Open question - Financial

[TeeDee]

Open question to see where and what people would invest in at THIS current time with all that has gone on in the last 12 months.

So hivemind - If you had , lets say £20k in funds , and you HAD to invest it ( not pay down the mortgage, not clear any outstanding debts , not give it away - the taxman man can wait... )

WHERE would you invest it in todays world and a quick justification of why please.

TIA.

 

[Broch]

Personally, £20K, I'd put into a 'mid-risk' stocks and shares ISA. If you haven't put your allowance in yet this year (2021-2022) all the returns on it will be tax free and if you leave it in it should grow nicely. In this worst of years growth has been around 10% and is likely to be higher over the next 12 months.

*** Share values can go up or down ****

 

[Chainsaw]

Always a question on how much you are prepared to lose. Investment is always about risk vs reward. High risk = high reward or low risk = low reward and various shades in between.

At the moment ISA's are pretty poor as they are pretty safe and ditto with 'high' interest savings accounts. If anyone has a low risk = high reward scheme that doesn't involve Nigeria, I'd be pleased to hear it!

We came in to a chunk of money recently due to a bereavement and put it in.... Premium bonds!
Since turn of the year we have 'won' 100 quid. If you match against interest rates on savings/ISAs etc it's not too shoddy. https://www.nsandi.com/ also have various other savings plans etc

my £20Ks worth

 

[Broch]

Always a question on how much you are prepared to lose. Investment is always about risk vs reward. High risk = high reward or low risk = low reward and various shades in between.

At the moment ISA's are pretty poor as they are pretty safe and ditto with 'high' interest savings accounts. If anyone has a low risk = high reward scheme that doesn't involve Nigeria, I'd be pleased to hear it!

We came in to a chunk of money recently due to a bereavement and put it in.... Premium bonds!
Since turn of the year we have 'won' 100 quid. If you match against interest rates on savings/ISAs etc it's not too shoddy. https://www.nsandi.com/ also have various other savings plans etc

my £20Ks worth

Agreed, savings ISA's and savings accounts are a waste of time at the moment but, to be honest, on average, you can only expect to get the same return from Premium Bonds as you would get from interest rates or at least very low risk investment (after all, that's where their returns come from).

As I said, 10% on mid-risk stock in an ISA over the pandemic period is not bad at all, especially when the returns are tax free.

 

[Souledman]

Basically I’d split it and do both of the above. The return/odds on premium bonds is ok if you have £10k to put in to start with.

 

[MikeeMiracle]

Peer to peer lending like https://www.ratesetter.com/ all the way. Better returns than savings accounts, less risky than stocks and the established sites like ratesetter have never lost anyone any money and your looking at 2-5% per year return depending on which options you choose.

I would avoid premium bonds. The value of money roughly halves every 10 years, you are relying on winning with premium bonds otherwise you invest x amount and get the same amount back when you take it out with the exception its worth less due to inflation etc.

EDIT: Not sure if ratesetter are still doing P2P lending but I would definitely look into it with another provider.

 

[hudd4444]

If all debt is covered, to a degree and one has money to spend, I'd buy physical gold and silver. Maybe half your investment or just start to buy say an ounce of gold each month, like a Krugerrand or Britannia and see how you like it.

Like any investment it can go both ways but you get a nice feeling having a few physical bars or coins in your hand.

 

[oldtimer]

Our surplus is invested in our grandchildren. We are paying for grandson's driving lessons when he turns 17 in October and have put aside same for his sister in two years time. All three grandchildren have money put aside in accounts under our sons' control to support their further education.

Having been poor for most of our adult lives we are trying to overcome the parsimonious habits of a lifetime by spending our pensions at a faster rate than inflation nibbles away at the savings. The bill for the service and replacement starter motor for the campervan I paid this morning helped with this!

 

[Chainsaw]

As I said, 10% on mid-risk stock in an ISA over the pandemic period is not bad at all, especially when the returns are tax free.

