Whats the safest way to invest a bit of money

Hi AT,

If your Student Loan is charged at 3% then borrow as much more as you can and stick it into one of the many 4.5% - 5% accounts available.

All the time you are still paying minimum interest on the loan you will be making 1.5% - 2% profit for free!
 
Narcotics, loose women and whiskey are the best investments in your future you can make. Go on, you know you want to.
 
Here is Wolfie advise. Have something to aim for. Put them in an account and see it grow slowly for you to buy that illusive first brick and mortar. Set a target for this momentous day as it have to be 1, 2 or 3 years after you start work and earn a big enough saving to make this more then a dream. At first it seems like a joke but after a few increment in the monthly income only does the project looks possible. Jump as soon as it is possible and don't wait as it is safe to assume the worst, that the price of this thing don't ever go down. It took me 3 years. Could have cut that down if you have a salary earning fiancee but life is tough. Oh have to listen to a crapy Denon and other peoples throw off furnitures for 5 years before I get my own 10k hifi system and the girl. Those are the wonderful auld sweet days. One serious side effect is the bank account now looks so much fuller now that there is nothing to aim so. Maybe it is time to make a little Wolfie.
 
Chaps

I have read this thread with much increduility and a realisation of financially uneducated most of you are. Time for some of you to read some journals methinks.

Investing cash in any savings account is foolish. You are looking at 5% or thereabout at tops.

If you care to review the statistics, you will find that the stock market has always outgrown savings accounts for 12 month just between October and May for the last 18 years out of 21.

Therefore one should follow the advice of selling in May and returning in October.

I have done this and am doing very nicely thankyou.

I can now hear the wails of " but he has only got £100.00 and its not enough to invest in the stockmarket.

He can buy into Morgan & Stanley FTSE all share tracker fund and will only pay 0.35% charges and no fees for withdrawing which only takes a phone call and 3 days for the money to appear in his account.

Yes there is an element of risk but statistically he will beat 5%pa as the main growth is usually Jan to April.

Regards

Mick
 
mick

at asked:

I have upto about £150 to invest, whats the safest (i.e risk free) way to invest it which will also make a little bit of interest?
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the stock market is a pretty risky way to invest money unless you put it into bank or insurance co shares which hardly ever move. all we've done is state some (relatively) RISK FREE ways of investing.
if he'd have asked about ANY investments then stocks, futures, warrants, etc. as well popping down to william hill and having a flutter on the 4.30 at newmarket would have been mentioned. but that wasn;t the question.
cheers


julian.
 
amazingtrade said:
I was thinking about this last night and I think it would be daft to put the money away for a year because I might need it an emergency but if I am working in a years time £150 won't be worth that much to me anyway. £150 is worth a lot of money now. Paying some of my loan of would probably be a better idea as I have to pay about 3% interest on this anyway.

I don't think they will let me just pay £200 off though. £200 out of £7500 is nothing.
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I'd let the Student Loan alone, neither reducing it now nor adding to it to make a margin.

It's not a lot, but its your's, and its 'just in case'. I would put it where you can get use of it when you need it, where it doesnot loose value, and where it can help you build up credit rating, as this is what would allow you to borrow when you want/need to later on. Although the housing market is up/down just now, and you are not placed to enter it, it performs well in financial terms and has the side benefit of keeping you dry at nights. I would therefore talk to a Building Society (and I would recommend the mutual Britannia BS - I'm not an employee) to get the best rate for a non-taxpayer, noting what happens if you have to take the money out in an emergency.

btw, I admire your grit. mosty others here have found out how to spend money.
 
mick parry said:
He can buy into Morgan & Stanley FTSE all share tracker fund and will only pay 0.35% charges and no fees for withdrawing which only takes a phone call and 3 days for the money to appear in his account.
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Mick,
What is the return for this type of trackers after deducting the charges usually? For small investors like us the possibility your saving could get less then what one save is too much of a risk. Especially after the poor performance with endowment type of mortages which as I understand it are link to the shares markets. There are some people who says the trick is no more simple then spread your saving. One third into property, stocks and savings.
 
The best investment for the £150 would be a pair of good shoes.
These will be used while going round and looking for a good job, well paid. They may even impress the personel manager in the interview whith their style and sophistication.

This investment will have a return of several 10000's if done correctly and the return will be instant. In the future you may also recieve pension and health benefits, with the possibility of discounted share options in the company you choose. They will net you even more money.

Other schemes mentioned such as housing and the stock market will only give a return when you sell.
Where as this scheme will pay out every month. :guiness:
 
Wolfgang

A tracker fund precisely follows the FT index either up or down on a minute by minute basis. Therefore if the FT rose by 1%, your investment would rise by 1%. Conversely if the index dropped by say 3%, the value of your fund would also drop by 3%.

The index is a large fund which buys into the same companies that form the FTSE . Therefore very few managers are needed to run it as it effectively runs itself.

This keeps cost down.

For and investment in the Morgan Stanley group of £150, Amazing would pay 0.35% set up charges once year or about £0.53.

He can sell free of charge other than the cost of a telephone call.

The index is tipped to rise around 8-10% by May, but it is a gamble.

I have 20% of my equity in the tracker, about 50% in rent to buy properties and the balance in high yield trusts and a few thousand in a Building society for ready cash.

Like you say, it is best to spread it around.

Regards

Mick
 

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