scottish widows lump sum maxi isa

[kdrpink]

i know its my choice/money but any advice?i have just bought �7000 maxi shares isa on a low risk`..for up to 5 years..a mate said i would be better putting the cash in an `ing` saver account...i can still cancel the share isa..i`m in the tsb..thanks any kind of advice

[WoWo]

There isn't really such a think as low risk with the stock market. The best you can get is lower risk but there is no way you can say which way the market will go, it's been on the up of late but anything can happen.

But the thing is you could also get more return from the stock market than and ING account.

If you're undecided what about putting �3K in a mini cash ISA (if you haven't maxed one already) and then put the rest in the maxi ISA.

[dzug]

You can't have a mini and a maxi ISA in the same tax year - you can have two minis, one cash and one stocks and shares, which I think is what WoWo is meaning to suggest.

Some thoughts, rather than advice:

Using Ing you would have a reasonably certain return and some protection for your money if Ing went bust.

With the ISA you are highly unlikely to lose all your money, although it's not impossible. There's a small chance you will lose some of it - particularly if you need the money as soon as (or particularly before) 5 years is up.

After 5 years you've a reasonable chance of making as much as with Ing, a reasonable chance of making a bit more, and a small chance of making a lot more.

Which to choose depends on how comfortable you are with the risk, and whether you can afford to leave the investment to recover at the end of the 5 years if it's going through a bad patch. If you are going to need it sooner than 5 years then go for Ing.

It also depends on what other savings you have - if it's all you've got then I'd be dubious about putting in in shares.