Agreed, this looks very good but I am very risk averse, especially with money (hey I'm scottish!! )

In truth, it's taken me a long and hard struggle (and a fair bit of luck) to get from being brought up by a struggling single parent to where I am now. Old habits are hard to break. I do have a bunch of shares but they were effectively free so am happy to risk their loss against possible gains (which is currently +67.89% )

 

[bobnewboy]

I think I’d consider all of the above, but where possible split the investment between several of those options: S&S ISA, Premium bonds, metals (UK gold coins are VAT free), etc etc. How you divide your wad over these options depends upon your wanted level or acceptance of risk. Diversity of savings and investments is the way I’d play it with my hard-earned…..

 

[TeeDee]

Would any of you take into account your suggestions with reference to the massive amount of Q.E / money printing that has taken ( still is ) place??

 

[Paul_B]

What I'd do is take financial advice from ap professional advisor. I don't know enough to decide on the best thing for that amount of money. Potentially you could lose out or lose too much of it if you get it wrong.

 

[Woody girl]

I'd put it into buying a small woodland somewhere i could have my own space and indulge my favourite hobby as well as manage for the future of wildlife..
I'm not interested in making loadsa cash.
Most investments with the best returns are not ethical anyway.
I've learned to live well with minimum monetary input anyway. So even more money would be pointless for me.
I wouldn't sneeze at the 20k to buy the woodland mind! But its never gonna happen for me, but if it did, thats what I would do.
Prices of amenity woodland are rising nicely at the moment.

 

[TeeDee]

What I'd do is take financial advice from ap professional advisor. I don't know enough to decide on the best thing for that amount of money. Potentially you could lose out or lose too much of it if you get it wrong.

I appreciate what you are saying , but from my experience regarding professional advisors one is often better off doing some due diligence , research and managing ones own money.

This notion has served me well and is what I suggest to people - no-one is going to make your money work harder for you than you - and without taking a cut.

 

[demographic]

Either land with decent access in a non national park area or in something I believe benefits the planet, likely renewables.
Personally I believe if more of us took a long term look at the place we live in it would be far nicer for everyone.

Or put it his way, I'd not be putting my money into oil, coal or nuclear energy companies, or BAE systems to name a few extreme ends of the spectrum.

 

[Diamond Dave]

I’d invest it in a medical research company that was looking into antibiotics to combat the super bug.

 

[slowworm]

I agree about a financial adviser, a good one can advise you about clearing debts, keeping some safe easy access money, providing for loved ones etc but when all that's sorted and you're after a hot tip on the next big thing I've not really found them useful.

I'm probably too old fashioned to provide an answer for today's landscape. I've invested in land and tangible things such tools and trees for building and firewood. Somewhere to grow food with room to expand etc.

But today the biggest gains seem to be had in non-tangible assets such as crypto-currencies. Even normal money is becoming meaningless as the government can just print whatever it wants.

I'd probably look for either a well regarded investment trust trading at a decent discount (slightly out of favour) or one well and truely so out of favour it could only go up. But one does wonder if the market has already made most of it's COVID recovery and is likely to head down again shortly.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

There is a rumour some folk are investing in silver in a cunning plan to boost it's value.
Investing in a lab working on new vaccines to counter the future COVID variants might be a good idea as is investing in microchips, given the world shortage & the ever increasing demand.
If I had 20 grand to spare though I wouldn't invest it as I have no faith in the future.

 

[Broch]

Have a look at Purple Shoots - it invests in community start ups, is doing very well, pays a reasonable return and is a very socially satisfying way of putting a bit of money into the community.

Purple Shoots - Believe Support Thrive

Home - Purple Shoots are the go to financial institution when starting a small business seems impossible. We provide little loans to grow ideas.

purpleshoots.org

As for professional advisors - it all depends on your confidence to select good funds - they don't have any better crystal balls than you have.

Above all - spread your risks!!!

 

[Broch]

Most investments with the best returns are not ethical anyway.

I'm sorry WG, but that's just not true; there is a massive choice of ethical funds that are very successful.