Best for Women Aged 55-64

This is a very good all-rounder which manages both ISAs and pensions well. And also has good support and content for both beginners and more seasoned investors.

If you’re at the novice end, don’t be put off by the slightly intimidating home page. Keep going! There are ready-made choices for you which will help you get started, and as and if your confidence and interest grows, you can start to spread your wings and make some more choices.

I think this is a sensible option for older savers and investors, because if and when you want to consider a DIY pension, these guys know their pension stuff too.

Fees and charges are reasonable and you won’t pay above the odds here. Expect to pay about £240 a year for £40,000 held in an AJ Bell ready-made investment option in your ISA here.

A big, global, low-cost investment house which is purposefully unflashy and solid. They have a very good reputation for offering so-called ‘passive’ investments which don’t try to beat the average – their aim is just to own a bit of all the world’s largest companies and offer investors a broad church of decently priced investments, wrapped up into convenient packages.

Less confident investors should consider putting one of their LifeStrategy funds into an ISA – and job done. It’s a pretty safe pair of hands. You will be given 5 ‘flavours’ to choose from – from the most cash-like LifeStrategy 20 and the most volatile LifeStrategy 100, which has everything invested in shares.

An important thing for those coming up to retirement will be timeframes. How long until you need this money? If it’s 5 years, for example, then a middle option like the LifeStrategy 40 or 60 might make sense. If it’s longer then don’t be afraid of heading up the scale.

You won’t get tip-top content or industry-leading apps – but you will get something sensible and reliable and low-cost. Expect to pay around £165 a year for every £40,000 you have in your ISA in the LifeStrategy range.

If you’re a reluctant and slightly hesitant investor, then having your ISA accessible in the same place as your online banking will be both convenient and reassuring.

HSBC offers decent ready-made investment options which have done consistently well in our performance charts over recent years. And Barclays is probably the best investment ISA from any high street bank for those who want a little bit of choice and to add some personal touches to a ready-made option. For example, you can add some funds and shares to your ISA, to sit alongside the investment choices their experts pick and manage for you.

I think these two are the best options for Stocks & Shares ISAs out there – NatWest is also worth a look.

You can find either cheaper or fuller investment options elsewhere BUT the main benefit of these options is that they are well-governed, the big brands will offer comfort and it can persuade the more reluctant investors to bite the bullet and have a go.

For a £40,000 ISA which is fully managed for you by the bank, expect to pay about £300 a year for Barclays (I’ve assumed their Global Markets fund) and £175 for HSBC (I’ve assumed their Global Strategy fund, which looks cheaper because it’s managed in a less complex way).