Where could you store millions safely?

Wolf_Man

A really really BIG MATTRESS!!

1974

I've registered under a different account to post this.

I am a millionnaire - I sold my business recently and now have approx £3m after paying off the mortgage. And I have to say that I'm a little bit nervous right now.

I only got the money at the start of September, so haven't been able to diversify yet.

So I've got £1.5m in treasury guilts (returning an appalling 3.08 yield but pretty much as safe as you can get - as long as HM Gov doesn't go bust!) which will be returned to me in around six months time. I've got the balance in the Coutts Liquidity Fund (run by Barclays Wealth Managers), which is a AAA rated fund centred in Dublin. This is a much more reasonable 5.2% but because of its off-shore structure you pay less tax (32.5% rather than 40%) so that makes it around 5.8%. I'm in here with some much bigger fish - the fund has several billion pounds in it

No particular government backed guarantee but money is invested in short term (<40 day) bonds etc, with less than 5% in any particular institution. Money can be withdrawn same day and it is off-balance sheet (so if the bank goes, the fund survives). The whole thing could be unwound within those 40 days.

I have a pretty big capital gains tax bill (£300k+) come Jan 2010. Coutts had recommended that I put it in a fixed term bond from AIG - glad I didn't do that (give them their due they did ring and tell me not to fill the forms in as their advice had changed before it went pop)

I don't particularly want to identify myself hence the new registration address, and I'm sure many won't believe what I say - but I thought I'd post just to let some genuinely interested people know what I'm actually doing.

P.S. My wife thinks we should just convert it all into gold bars and keep it in the house, but I don't think that's such a great idea!

jon3001

1974 wrote: »

I only got the money at the start of September, so haven't been able to diversify yet.

What kind of plans do you have in mind?

1974 wrote: »

P.S. My wife thinks we should just convert it all into gold bars and keep it in the house, but I don't think that's such a great idea!

Don't you trust her? :rolleyes: Is bullion or other had assets going to be a part of your portfolio?

pumpndump

1974 wrote: »

I've registered under a different account to post this.

I am a millionnaire - I sold my business recently and now have approx £3m after paying off the mortgage. And I have to say that I'm a little bit nervous right now.

I only got the money at the start of September, so haven't been able to diversify yet.

So I've got £1.5m in treasury guilts (returning an appalling 3.08 yield but pretty much as safe as you can get - as long as HM Gov doesn't go bust!) which will be returned to me in around six months time. I've got the balance in the Coutts Liquidity Fund (run by Barclays Wealth Managers), which is a AAA rated fund centred in Dublin. This is a much more reasonable 5.2% but because of its off-shore structure you pay less tax (32.5% rather than 40%) so that makes it around 5.8%. I'm in here with some much bigger fish - the fund has several billion pounds in it

No particular government backed guarantee but money is invested in short term (<40 day) bonds etc, with less than 5% in any particular institution. Money can be withdrawn same day and it is off-balance sheet (so if the bank goes, the fund survives). The whole thing could be unwound within those 40 days.

I have a pretty big capital gains tax bill (£300k+) come Jan 2010. Coutts had recommended that I put it in a fixed term bond from AIG - glad I didn't do that (give them their due they did ring and tell me not to fill the forms in as their advice had changed before it went pop)

I don't particularly want to identify myself hence the new registration address, and I'm sure many won't believe what I say - but I thought I'd post just to let some genuinely interested people know what I'm actually doing.

P.S. My wife thinks we should just convert it all into gold bars and keep it in the house, but I don't think that's such a great idea!

You're right. A lot of people on this forum won't believe you. But I do. A safety deposit box is a good place for your gold.

1974

jon3001 wrote: »

What kind of plans do you have in mind?

Ok - I'll play. I have no idea. I didn't run my business to make me rich, it just has happened. Slowly at first, and more recently in terms of this acquisition. The mortgage is paid off, I don't have any debts. I'm (I think) a fairly regular guy.

Don't you trust her? :rolleyes: Is bullion or other had assets going to be a part of your portfolio?

I do trust her, but I have to say that I don't really understand enough about my options. I kind of feel at the moment a lot of people are buying gold and therefore the price is probably high. But what do I know really? It's not as if I've been tracking it. I made my money by working hard not by knowing where to invest.

Since the transaction I have been bombarded with letters from potential advisers - Barclays Wealth, SG Hambros, blah. My IFA is falling over himself trying to keep my business. I already banked with Coutts and of course they're happy. I'm going to meet some of their professional advisors in a few weeks but I don't even know what to ask them.

cheerfulcat

1974 wrote: »

Since the transaction I have been bombarded with letters from potential advisers - Barclays Wealth, SG Hambros, blah. My IFA is falling over himself trying to keep my business. I already banked with Coutts and of course they're happy. I'm going to meet some of their professional advisors in a few weeks but I don't even know what to ask them.

1974, that's a lot of money for other people to dip their spoons into. I suggest that you have a good read here - LINK ( Motley Fool board - start from the first post and work your way through...)

jon3001

1974 wrote: »

I'm going to meet some of their professional advisors in a few weeks but I don't even know what to ask them.

You need to think about your investment objectives e.g. income (how much) and risk vs capital preservation.

The less income you need from your portfolio then the more cautiously it can be invested but you'd still need to consider inflation. You current cash/gilts portfolio is ultra-conservative and would probably support about a 2% drawdown if inflation falls back to the government's target of 2%.

People here might be interested if you report back in a few weeks and give us some insight into what the professionals suggest.

1974

cheerfulcat wrote: »

1974, that's a lot of money for other people to dip their spoons into. I suggest that you have a good read here - LINK ( Motley Fool board - start from the first post and work your way through...)

I am still working full time (and it really is full time - and have no plans on stopping I enjoy it too much), and have two young children so I don't really want to spend my time playing the markets. I guess I just want to return above inflation and spend it sensibly.

The only extravegance that I have thought about is that I have decided that I never want to fly in the back of a cramped plane again. Might sound a bit snobby but I've always hated being not having any room on long haul flights.

LucyTheDwarf

I must say I'm fascinated in this thread. Of course, we all dream of millions, so I'd be really interested what a real new millionaire does.

benood

I am involved in managing a large ish portfolio and had a meeting yesterday with a SIPP advisor, we were chatting about the credit crunch and he was full of anecdotes about retirees being on the phone at the moment worrying about their pension scheme cash balances - generally in excess of >£1m - quite a few are worrying about the safety of their cash holdings - one had a big balance in Icesave (but only 10% of their fund).

Basically everyone with lots of cash is scrambling to diversify their holdings and the richer you are the more you worry!