mrtheedge2u2

I want to invest about 50k but not really sure what is the best thing to invest with......any suggestions? Dont say bitcoin as not interested in it.

Dr Hu

Really depends on your TimeLine - are you thinking for a few week/months, or Long Term investing?
If Long term:

Open an Account with a Fund Platform - eg Fidelity or Hargreaves Lansdown etc.
Ideally open an ISA for this remaining Tax year if you can (you've not already got one) - put your max amount into that ISA account (currently 20k a year) and choose a Fund or Funds you like - I strongly recommend something like Terry Smiths Fundsmith, or Lindesll Train Global Equity - both of which have performed strongly, even in the last 6 months.
Keep your other half of money in the same Platform Account (you can invest in exactly the same funds but this remaining money is not in an ISA wrapper), but next April sell it/transfer your funds into your ISA account as new Tax Year Allowance (another 20k) - nearly all your money will be now be Tax Free for any Gains/Profit etc
Keep doing this until you have it all your money in a ISA account/wrapper.

You are free to sell units, take profits, add or sell to these accounts (you can't add new 'cash' to maxed ISA account, but you can see your account grow through natural profits) - they are also not restricted access like a lot of Bank Saving Accounts - if you need a bit of cash for something, cash in a few units - usually get the money back in your Current Bank Account in 7 days.

Also with a fair wind, good luck etc - you will make significantly more investing in Funds than you will saving in a Bank - you'd be lucky to make 1 or 2% max in a Bank Savings Account - whereas investing in good funds you can fairly easily make 10%+, HOWEVER you are at the mercies of Stock Markets/Economies etc - they rise, they fall - if you are in it for the long term you ride out the waves, don't do the cardinal sin of selling if it goes down, or you 'realise' the loss, stick with it over the years and you will gain far, far more - remember it is only a real Loss if you Sell....

Good Luck.

Dr Hu

The only other thing I would add is - do you have any Debts? - Credit Cards, Mortgage etc?
Pay those off first - the difference in quality of life of not having large payments you HAVE to make hanging over you monthly gives you a lot of freedom and peace.
Then pay those mortgage repayment amounts (or part of them) you were used to paying, into your investment account account above and watch it grow.

Lastly,the old joke of if it has t1ts, floats, or an engine its not a good investment is a fairly jocular, but strangely priescent truth - hahahaha

NOSSY_89

Another option, depending on where you are in the country is a buy to let. Don't go mad with it and do it up like a palace. You won't be living in it, you will be renting it out.

*Disclaimer this is not financial advice and just an opinion

andy97

iTrader: (1)

PPE. I have a feeling it is going to be big.

Stocks and shares long term and ISA.

Riskier is property/renovation/flipping

NOSSY_89

For me I'd say its the other way around lol. I prefer property because I understand it better than I do the stock markets. Don't have the enthusiasm to check all the news prior to the start of trading each day etc.

mrtheedge2u2

Cheers man. I am not based in UK so are ISAs still available to me? I do have a UK bank account though but dont want to fall foul of tax laws. My mortgage has a very low interest so and in Holland we get taxed on the value of the house minus the mortgage so would not be a huge benefit to pay it off too early.

BMWhere?

You can only invest in ISAs if you're tax resident in the UK.
Both stock market and property market could become very volatile if there is a no deal Brexit.
At the moment, I'd look at investing in Holland rather than the UK, otherwise wait until the post Brexit bombshell when you can buy cheap and expect more growth.
I've been making most of my money lately playing the currency exchange game between £/€. Just wait for Boris to say something stupid and the £ tanks then give it a month or so and it creeps back up. Last weeks announcement about breaking international law was another good winner

fpan

iTrader: (11)

Do you use any platform where you set limits and it buys/sells during the day for you automatically or do you buy the currency yourself e.g. using TorFX or another agent?

BMWhere?

I trade the currency myself although I set flags on certain rates so I get a notification if the rate is hit. I believe I can set the transfer automatically, but I never tried it as I don't want to trade early while still on an upwards trend.

RobsyUK

iTrader: (2)

50k of Colombian white cut, split, what ever it's called. Sold to kids ££££

mrtheedge2u2

I have to be clear here, I have never done anything like trading currency myself....is it easy or hard? Would it be better to do it myself or use a a platform like TorFx?

BMWhere?

Yes, you should use a currency exchange trader to make sure you get the best rates. I don't know TorFx myself, but looks like it hits the point.
Typically you will have two accounts within the same portal, one for £ and one for €. You can simply shift the money between the two accounts, either online, or if you're transferring larger sums, then they will give you a broker who you can call and get a better exchange rate. Then you can either transfer out of the £ account back to your UK bank account or from the € account to your Dutch account for free. They make their money on the exchange rate, so there is always a difference between the buy and sell rates, so you need to make sure the rate has changed enough when you swap currencies to cover the exchange rate costs. Its all a matter of timing, but thanks to Brexit, the timing got easier - everytime the government does something stupid like saying they are going to break international law, then the £ tanks and you can then buy £s cheaply, the price then slowly starts to recover and you can buy back €. The cycle is generally 1-2 months! The trick is predicting when Boris is going to open his mouth again, but usually follows the meeting schedule of the EU/UK negotiations! Beware as well, if you ultimately want you money in €, then you should transfer to your Dutch account before the end of the year as you will be subject to EU currency transfer limits from the 1st January 2021.

Probably only three more months of fun though, then it might start to get more unpredictable again! For currency trading over the last 4 years, Brexit has been the gift that keeps on giving You don't have to think to much to work out why investment banker types like Farage and Rees-Mogg wanted Brexit so much

stevebt

iTrader: (8)

If I had £50k to invest right now I would put £3k in National Express, £5k in Taylor Wimpey and split the rest between BP and Royal Dutch Shell as the last two are still paying dividends and are at a historically low price,
I have put a lot of money in these companies recently but I'm down quite a bit as the price keeps dropping but i think where we are now is probably the bottom? Also these companies aren't going under so in a couple of years that money will be at least double if you have the *****?
I have money in shares in other companies but their shares prices are getting too high at the minute for me to top them up so I top up the four above as they are at a fantastically low price
At the minute there is that many companies that are under 50% of their value that they were in say January so it's really hard to pick stocks as you can't invest in them all but if you gonna take a punt on risky companies I wouldn't be putting any cash in that your not bothered about loosing. I have shares in seven companies and I'm very confident that these will never go bankrupt and when they reinstate their proper dividends I should be getting an average of a small wage every year