75. I don't think it matters about other pensions etc.
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You can keep doing it, but the amount you're allowed to do it with, and get the tax reimbursement, is liable to reduce to £10,000 if you make a withdrawal under what is called the Money Purchase Annual Allowance. You can avoid this if the pension is for less than £10,000, you close the whole of it, and you make it clear you are using the "small pot" rules. https://help.getpenfold.com/en/arti...aw-from-my-pension-when-i-reach-the-age-of-55 (option 3)
Justin Passing said:
It takes a few weeks iirc, for the tax part to be credited to the account. It's not much but it's free.
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6-11 weeks apparently. https://help.getpenfold.com/en/arti...Q==--31896ae197a8a4d79c62b96023add9d055fae6e1
 
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