Gosling's Grouse: The hidden charges threat

Hidden costs bite

For years, an old friend of mine has been watching his pot of cash slowly eroded by low interest and the poor accounts beings offered by banks and building societies. Recently he cracked, and decided he was going to invest some money in the markets.

In a way, he is already invested in them - he owns a few shares from the FTSE 100 employer's share ownership scheme and also has a pension, although he has no idea where it is invested. Interestingly, he cannot even remember how the investment decision that underpins his pension was made. Furthermore, he does not see his pension as an investment, just a pot of money he will call on at some point in the future. Govt extends savings flexibility to stocks & shares ISAs This snap-shot says a lot about 'typical' investors - the ones with insufficient money or desire to seek out financial...