Savings advice

[slimwilly]

The mother inlaw has 9 grand sat in a bank doing nothing,making nothing,


so whats a better way to invest this witout risk?


ISA,s ,are they an opption?


what do you know,,,thanks


and no Christo,,she does not want to invest in a Fazer

[ChristoT]

How about e-Go aeroplanes? It is a risky investment, but I know how determined the CEO is. And it's bloody cool! 

[Mattsplat]

Premium bonds.

My Mum has about 10k's worth and wins something nearly every month.

[sure2ride]

Give it to me, I'll look after it for her 

[fazersharp]

I am not qualified to give financial advice and you do any of the following at your own risk also information given may not be accurate and I may of also made it all up
Isas,
But she has more than the max limit for the year which starts in April, she needs to put the max limit she can into one now its somthing like 5,900
So she will hve put the max in for the year 2013/2014 ending april 5th
Then after april 6th she can put in the rest and she can also add onto that up to the 2014/2015 max limit
These will be instant access cash isas or if she wants to get more interest she can lock in in for longer, but as interest rates may soon be going up she could be better off instant cash one ind be free to move it to a better paying one

[Drax]

Watching the TV yesterday some companies posted their end of year (2013) results:

BP (only) made £8.2 billion down from 10billion last year -as a result their share price plummeted. 

However a company called Ocada seems the way forward. They do the home deliveries for Waitrose & a few supermarkets. In the last 14 years of trading they have never EVER made a profit & yesterday posted a 2013 loss of £14.5 million pounds.

Their share price went up significantly. 

Now how the hell is it that a company that makes a profit year in year out e.g BP the shares go down but a company that makes has never made a profit EVER i.e run at a loss in 14years of trading - the shares go up?

Apparently Ocada shares are due to go through the roof exponentially in the next few years as on line trading is going to shut down the high street. So that's where you should put your MIL's money 

[fazersharp]

ocadas shares that go up --- or any others that make a loss and they go up because the loss could of been less than the brain dead sheep on the trading floor were expecting it to be.

Bps shares were riding high on the back of high oil price which has now come down and the shares have come down in line with that

[slimwilly]

So how do you buy ISAs ?

[fazersharp]

So how do you buy ISAs ?

Any bank - you go in and its basicly just opening a savings account, proof of id and stuff

[red98]

Got an ISA......but not impressed with it........premium bonds sounds like a good bet.......been thinking about moving my lloyds accounts to the halifax..........bit different to other banks as I think the bank is owner by the customers....unless of course you know different 

[Kosmic Kartman]

Thing is with ISA's they, the banks, offer nice interest rates come April that last a year then they drop the interest rates on those ISA's. Then they introduce "The New Sparkley Egg ISA" with xxx% interest....

What a bloody pain up the arse. I've lost count of the amount of times I've moved money from an old ISA just to bung it in a NEW ISA to get more interest. Talk about wasting time.

[tex]

 
 Buy some gold ideally coins, as its tender you dont pay much tax, it goes up and down, but sell at the right time and you can make a nice profit

[rustyrider]

I'd second Premium Bonds too.  I've got £5k worth and have won £275 in the last year.  That works out to 5.5% so a pretty good return and you can take your money out any time you like.   100% safe too, unlike shares, at worst all you lose is the value against inflation.

[fazersharp]

 Buy some gold ideally coins,  and you can make a nice profit

Hey you could make a mint !

Thing is with ISA's they, the banks, offer nice interest rates come April that last a year then they drop the interest rates on those ISA's.

Yes so like you do already you just move it to another/ better one, it dosent cost you anything to move it and the new isa providers will do all the work

[fazersharp]

I'd second Premium Bonds too.  I've got £5k worth and have won £275 in the last year.  That works out to 5.5% so a pretty good return and you can take your money out any time you like.   100% safe too, unlike shares, at worst all you lose is the value against inflation.

Ok now the rest of your story --- how long have you had your 5k in the bonds

[slimwilly]

Isas seem to be 1.5%, isthat all they give?

