paulr

Basically i've got a 5 figure sum just lying in a Halifax web saver account gaining a pretty low amount of interest.As far as i can see this is the only way i can save SAFELY.What about these 90 day notice accounts?.
Anyone got any better ideas for a few quid,bearing in mind i'm not into anything with a high degree of risk.Also my credit card is 0% so no point in paying that off and no mortgage to pay off either.

My cash ISA limit is all used up btw.

Thanks in advance
Paul.

boomer

The Web Saver gives pretty good interest for an easy access acount, but there are also fixed-term versions - e.g. 4.75% for 5 years (for GBP500+).

See http://www.halifax.co.uk/savings/personalrates.shtml

mb

MartinM

www.moneyextra.com ..and have a play

12LEE

Premium bonds.

SUNDAY DRIVER

An old mate of mine has the same problem now-he £125k on millionaire last night!!!

SUNDAY DRIVER

An old mate of mine has the same problem now-he won £125k on millionaire last night!!

brickboy

Premium bonds are a wise investment right now. My wife is self-employed and puts her "tax" cash straight into bonds when the accountant tells her what she'll have to pay. In the last year she's won £800 -- or better than 10% return, tax free.

The average return across all premium bonds is 4% tax free. My parents have the full amount of bonds you're allowed (£20K) and literally every month they win £50 to £250 quid.

You can also liquidate & get your cash out without penalty or tax.

Ratman

I think you'll find the average return on Premium Bonds is now well under 4%. More like 2.5% as I recall. Still, there's nothing like receiving that envelope at the start of the month, hoping for £1 million....only to get another £50 cheque!!

Ratman
MY98 Wagon

Tiggs

i,ve loads of clients with £20k and they avarage about 4% on PB's

T

paulr

Thanks.

To be honest not too keen on PB's,and with an average return of 4% no better than my web-saver account.
Maybe i'll just leave it where it is,or just blow the lot on something

12LEE

What *I* like about PBs is:

1. Zero capital risk - you can withdraw the lot at any time
2. Opportunity cost when compared to bank/bs is negligible
3. The chance of a biggun.

Clarebabes

Some decorating advice?

paulr

Clare.....i thought the advice was free.....aint it...

12LEE........premium bonds are just not my thing,i know you get your money back but by nature,i'm not the gambling sort.
I only like sure things

andym172

Paul,

My dad works for Equfund (see www.equfund.co.uk) they are a Provident Society who are just launching a Community Bond which pays a fixed rate of interest over five years (O% to 5%, you choose). The money is lent to an affiliated company (which provides funding for empty property refurbishment) and secured against major bank or government bonds. Although an Independent Financial Adviser can get details on your behalf, you can also contact Equfund direct on 0845 458 1505.

Hope this helps!

Andy.

Sheepsplitter

Tiggs: I know you are a financial chap, so I was wondering if you'd care to comment on the following.
Just got my PEP statement. I invested £7K in a Fidelity PEP 6 years ago, which is now worth £3.5K. Is this to be expected in the current financial market? I know there is a risk of it going down as well as up but I'm gobsmacked that they could have lost 50% of my money. I guess now I have next to no chance of even getting my money back on a 10 year return :-(

pslewis

Premium Bonds are about as sure as you can get with the bonus of possibly winning the £1million - imagine leaving your money at 4% when you could win big AND get about 3% return anyway??

No contest at a time of low inflation - however, you stay away from PB's, I dont want my odds reducing!!

Pete

Doc@IlsonIlson

One bit of advice, dont invest it in cars they lose you loads of money

ronny555

Why don't you invest in your property?

Add extension or improve other aspects.

Best way to double your money.

Tiggs

sheep splitter, i can comment but there aint a lot to say.

if you have been in for 6 years and youre down 50% that does sound quite a large drop...was it a pacific basin fund/small companies/etc fund, if so then its high risk for potentialy high returns.

if youre still in such a fund you may want to consider switching to something more in keeping with your attitude to risk (unless you think the fund is poised to recover????? who knows!)

either way its all a bit tough luck.

will it recover over 10 years? from when you invested 6 years ago...no, prob not. but it is likley to be back to square one within 10 years from now (otherwise we are in BIG troub)

if its any consolation i see folk every day who got sucked into the "i must own a pep/isa" cack that flooded the press a few years back. i work mostly on IHT planning and for 90% of my clients PEP/ISA's are stupid investments to have...but they still got some "cause it said to in the money section of the paper......"

along with them are thousands who shouldnt have had a PEP cause of the risk but again (one big photo of richard branson later) and they got sucked in.

T

TelBoy

My top three tips, assuming a low-risk strategy, are;

Get an offset mortgage. On most, you can have up to 50% of the mortgage value in the "savings" account, offsetting against the outstanding loan. You don't get any interest on it, but you don't pay any tax either. And you pay off the mortgage a whole lot quicker.

Or, keep it liquid. Best place right now is Egg, or if you don't fancy internet banking, Alliance and Leicester EasySaver account.

Thirdly, set up a regular savings account with a bank or building society. Most require you to invest a fixed sum for a minimum of twelve months, but if you do, and make no (or sometimes one) withdrawal, they bump up the interest paid considerably. Definitely worth considering.

Hope this helps.

Terry

imatrukahs

My bank account is a very good investment opportunity Paul...

Jodster

Egg online savings account pays well and is easy to set up.

Sheepsplitter

Tiggs: Thanks for your input. Helpful as always.
I'll invest the money in my Scooby next time, at least I won't loose as much :-)

Trout...

If you need access - high interest account - try cahoot...

...if you don't need access try a with-profit bond - you can withdraw small bits of it with tax free interest - best over long term tho as an investment.

Or for the long game - get some equities - there are some bargains around at the moment - that will bounce well back in next 3-5 years.

Trout

paulr

Ok.....thanks everyone for the replies,some interesting comments there Tiggs,and some good advice also.

Basically i think i'll leave it where it is for the time being,axcept for enquiring about a monthly saving scheme with a bank/BS,as advised by Telboy.That sounds pretty good to me.Wherever i put it,its only gonna get me around 5 (ish) percent.
As for premuim bonds,there just not my thing.

I guess the only way to safely make money is to work hard.Maybe the best investment i could make is in my own "employability".

Thanks
Paul

[Edited by paulr - 9/10/2002 9:05:02 PM]