Intelligent Money - your investment questions answered

[Phooey]

JulianPH said:

Hi mate

Give me, Nik or Coops a call in the morning and we can see what is happening. You won't need to do any paperwork.

If you prefer, just pop over to mine on the way to work. Apollo has grown her jaw pressure now!

Cheers

Julian

Ok but I’m not getting out of the car. Apollo, stand down!


I’ll bring sausages

[JulianPH]

Phooey said:

Ok but I’m not getting out of the car. Apollo, stand down!


I’ll bring sausages

[CantDecide]

I am a self confessed financial numpty :-) However, had some recent business luck and managed to pay off the mortgage and all debts and have a reasonable sum left over. It also means I am likely to stop working within the next 12 months and with only a small private pension to look forward to in the somewhat distant future (I am 48) I need to look at how to make the remaining money work for myself and family.

My initial reaction is buy to let (we have one at the moment, and had a few more in the past), but additional stamp duty, problem tenants etc dull my enthusiasm somewhat. So what should I be looking at, how should I be investing where should I put my money??? Thanks in advance.

[JulianPH]

CantDecide said:

I am a self confessed financial numpty :-) However, had some recent business luck and managed to pay off the mortgage and all debts and have a reasonable sum left over. It also means I am likely to stop working within the next 12 months and with only a small private pension to look forward to in the somewhat distant future (I am 48) I need to look at how to make the remaining money work for myself and family.

My initial reaction is buy to let (we have one at the moment, and had a few more in the past), but additional stamp duty, problem tenants etc dull my enthusiasm somewhat. So what should I be looking at, how should I be investing where should I put my money??? Thanks in advance.

Hi James

First of all, congratulations on your business results, I am sure it is not just good luck!

You have many options open to you. The stamp duty holiday with continue up until the end of March and includes buy to let properties BTW.

Shares and bonds are another option, but like BTL properties they come with their own risks.

I would have a chat with Nik ([e-mail]) about things (or PM me). We offer free and impartial information and guidance (including financial and tax planning) to all PHers.

Cheers

Julian

[CantDecide]

JulianPH said:

Hi James

First of all, congratulations on your business results, I am sure it is not just good luck!

You have many options open to you. The stamp duty holiday with continue up until the end of March and includes buy to let properties BTW.

Shares and bonds are another option, but like BTL properties they come with their own risks.

I would have a chat with Nik ([e-mail]) about things (or PM me). We offer free and impartial information and guidance (including financial and tax planning) to all PHers.

Cheers

Julian

Many thanks for the quick response Julian, I will get in touch with Nik and go from there. Also, I didn't realise about the BTL stamp duty holiday!

[condor]

Hi Julian
I now have some money to invest in stocks and shares, to go along with my few paper share certificates that I inherited a few months ago. I've read it's best to make the paper certificates into digital ones and to ask for a personal crest account rather than a nominee account so as to keep perks, voting rights etc. Is that correct?
I'd like to buy good dividend yielding shares that I would keep for some time, so share price ups and downs wouldn't bother me. I'm more interested in a small income from them. I've been a semi-retired dog walker/pet sitter the last 10 years and have 6 years to go for the state pension. So, not used to luxury
I think opening a stocks and shares isa would be the first place to start.
What would you suggest?

[JulianPH]

condor said:

Hi Julian
I now have some money to invest in stocks and shares, to go along with my few paper share certificates that I inherited a few months ago. I've read it's best to make the paper certificates into digital ones and to ask for a personal crest account rather than a nominee account so as to keep perks, voting rights etc. Is that correct?
I'd like to buy good dividend yielding shares that I would keep for some time, so share price ups and downs wouldn't bother me. I'm more interested in a small income from them. I've been a semi-retired dog walker/pet sitter the last 10 years and have 6 years to go for the state pension. So, not used to luxury
I think opening a stocks and shares isa would be the first place to start.
What would you suggest?

Hi condor, long time no speak and I am sorry for your loss.

It generally doesn't matter how you hold the shares in order to receive the perks, etc.

Just get in touch with me or Nik and we can go over all of the options with you.

Dog walking/pet sitting, you say...




Edited for one of my usual typos!

Edited by JulianPH on Tuesday 3rd November 07:38

[condor]

I love the picture of Apollo
Guessing Nik is the best person to ask, but did think that the difference between Personal crest account and nominee account hadn't been asked before.

[leef44]

CantDecide said:

Many thanks for the quick response Julian, I will get in touch with Nik and go from there. Also, I didn't realise about the BTL stamp duty holiday!

Am I right in thinking it is 0 + 3%? That is, there is still a 3% uplift for BTL compared to residential.

[Mr Pointy]

condor said:

Hi Julian
I now have some money to invest in stocks and shares, to go along with my few paper share certificates that I inherited a few months ago. I've read it's best to make the paper certificates into digital ones and to ask for a personal crest account rather than a nominee account so as to keep perks, voting rights etc. Is that correct?
I'd like to buy good dividend yielding shares that I would keep for some time, so share price ups and downs wouldn't bother me. I'm more interested in a small income from them. I've been a semi-retired dog walker/pet sitter the last 10 years and have 6 years to go for the state pension. So, not used to luxury
I think opening a stocks and shares isa would be the first place to start.
What would you suggest?