[goldfazer]

Silver  - it's used a lot in solar panels etc., so as well as being a precious metal it has a value as a commodity.

[slimwilly]

I was working for a jeweler recently and he said the new investment trend for those with cash is DIAMONDS 


He had a customer recently buying a diamond for £127,000, purely to resell in a while, diamonds are a currency of their own,similar to gold.

[rustyrider]

I'd second Premium Bonds too.  I've got £5k worth and have won £275 in the last year.  That works out to 5.5% so a pretty good return and you can take your money out any time you like.   100% safe too, unlike shares, at worst all you lose is the value against inflation.

Ok now the rest of your story --- how long have you had your 5k in the bonds

Just over a year.  Started with £2k and got £25 on the first draw they were in and have added the extra £3k since.  I appreciate that over a longer period they may not pay out as often (my daughter had £100 in bonds bought for her as a christening present and has since over doubled her money.  However, she is now 26.......).  But with banks only giving 1-2% on savings at best, it's still at least as good if not better.  And there's always the chance that you win the million with much better odds than the lottery!

[Fazerider]

The idea of peer to peer lending is tempting: Funding Circle lends to small businesses, Zopa lends to individuals, Ratesetter and Wellesley are other companies offering fixed term deals. There is more risk, of course, some have a provision fund which should cover defaulting borrowers, but they aren't covered by the FSCS.
Alternatively, a stocks and shares ISA can be good and has the advantage that any gains are tax exempt. You can go with a package that tracks a particular index like the FTSE or, if you're feeling brave, self select with a broker like TD Waterhouse. If you opt for self-select, buy shares in      5 to 8 companies to spread the risk (more than that and the dealing charges start to become significant).

[mickvp]

I am a member of the local credit union, and get ~4% on savings. Its also handy if I need a loan but don't want to touch my savings (the credit union im with run a plan which will allow you to take a loan out equal to the value of any savings you have for 3%APR - provided you don't touch what you have invested).

[fazersharp]

Rustyrider you could see where I was going to go with that one, and kindly demonstrated it with your daughters bonds
 
You know what the real answer is - and we have all with our replies said it. Its that you have to have a little bit of everything.
 
Now mickvp I guess that I just google it but I am interested in credit unions and need to know more

[mickvp]

pretty simple really mate. mines is basically a normal type of savings account (I can get the money out any time I need/want to). Its run/owned by its members as opposed to an actual bank, and so instead of profits from the investments being passed onto shareholders, they members get paid a slightly better APR as payment.

I have a standing order setup so a small amount each week comes off my wage and goes into it which builds up over time.

your best bet is to contact your local credit union (credit unions have strange acceptance criteria - usually the type of job you are in, or your locality) and they can answer any of your questions as the way they operate can vary slightly between unions in terms of both how they operate, and what financial products they offer.

...or you could just google it

-Mick

[Pat]

Got an ISA......but not impressed with it........premium bonds sounds like a good bet.......been thinking about moving my lloyds accounts to the halifax..........bit different to other banks as I think the bank is owner by the customers....unless of course you know different 

The Halifax isn't owned by it's customers, it's owned by Lloyds..... 

The Nationwide is still a building society so is owned by it's customers and there's still a few other smaller building societies around.

[Grahamm]

The mother inlaw has 9 grand sat in a bank doing nothing,making nothing,

so whats a better way to invest this witout risk?

Get as much as possible (ie £5760) into a Cash ISA before the 6th of April, then after the 6th (ie a new tax year) she can put the rest of it in.

This gives instant access, tax free interest and is risk-free as it's covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme which protects up to £85,000 in one Financial Institution.

The best Instant Access rate at the moment is 1.75% (but remember that's tax free). You can get 2.05% but that requires locking it away for 2 years. Also the 1.75% may have strings (eg have a bonus for 1 year and then drop down again, so always check for these as you may need to move the money next year).

See Martin Lewis' Money Saving Expert site for more information.

PS Premium Bonds aren't worth it see http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/banking/2013/07/premium-bond-chances-of-winning-cut--are-they-really-worth-it