How does this financial journalist run his individual savings account (Isa)? It's more a 'seven grand question' than a $64,000 dollar question, as I only started my Isa relatively recently. As the proud head of a young family, I don't have piles of spare cash lying around, but I was keen to use my investment know-how and tax allowances to best effect. So, I opened a self-select equity Isa with an online broker in February 2007.
Given that a single year's Isa allowance isn't enough to get exposure to a broad range of individual shares, I believe (ETFs) are an excellent way to go here. They are absolutely perfect for someone like me who has only a modest amount to invest, as they can give you cheap and effective access to the entire stock and bond markets, as well as indices, commodities and even currencies.
Dealing charges for my self-select Isa are £12.50 a pop. Given this, I think the minimum worthwhile amount to invest in any given ETF play is £1,000. Assuming a high single-figure percentage return, costs don't then eat up too much of my profits.