Life support

Bill Arbuthnot (56) is a teacher and is retiring in four years. He likes the flexibility of a tax free Isa so he thought he would invest the maximum while he has the spare income.
Ian Lowes of Lowes Financial Management, based in Newcastle:

"He qualifies for a good pension, so he can afford to take a view on the stock market.

"I would go for the Keydata Dynamic Growth Plan - it returns twice any gain in the Footsie over the next five years, capped at a 70% total.

"If the index falls, he gets his original investment back unless it collapses by 50% and fails to recover.

"In that case, his loss will equal that of an index tracker - percentage point for point. A more conventional holding would be HSBC UK Growth & Income."

Sarah Farrer (32) is a well-paid advertising executive. She has disposable income and feels she ought to save it ready for a better home in a few years.
Rosemary Heaversedge of Shropshire Independent Financial Services:

"If she were my client I would advise her to reduce her mortgage as much as she can before saving.

"Keeping control over debt is important. I am anti-corporate bond funds as they seem oversold.

"Any spare cash at the end of the month could go into an investment Isa. I would do an Isa-wrapped tracker linked to the FTSE All Share, like Legal & General's Index Fund, because the index will surely be higher in five years. But she will have to monitor it. A compromise is to split the investment between a cash Isa and the Index Fund."

Marian Holmes (48) is a single parent and even though her daughter Shreya (19) is not about to get married, she wants to start saving, secretly, for the big event. She has £2,000 a year to put by.
Richard Whittington, an IFA with Sheffield's Radford Smith Financial Services, comments:

"A home for Ms Holmes's spare cash could be a mini-cash Isa which she can take out at a bank or building society and have ready access to. But unless her daughter marries soon, a mini-cash Isa isn't a good idea and she is likely to do better in the stock market.

"If she doesn't like the volatility of shares, she could put her £2,000 into a corporate bond fund with an Isa tax wrapper. These are now fairly valued - the real bargains are to be had in the stock market. I'd recommend New Star's income fund, Jupiter's income and higher income funds and Lion Trust first income fund."

Pam and Stephen Pickles (40 and 45) have two children and are worried about university costs. They feel they need to save hard to help pay fees in time for 2006 when the increase kicks in.
Colin Rodger, an IFA with Alexander Sloan Financial Planning in Glasgow:

"Given that the Pickles will want their money fairly shortly, they should put half, in a mini-cash Isa. With the remaining £4,000 they could go for high-yielding unit trusts: we like Credit Suisse's fund. We also like M & G's corporate bond fund which is relatively low risk compared with stocks, and gives a return of around 5%."