ISA-y! Have You Thought About Savings And Investments?

We don’t really have proper pensions these day and have to make our own provisions by savings and investment or we’ll come massively unstuck in our old age. At least that’s the gist of the story as I read it! But Investments? Savings? Gosh this boggles my mind as I really don’t have the foggiest?! I just need someone else to do it for me really but as I don’t have masses of money what could I possibly invest in? There are options for getting an ISA which sounds like it would be the best option for someone like me.

You can get a cash only ISA (Individual Savings Account) or a Stocks and Shares one and it’s a way of earning money either through interest earned or from share value growth where you don’t have to pay tax! We have one each and it means a little bit of an extra saving for us. Yes we can’t reach that money yet as it is tied up but it is a little bonus for a rainy day in the future!

When I was little I remember we were always waiting for the maturation of an insurance policy belonging to my Mum. There was the promise of holidays and new kitchens and it seemed to me like it would almost be as if we had won the lottery! Obviously I was very little and my Mum was looking forward to the future by talking about this mysterious insurance policy which for so many years was just a word… And then… I remember vividly the day came. I was about twenty five by the time it finally paid out and we did indeed have a holiday! My Mum also had a new kitchen AND a bathroom and she was able to just go and buy whatever she wanted for them without looking at the price! It was amazing and after waiting all those years with a horrible blue bathroom and nasty old kitchen which she’d never been able to change, it was like a dream!

We don’t really have the same sort of bonuses with insurance policies these days and investments have to be far savvier and ‘dealt with’. Unless you really understand the market it’s too hard to buy and sell on your own and unless you’re really silly, saving under the mattress is no longer an option either! ISA’s seem just about the easiest and smartest way of making savings and investments these days and I for one need that ease!