never lose a penny

davidssmith

is it possible these days to invest and never lose a penny of your money?

greenface

you would have to do it yourself because someone else will charge you

davidssmith

cheers but with markets/banks like they are is it possible to put your cash away with absolute guarantee you will always get at least your initial investment back......no mater what happens?

opinions4u

Everything has an element of risk.

- markets falling
- banks going under
- compensation schemes not paying out
- inflation eroding value
- your mattress catching fire with your savings under it

The skill is detemrining your level of risk and saving / investing accordingly.

Aegis

davidssmith wrote: »

is it possible these days to invest and never lose a penny of your money?

No. Charges and fluctuations will mean that you will basically always go below your starting value at times.

purch

Never has been possible.

Never will be possible.

Linton

davidssmith wrote: »

is it possible these days to invest and never lose a penny of your money?

No way, never has been.

The best you can do is to strike a happy compromise between not losing too much in the bad times and maximising your chances of high returns in the good. With a sensibly diversified portfolio, and sufficient liquid (cash) funds for the short/medium term you should be reasonably safe except under the Armegeddon scenarios. But under those circumstances all bets are off for anything.

Linton

davidssmith wrote: »

cheers but with markets/banks like they are is it possible to put your cash away with absolute guarantee you will always get at least your initial investment back......no mater what happens?

Nothing can be absolutely guaranteed - the world could end tomorrow. Two best options are cash under the mattress (but then inflation erodes the value and you get no return) or inflation linked gilts where you rely on the government being able to meet its obligations.

I would guess that if circumstances were so bad the latter failed, your cash savings could be the least of your problems.

Is this a practical or philosophical problem?

Mikeyorks

Yes - you can put it in a Guaranteed Equity Bond (GEB) that has no downside risk to capital (some pose a risk if the Index drops 50%). Protects your capital absolutely .... but the potential of upside gains is severely limited.

Is there a point to investing if the sole consideration is just protecting your base? You surely want to generate income / grow your capital .... you just choose a basic savings account otherwise.

opinions4u

Mikeyorks wrote: »

Yes - you can put it in a Guaranteed Equity Bond (GEB) that has no downside risk to capital (some pose a risk if the Index drops 50%). Protects your capital absolutely .... but the potential of upside gains is severely limited.

What happens if the business underwriting the product goes belly up?

This is not "absolute" protection by any stretch.

davidssmith

its a bit of both really. My aunt is 87 and has around 20k to move. She is very low risk but unhappy with interest rates. Her friendly bloke over the road explained a product from a building society which is guaranteed capital pays, 9% minimum but could give her all the rise in the FTSE over the next 5 years upto a max 45%. seems to good to be true so hence my question. her mate derek over the road (who professes to be a font of all knowledge period) has said she cant lose a penny at all as its cash covered by the government? so not withstanding the point about governments going bump is he correct?