It is that time of year when the end of the current tax year looms + the next one is coming over the horizon.  I max a cash ISA every year + sometimes also take an Equity ISA too.  I have just moved my cash ISAs to Icesave (currently 6.1% AER); however, I’m less sure about utilising my Equity ISA allowance(s).  The sums are very straightforward for me – will I get a better return than the 6% per year I get from offsetting my mortgage with YBS?  I just wondered whether other people plan to use their Equity ISA allowance this year / next year; people’s views of whether my money is better placed in my offset or in an Equity ISA.  In the past I have used an IFA (e.g BestInvest) to obtain a discount on ISA funds.  Does anybody have recommendations on the cheapest way to invest?

Thanks
M.

I tend to take out both cash and equity ISA's. The former is my own money for savings (stooze funds all go to offset mortgage).

The equity ISA is a long term investment that I use to provide funds for my kids higher education (or slow car if they prefer!), so am not perturbed by in-year market movements. Over the last 6 years or so have had healthy growth and reckon it has averaged out about 12% pa. This year it will be negative growth I imagine, but as I buy monthly, means getting cheap purchases just now (pound cost averaging think it is called).

Overall, good long term vehicle, and I just do an index tracker so low cost. Suits the purpose for which I intended it, and got plenty more years left to run.

Not the fast racey investment strategy that some would use, but works for me.

NewStu

That would seem to make sense as the duration is likely to be relatively short in investment terms.

Was discussing the merits of rent-to-buy (as it now seems to be called) following reports in papers about people getting out of property ownership for time being. Seems to me to require a degree of clairvoyance on markets and exactness of timing on exit and entry that eludes me with my lottery ticket  

NewStu