Here's my tupenth -
First the bad news - the stock market has had a good old run and at the end of a run comes a correction, you DON'T loose money UNLESS you SELL!!!!
The good news is that if you time it right, buying when the stock market has collapsed a bit is a damn good thing to do as is the drip feed as of when you can.
BTW - 50 years is late to be thinking about your financial welfare but better than reaching 60, 20-30 is far better as the money has much greater time to grow....same as a tree from an acorn!
Pensions - the positives are that for any money you pay in, the government give you tax relief so you can pay in untaxed money and then declare it as pension payments or pay it in after tax and the pension provider will get the government to stump up their bit so you are really making payments without paying tax on them. Downside is you pay tax on drawing the money out apart from 25% of the fund initial drawdown after 55 years of age.
Pensions are OK, they can be a bit safe (a good thing if you are approaching retirement), performance never seems to be as good as other investments and watch out for the size of fees.
ISAs - Cash ISAs are not worth a bean in my opinion unless you are terrified of life.
Equity ISAs which invest in stocks and shares are the cookies, you pay in money from typical taxed savings, the money buys shares in a fund that may invest in a large number of big companies in the sector chosen - UK, Europe, North America, Japan, Environmantal, Property etc. The companies pay dividends and these purchase more shares and also the shares typically grow in value over time - known as compound growth and ALWAYS reinvest unless retired.
The really good thing about ISAs is the profit is completely tax free where a pension will be taxed. A good Equity ISA may do 30% growth in a year but don't expect that every year but they work and are an investment must in my opinion. The 1% you were given was probably a CASH ISA and fodder for the 75-85 year old!
There are other types of investment with Property being one. A buy to let would work out about 6% in a tail wind and then there is the property increase in value but depends on property prices growing and tenants can be a right PITA.....I could tell you about an acquaintance, his buy to let and a cannabis farm!!!!
The sobering fact is that most people only have £30-100K in their pension pot and the industry standard is that £100K will give you around £5K earnings per year when in a pension so keep up with the government pension through your NI contributions.
That's about it - good thread and glad you are seeking advice but a good financial adviser may be worthwhile.