Going into shares, provided you invest wisely, is in my view a long-term no-brainer, particularly as most FTSE shares are effectively international business, so should be partially insulated from the mess the UK economy was left in, which is likely to cause depreciation of the pound. Obviously, if your portfolio is large, it should be sheltered within an ISA, to reduce tax. 1 problem with ISA's, however, which was highlighted by the Sunday times this weekend, is the exit charge if the ISA is closed, which may ammount to of order £30 to £40 FOR EACH STOCK HELD!. Not only that, there can be in-my view unreasonably large charges for taking income from foreign stocks in an ISA. I hold some $ stocks in a TD Waterhouse (UK) ISA, and was told that to transfer accumulated $ dividends into a US$ bank account held with a UK bank would cost me $48!!!! There is little or no charge for drawing income in £Sterling, so it amazes me that there is a minimum charge of this magnitude when no currency conversion is involved!
