A lot of them will do the same for ISAs: Legal & General for instance has just announced
A lot of them will do the same for ISAs: Legal & General, for instance, has just announced plans for a new flexible ISA-based mortgage, to be launched this month. It will include an ISA that tracks the FT-SE All Share index, plus built-in life cover.But packages do not generally offer as good all-round value or performance as you would find if you shopped around for each element separately and constructed your own deal. Choose an ISA fund that aims for steady capital growth - a tracker fund is a good bet.. Grandmothers have long warned us to "save for a rainy day". In reality, most people's savings and investment plans are not even that precise.
A good savings and investment strategy means matching the right savings methods to the right objectives. Some savings vehicles, such as personal pension plans, are designed with one specific goal in mind Others are more versatile. The most popular use for an endowment policy is to repay an interest-only mortgage, but endowments can be used for any medium- to long-term financial plans, such as school fees. Choosing between the hundreds of accounts, savings plans and stock market investments can be complicated and time-consuming. "It helps to start by doing a quick overview of what you have already," says Justin Modray at independent financial advisers Chase de Vere. "Then you can work out what you are going to do in the next few years, in the medium term, which is five years or more, and the longer term, which is probably up until retirement."According to Mr Modray, the next step is to list any financial commitments or changes in circumstances that could affect either earnings or spending. Moving house, changing jobs, marriage and children are all factors to take into account.n A savings account is nearly always the best option for short-term needs. Despite falling interest rates, returns from good accounts remain significantly ahead of inflation.n Investing for five or 10 years should be long enough to weather most financial storms.
The right mix of investments depends on the level of risk you can accept. In turn, this depends on what the money is being saved for and when it is needed. The stock market is not an ideal home for emergency money because there is always the chance the market will be down when the time comes to sell.Investment in the markets should be restricted to money you can afford to put to one side. "We are talking about disposable income," says Jeremy Batstone, at NatWest Stockbrokers.