Is it not time to have a separate Saving and investing forums?

mroller

That's all I wanted to say

Paul_Herring

Not sure. We'll still get people asking how to 'invest' when they mean 'save,' only on the wrong boards.

fusela

I agree, I am keen to start investing but don't know where to start and It's hard to find info on where to start on this board. Maybe a newbie guide could be written as an alternative and made sticky...

Lokolo

The problem with that is, 1. no-one can be bothered. 2. its very hard to say how investing works without giving 'advice'. Suppose could be done for a mini guide sort of thing though.

john_s_2

I think there's merit in that. I was having a little look recently to see what sort of suggestions there were for proportions and types of assets different sort of people 'should' have, but this board is mostly about cash savings.

The nearest I have to an investment is an RPI linked bond with NSI and I think I'm in a position to make my first 'proper' investment now. (I'm not looking for ideas or suggestions here - just setting out my stall for the sort of questions I'd be asking, and looking for, on such a board, were it to exist, on the assumption that there are probably others like me.)

gozomark

john_s wrote: »

The nearest I have to an investment is an RPI linked bond with NSI .

I'm sure you know, but thats savings not investment, and is no closer to an investment than a bank account is, which takes us back to Paul's point "We'll still get people asking how to 'invest' when they mean 'save,' only on the wrong boards"

john_s_2

I suppose I was thinking in terms of 'risk', which is my understanding of investment (which could be wrong, of course!)

I realise there's no risk to capital with such a bond but there is a risk that you're tying your money into something for 3 / 5 years when there might be better variable rate deals available elsewhere. (Not as risky as investing in oil.)

Do you fancy taking a punt with a textbook definition? :-)

gozomark

the key difference is risk - savings involve preservation of capital, investment means putting something at risk in the hope of a higher return. It can get blurry at the edges, as some investments can be structured so there is no risk to capital eg equity products with a guarantee of capital protection. However you can break such a product down into a number of investments
1. long exposure to equities - investment
2. an option on the market, (paid for by dividends to be received) - investment

Lansdowne

Yes there are some people here who insist there is a clear distinction, but most people are happy to say "I have £20k invested in a building society" etc. And why did NS change its name to NS&I? Do they offer any stock market products?

Anyway back to the topic.
Why do we have just one sub- board called
ISAs, Toisas, Peps & Tessas
Three of those no longer exist. And ISAs aren't so different from all the other products talked about in this board.

If there is anyone with the job of tidying up the boards, my suggestion would be to keep "Savings and Investing" but have a sub- board called
Bank and building society savings accounts
and another called
Investing in the stock market
although you could be cheeky and call it "Gambling on the stock market".

gozomark

Lansdowne wrote: »

invested in a building society" etc. And why did NS change its name to NS&I? Do they offer any stock market products?
.

yes -Guaranteed Equity Bonds

http://www.nsandi.com/products/geb/index.jsp

trej

I agree with this comment. Every time I log in to view savings and investing it is filled with icesave and kaupthingedge threads. Any threads related to investing or shares seem to get pushed down to the bottom very quickly!