I earn 10.25% interest, is this good?

elbe

It looks like GM beat me to it.

As he says there's some serious misinformation being bandied around in this thread. Up to date information on everything you could possible want to know is covered on the main Zopa site and/or on the forum. If you can't find the answer to your question then you only have to ask and either Zopa themselves or forum members will help you out. Once you know all the facts then you can make an informed decision.

I'm a Zopa lender who's more than happy with the rate of return I'm getting on my money. I accept Zopa's risk assessments and take account of these when I set my lending rates.

Dopple

I've been on Zopa for a couple of years.
It started off well but the level of Bad Debt and Late Payments I have now means I am losing money. Added to the fact that your money is tied up I just don't think it's worth the gamble. You may has well go into Index Linked Certs.

Norman_Castle

Can I ask,have you got £85,000 in a saving account that pays 0.1% interest?

andrewj100

With that much money the first thing you need to do is a lot of reading and come up with a lot of options, 100% investment in zopa (or anything else) would be a bad move in my opinion.

Try some in an ISA, as high interest as you can get.
Some shares in a stable company that will deliver in the long term.
Some funds http://www.h-l.co.uk/ are a good bet for this.
Maybe have a look through NS&I, premium bonds are worth a look, it is gambling, I see it the same way as the national lottery but you can have your original cash back.
Maybe have a look at ETF's and put some money into oil, gold etc.

I have some money in zopa but only as a ballanced part of my overall investments (it's about 10% and likely to remain that way).
I normaly only deal in the A* markets so dont get many defaults and limit my exposure to £10 per borrower so I wont, and have no interest in, chasing a +10% return because for me the risks are to great.

Diversity is always the key, you may never get massive returns this way but on the plus side you'll never gett massive overall losses.

TechnoBadger

As just a part of a balanced savings and investment strategy, and if you're happy with what you read on their site and forums, why not have a dabble with Zopa? As others say, start with a small amount and see how you get on... ...once you've topped up your ISA (and found one paying a decent rate), bought a few index-linked NS&I certs etc. and paid off your own debts first of course!

Ignore listings and keep to the safer markets - though I sometimes wonder if the riskier, and consequentially higher interest, "C" market is suitable for zero-rate tax payers (any bad debts cannot be offset against interest for tax purposes, but this is not a concern if you don't pay tax anyway).

It can be good fun, you may do well and you're unlikely IMHO to lose your shirt!

MacsReturns

I've also just started with Zopa - not long enough to have any 'track record' yet - and I've not put a lot in, just testing the water so far. It is by far the riskiest part of what I laughingly call my 'portfolio' (more of a used manilla envelope really ).

I don't think I would go more than 5% into Zopa despite the potential returns, and sure as eggs wouldn't even dream of going all in. In my estimate it is THE riskiest asset class (barring illegal and stupid schemes like trying to sell crack on Hell's Angels' turf, maybe.:eek:) . I think it's even riskier than the stock market, YMMV.

Like others have said, diversity is essential - talking of which, I wouldn't leave £85k in a single account either - not that that's a real concern for me just yet.

I notice a couple of posters have warned against Zopa listings, but there are some that look pretty good and crop up occasionally. These are the ones sponsored by PRIME. (Prince's Initiative for Mature Enterprise), a registered charity linked to Age Concern and a member of the Prince's Charities Group. PRIME are dedicated to helping those aged over 50 to start and run their own UK business. Often these come with a partial guarantee (typically 50 or 70% capital guarantee). I think these are probably quite a good bet - after all they've been through quite a lot of 'vetting' to get there, and it's more of a guarantee than you'll get on stocks The one I've punted on settled at 13% - even so I've only put in about a month's beer money...

Some of the listings make me laugh, or cry, or want to tell people to get their life sorted and come to these boards instead. I just love the irony of being in a position to lend money at extortionate rates to people who (claim to...) earn five or six times my income :cool:

ed123_2

...no I think you should keep your £85,000 with the bank as 0.1% is a v good return.........................and pigs fly........jesus loves you........

amcluesent

I think of Zopa as being in the same class as bullion gold, something for 5-10% of your portfolio after you've done the regular savings, cash ISA, NS&I index linked, BRIC tracker, etc.

Debt_Free_Chick

£85k with Zopa or £85k in "a" savings account - your problem either way is a lack of diversification. Or, to put it in simple terms, you have all your eggs in one basket.

thor

Jonbvn wrote: »

Your father's selection of investments were clearly far outside of his risk profile. To write off all investment due to this is naive (IMHO) to say the least.

I could offer numerous anecdotes of myself and others doing extremely well in S&S and bonds etc. However, if you are extremely risk averse then perhaps you better stick to premium bonds.

What is naive, is thinking that shares are any less riskier than zopa. Who can really trust company reports and forecasts these days?. 10 years ago the thought that banks could go bust or that bankers were nothing but a bunch of crooks would have been seen as being ludicrous.
I have been saying for years investing in the stock markets was only a more respectable seeming form of gambling and everything that has happened since 08 has only confirmed that for me.