Where to invest in the credit crunch

LTA

Hi there,

Just wondering what peoples thoughts were on where I should invest at the minute.

I'm 30, I have no debts apart from my mortgage which I am overpaying to the maximum. My ISA is not making very much as things are so I was wondering where people think I should invest any spare cash I have at the moment.

I looked at premium bonds but I'm not sure. I wouldn't mind taking a bit of a risk to earn more back.

I don't really want to invest anymore in my pension either.

Any thoughts?

Thank you!

Lokolo

Premium Bonds have an average return of 1.8%. More most the actual is a lot less than that so you could most probably put it into a savings account and get a better return.

You say you want to invest or whatever, but how much do you actually have to spare?

LTA

Probably about £100 a month

tradetime

Maybe this
http://new.egg.com/visitor/0,,3_11093--View_401,00.html?refer=MS1savbonus

tradetime

Or 4%
http://www.halifax.co.uk/savings/regularsaver.asp

LTA

the halifax one definitely looks better than my ISA

ozzage

It sounds like you want to take a bit of risk and actually INVEST, not save, so I'm not sure the other suggestions are really what you're after.

I would say a S&S ISA (eg from Hargreaves Lansdown) and perhaps £50 per month each into two funds might be an option. You can't get much more diversification with £100 per month but it's better than putting it into a single fund.

How much risk is "a bit of a risk"? That would then dictate what sort of funds you might choose.

brightonman123

there's a whole village for sale, if you have £20-25m to spare!?

beats me why the owners woud want to sell off such a (safe ?) investment, especially in these troubled times..?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/propertynews/4952810/Whole-village-put-up-for-sale-for-22-million.html

LTA

Well by a bit of a risk, I'm thinking that my ISA is making next to nothing so if I could this somewhere where it might make nothing or make a little bit of a loss but similarly might make more than my ISA is making at the minute if you see what I mean.

I do have about £350 per month spare at the minute but it makes sense to overpay my half of the mortgage with the other £250.

Thanks I'll look into Hargreaves Lansdown.

Reaper

You might consider a Corporate Bonds fund. They are paying good yields (ie interest) but have some risk attached as the underlying fund value can go up or down.

I was considering it but am hesitating because they seem to have become very popular recently and as a contrarian investor that puts me off.

ozzage

I agree re corporate bonds. Personally I think it's still a good time to go in as they haven't really gone up that much despite all the recent publicity. At least you know you're going to get an income from them no matter what happens.

The Invesco Perpetual ones are fairly well regarded, I believe. There are other similar funds of higher or lower risk profiles (different sorts of bonds) but this is the one for Corporate Bonds. It's paying around 7% at the moment (which is tax-free in an ISA)

http://www.h-l.co.uk/funds/fund_performance/sedol/3305069

I'm definitely no expert, but I think you could do worse than 50% in a bond fund and 50% in something of a higher risk like equities (all-share tracker maybe)