What Can A 17yr Old Do? Please Help

YoungBuck_3

Hi there,

I'm 17 and have decided i want to do something with some of my money from work. most of it is just in my Barclays Young Persons account and the rest is in Premium Bonds (still havn't won anything!) I am ineterested in investing it, or had anyone got any other ideas? If not can anyone give me a little bit of help re investing?

Many Thanks

Steve

Chrismaths

How long for? The best investment depends on how long you can leave it for. If you want to save for say a car in a year's time, then cash is probably the best investment. If you want a deposit for a house in 5-7 years, then you can afford to take a bit more risk. If you want to save for longer, you can take a load of risk.

It's like 'no pain, no gain' - to get a return above that available on cash, you have to take on some risk of losing some of that money. In the longer term, that risk reduces, but in the short term, it is very real.

Rikki

The first thing I have advised my 17 year old son is to put his money into ISA's.

Sting_2

Personally I would avoid the premium bonds, these typically give a return of 3% per year (with average luck) this however is tax free. I am assuming you are a lower rate tax payer you would need an account to pay around 4% to beat this. There are lots of 4%+ savings accounts around.

As Rikki suggested an ISA is a good idea, and you can get an ISA paying over 5% tax free.

equitydealer

I think a small investment in premium bonds is a good idea. I don't think people invest in them for the average 3% return but for the chance of winning the £1m prize, even though the odds are 1 in 13bn!

What I would give to get out of the rat race.....

muddyfox470

i agree with equitydealer, it is worth keeping a small holding, but investments, shares etc should probably be best avoided as you probably want to get your money back at the end of it

see my other post in your other thread

ian

robin123_2

Do you not have to be 18 or over to start an ISA?

ASG_2

No, children can have ISA's.

muddyfox470

ISA's are for age 16+

However some ISA providers may require you to be 18+ (mainly for investment fund based ones)

Ian

Gorgeous_George

If you have time on your hands why not find something to buy/sell. Some things can attract a huge mark-up. Problem is, you buy in bulk and sell in bits.

I like eBay and am considering buying 500 items for £500 that should easily sell for £5 each. Even after PayPal/eBay fees, there's a decent profit for just posting things to people. I recently bought 450 items for £150 (33p each). They sell like hot cakes at £5 a pair (they're not hot cakes!).

It's more fun that putting money in the bank and more lucrative. Of course, I have ISAs, Premium Bonds (haven't won either) and other saving accounts.



GG

heppy23

If I was 17 again and had money saved I would put £500 into a pension to get the pension rolling.