ISA

ParasolFinancials - ISAs and other Investments

ParasolFinancials’ expertise in off-shore and on-shore investing means we can help you with a range of investment options that give you complete flexibility from one month to the next.

Whilst ParasolFinancials will tailor investment plans to your individual circumstances ISAs (Individual Savings Accounts) are popular investment routes which allow you to enjoy significant long term tax breaks and will often form the backbone of any recommendation. ParasolFinancials will advise you and help you choose the best ISA for your savings and for you.

• Build a significant “nest egg” from your personal tax allowance, tax free
• Choose from a range of ISAs to suit your needs
• It’s a flexible saving plan for medium to long term investment
• You can draw your cash out from an ISA at anytime

• Independent financial advisors
• Expert advise from ParasolFinancials’ investment specialists
• Access to 1,000s of investment funds
• Simple streamlined process
• We understand the contractor marketplace so choose products designed to meet your needs
• Complete flexibility to stop the investments without penalties

With the continued introduction of "stealth taxes" it is vital that contractors make use of the dwindling number of tax breaks still available.

As a contractor, by using all or part of your £7200 personal allowance to invest in an Individual Savings Account (ISA) means you can build up a significant “nest egg” tax free.

ISAs come in a variety of options, you can invest in cash, stocks and shares, based equity investments and an insurance fund:The Who, What & Why on ISAs.

Historically the best use of these tax breaks has been to invest in a good equity based investment such as a unit trust, investment trust or similar share based fund. Given the fluctuations of the stock market, ParasolFinancials always advise a 5 year + term for the equities portion to allow your investment to have time to grow.

With 1000s of different funds on the market, ParasolFinancials will short list providers who offer the best in past performance and future prospects.

ParasolFinancials strongly advises making monthly contributions instead of end of year tax rushed investments when the markets are boosted due to last minute ISA investors. Monthly ISA investments help to smooth out fluctuations in the markets as you’re only committing a fraction of your total investment each month the scheme.

If you are likely to need your cash in the shorter term or if you require complete security from the fluctuations of the stock market, then a cash ISA which can be accessed at any time is the best option for you.

Cash ISAs usually also attract far higher interest rates from banks and building societies than a similar size investment into an ordinary accounts. This is due to the banks expecting to have your money for longer and will therefore reward you for this longer-term investment.

Providers such as Scottish Widows have equity based ISA's that track stockmarkets but that have varying degrees of protection for the underlying fund value. In this way, contractors benefit from some measure of the potential growth of equities but also have a degree of security to their money.

It’s good to have both if you can, but the in-house Parasol personal pension scheme enjoys very significant up front tax breaks that are hard to beat. Out of every £100 invested into the pension, even as a basic rate taxpayer, the taxman has paid £39 and the benefits are even for substantial for a higher rate taxpayer.

In contrast, an ISA provides you more flexibility to take your money out tax-free, when you choose but this often means that as a long term investment it is not protected and can easily be dipped into.

It is important to understand that these investments are longer term in nature and that the value of investments and income from them can fall as well as rise. Past performance is also no guarantee of future performance.

ParasolFinancials are here to help guide you through the investment maze. To discuss all your options or for general advice please call 0845 062 8000 or email us at advice@parasolfinancials.com.

Financial advice is given by ParasolFinancials, which is a trading name of Contractor Financials Ltd and is regulated and authorized by the Financial Services Authority.

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The value of investments may rise as well as fall and past performance is not a guide to future returns.

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