I went through the mechanics of transferring paper certificates into a Crest account earlier in the year. First you need to open an account with an institution & who you go for depends on how much buying & selling you plan to do. I looked at Hargreaves Lansdown, Halifax & iWeb but I wasn't going to transfer my shares into an ISA so I wasn't to concerned about charges. I went with HL in the end as there's no charge for holding shares in a Fund & Shares account, but I it's a nominee account rather than a personal one. I don't think you can hold shares in an ISA in a personal Crest account, it has to be a nominee one. A personal Crest account will also come with charges - is it really worth it?

Be aware that the certificates themselves are expensive to replace if they get lost so I sent them off RMSD with each parcel having a replacement value below the RM insurance limit. The replacement cost of a small holding can actually exceed the value of the shares.

[condor]

Thanks for your reply Mr Pointy
I'm not too fussed about holding shares I've already got in an S & S isa, I think I should get one for this tax year as cash returns are so poor and I think I'd do better with dividend yielding shares than a basic building society type account. I'm thinking of a lump sum to invest rather than dripfeeding - though I'd be looking at a house purchase in a few years time.
I know about the cost of replacing paper certificates - I had to send them special delivery to the solicitors dealing with my Dad's estate and was concerned they'd lose them and wanted them insured.

[PaulWoof]

So has the rebalancing of portfolios been postponed or still going ahead?

Will there be any restrictions to adding to funds etc?

[renmure]

A dog walker. Just what we need.
The last one didn't come back
I'm not sure whether the little guy sat on hom him or if the two land-sharks did that barky bitey thing.

[Charmed_quark]

500 Miles said:

I guess that’s the benefit of being so old JPH

...and grumpy!

[JulianPH]

condor said:

I love the picture of Apollo
Guessing Nik is the best person to ask, but did think that the difference between Personal crest account and nominee account hadn't been asked before.

Thanks!

After 6,500 posts I honestly don't remember if it has been asked before! A quick chat with Nik ([e-mail]) will give you everything you need to know.

Basically, if you hold them in a personal CREST account everything is in your name, but this can be expensive. If you hold them through a nominee they are still your legal property, but the costs can be significantly lower. Most companies hand out any perks to shareholders regardless of how you hold them and your nominee broker will also be holding them through CREST on your behalf.

Cheers

Julian

[JulianPH]

leef44 said:

CantDecide said:

Many thanks for the quick response Julian, I will get in touch with Nik and go from there. Also, I didn't realise about the BTL stamp duty holiday!

Am I right in thinking it is 0 + 3%? That is, there is still a 3% uplift for BTL compared to residential.

No, it is 0 on any BTL up to £500k!

The stamp duty holiday applies to all residential properties (up to £500k), regardless of usage.

So you could technically go out and buy 100 of these for BTL with no stamp duty!

[JulianPH]

Mr Pointy said:

I went through the mechanics of transferring paper certificates into a Crest account earlier in the year. First you need to open an account with an institution & who you go for depends on how much buying & selling you plan to do. I looked at Hargreaves Lansdown, Halifax & iWeb but I wasn't going to transfer my shares into an ISA so I wasn't to concerned about charges. I went with HL in the end as there's no charge for holding shares in a Fund & Shares account, but I it's a nominee account rather than a personal one. I don't think you can hold shares in an ISA in a personal Crest account, it has to be a nominee one. A personal Crest account will also come with charges - is it really worth it?

Be aware that the certificates themselves are expensive to replace if they get lost so I sent them off RMSD with each parcel having a replacement value below the RM insurance limit. The replacement cost of a small holding can actually exceed the value of the shares.

I missed reading this before posting above, a very good explaination.

[GR_TVR]

JulianPH said:

leef44 said:

CantDecide said:

Many thanks for the quick response Julian, I will get in touch with Nik and go from there. Also, I didn't realise about the BTL stamp duty holiday!

Am I right in thinking it is 0 + 3%? That is, there is still a 3% uplift for BTL compared to residential.

No, it is 0 on any BTL up to £500k!

The stamp duty holiday applies to all residential properties (up to £500k), regardless of usage.

So you could technically go out and buy 100 of these for BTL with no stamp duty!

The stamp duty holiday (unfortunately) only applies to the "normal" rate table and the additional property rate of 3% still applies.

E.g. a second home or BTL worth £500k would incur the 3% additional property stamp duty of £15k, but you would save the £15k of "normal" stamp duty.

[JulianPH]

PaulWoof said:

So has the rebalancing of portfolios been postponed or still going ahead?

Will there be any restrictions to adding to funds etc?

We completed yesterday and the underlying funds/stocks are being moved to rebalance as we speak.

A software update had removed the notification banner but we are putting this up again right now and there are no restrictions in adding new funds.

Cheers

[Shnozz]

GR_TVR said:

The stamp duty holiday (unfortunately) only applies to the "normal" rate table and the additional property rate of 3% still applies.

E.g. a second home or BTL worth £500k would incur the 3% additional property stamp duty of £15k, but you would save the £15k of "normal" stamp duty.

That was my interpretation of it so Julian’s post made me question whether I had got it wrong!