Advice on a lump sum investment.

max_biaggi

I have just sold my parent's house on their behalf and have a lump sum of £650 000 to invest on their behalf. They are in their late 70's early 80's and are away travelling at the minute. They hope to return in April 2006 and may need access to, but not income from the cash, to purchase a replacement property. However it is more likely they will rent/ travel until April 2007.

All the ISA allowances are used up & the Coventry over 60's product seems a bit fiddly with it's £2000 limit.

The best I have found is the Abbey eSaver a/c paying 5.15% inc bonus up to 30th June 2006. So I think I'll put it there until June and then look around again unless someone on here has a better idea!

Thanks.

jonesMUFCforever

So do you have the money or is it in your parents account?
Do you have a Power of Attorney?
You may find great difficulty in opening an account in their name if thet cannot go to the bank/building society in person.
If you have access to the money beware of the tax implications that you will incur.

max_biaggi

ejones999 wrote:

So do you have the money or is it in your parents account?
Do you have a Power of Attorney?
You may find great difficulty in opening an account in their name if thet cannot go to the bank/building society in person.
If you have access to the money beware of the tax implications that you will incur.

Yes, I have the power of attorney... which is how I managed to sell the house. :snow_laug

I also have copies of all the usual stuff you need to open an account nowadays, passport/bank statements / utility bills etc, certified powers of attorney etc. and Abbey is an internet ONLY a/c.

It's their cash so, even though I sign for it etc, the tax liability remains with my parents.

dunstonh

So you want saving or investment? You say investment in your title and first line but then mention savings later in your post.

max_biaggi

dunstonh wrote:

So you want saving or investment? You say investment in your title and first line but then mention savings later in your post.

No, I mentioned a savings account in my post.

As I said in the original post the idea is to maximise the return for my parents with minimal risk, given their age, for the scenario as described.

ie

1) May require access within a year to funds, but more likely will be able to leave alone for that time.

2) Will require access to funds (or a portion thereof) after one year.

3) This is a one off investment/saving but must be low risk ie government security or reputable bank that's not going to be gone in the morning, not equities.

jonesMUFCforever

max_biaggi wrote:

Yes, I have the power of attorney... which is how I managed to sell the house. :snow_laug

I also have copies of all the usual stuff you need to open an account nowadays, passport/bank statements / utility bills etc, certified powers of attorney etc. and Abbey is an internet ONLY a/c.

It's their cash so, even though I sign for it etc, the tax liability remains with my parents.

It may not be so easy as you think. Having a Power of Attorney over an existing should present no problems. Have you had a word with their Bank/Building Society manager?
Opening a brand new account for your parents could cause problems as if they cannot attend in person they might offer only offer you a POA account ie non personal with typically low interest rates.

max_biaggi

Yes. I have had a word with their existing bank manager and sorted all that before they left. Their current bank cannot match the online rate from Abbey so in the absence of any further "advice" I'm going with the Abbey bonus a/c.

zzzLazyDaisy

Have you looked at Cahoot - first £100,000 is 5.25%

AA is also 5.25% but that is only for 6 months

Also the Investec High 5 account is worth looking at as it gives the average of the top five accounts, so it is always up there with the best payers - you have to lock the money away for a year, but you could keep some back in an easy access account.

max_biaggi

Thanks Daisy for the advice ( and answering my question :snow_laug !) .

I'll look into those accounts you mentioned.