Investment & Investing

You can withdraw it but at a penalty. It's a 25% top up and a 25% penalty so 1.25×0.75=0.0625 i.e. 6.25% overall.

Definitely should avoid this if possible but it's not the end of the world if something goes terribly wrong...

When are you looking to buy?

That should be your #1 question*.

Lots of people have 1yr lock in savings accounts, like 1st Direct @3% - turn it into a joint account and you can both have a savings account. NW as mentioned is good, TSB has a variable rate which isn't amazing anymore, but is better than nothing and has no lock-ins.

Basically you need to go through MSE and work out what combo of accounts you and your Mrs can open.

*TBH investment horizon should almost always be the 1st question to any investment decision).

This is all really really useful. thanks so much for everyone taking the time to respond.

As first time buyers we hope to buy this year so 1 year lock-ins aren't an option. I read MSE often but wanted some first hand advice about what has worked well for other people.

This is really clear, thanks very much. Please refer me for Nationwide!

If you're planning on buying this year then you don't want anything risky. Things like a stocks and shares ISA may be OK in the long term but there's every chance that their value may have dropped at a set date in the near future (as an example one of my "high risk" pots in a stocks and shares ISA has lost 10% in the past week).

As others have said, go with savings accounts. Try not to open shed loads of new accounts to take advantage of all the deals as there is a possibility this may hit your credit rating a little.

We've been monitoring our credit ratings like hawks but this is a very good point.

We opened HTB ISAs in November 2019. Just opened one new savings account this week.

Would one more savings account be terrible?!

Im planning to open an ISA with HL as currently have a lump sum sitting in a current account earning absolutely nothing.

Going to split between a vanguard tracker in about a weeks time and then split again between something like polar capital bio technology (more high risk) and polar cap insurance (stable)

Will probably then stick in a small monthly amount into them and just forget about them for 5 years

Any reason why not? Only thing was if I should do vanguard direct but just too many logins and accounts

If you cannot borrow on the savings account it should not affect your credit score.

HL is relatively expensive.

Why not open two ISAs (think they'll need to be in different tax years), one with vanguard to minimise fees

I wouldn't describe myself as a fan of Crispin Odey, but I think there is a lot of sense in what he is saying here:

“We went into coronavirus with the market incredibly bullish, everyone was long. I’m more cautious than most people.”
He said that last year’s rally in markets — the S&P 500 delivered a return of 29 per cent — was driven by the expansion of price/earnings multiples rather than earnings, which meant that investors were paying more for the same streams of profits.
“What you really needed for this year [2020] was for earnings to come through. Earnings are just not coming through — it’s going to be the opposite. The question is, does another dose of monetary madness offset the willingness of the market to really look at what’s really going on?”

Are even getting another dose of monetary madness?
At least interest rate will stay low for longer.

Awesome, ta.

Hasnt he had a 3 year losing streak?

Probably secretly pleased as punch as sure he's been shorting the market and losing investors loads of cash

yes, that's about right. he's been short on Tesla during the time its stock doubled in value.

short on Tesla

Hardly an expert or anything, but it seems like such an odd thing to short.

It's value is totally irrational and bears no correlation to anything. To me, as a layman, that seems to match the phrase, "the market can stay irrational longer than you can stay liquid", down to a tea.

Agreed, but there is a view that these things will eventually revert to traditional value metrics.

Which some of them will, eventually.

It's just a question of which ones, and when, and whether you will have been forced out of the position long before then.

Yeah I guess. That's the premises of the Big Short.

But a whole section of the market seems like a different play to one company with a cult following.

From what I can see, fund managers seem to come to prominence when they are on the right side of a big bet, and then spend the rest of their careers getting paid huge amounts to lose other people's money.

If I was going to short anything it would be Netflix

Fund managers come to prominence when they’ve been lucky enough for long enough. The very lucky ones have a few more good years.

Time to top up an ISA? Or wait a bit longer?

Zero chance of needing the full £20k allowance for 20/21 so Tax Yr end is not a consideration.

Just put a majority of savings into index funds.. shitting myself!
Definitely a good time to buy but too early to call the bottom.

Absolute arse fallen out of it all.

Have just got a little bonus and have shovelled into the nutmeg managed S&S ISA in the hope that it will come good and I won't have to explain to my kids that they won't be going to uni afterall.

Tempted to start dripping into a FTSE 100 tracker again.

Problem with this stuff is that you have to go in big, a la wildwest, otherwise what's the point.