Advice wanted on a good long term investment

Butterscotch

Hello, I am asking this question on behalf of my mum, who is a pensioner.

I have approx £60,000 which I would like to invest but I don't know what are considered the best investments.

It would have to be a safe investment, and I want to invest long term. I do not want any get rich quick schemes as I want my money to be in a low risk investment where the chances of me losing money is extremely low.

Can anyone recommend a good investment? I know that property is a good investement but as mentioned previously, I am a pensioner and I do not want the hassle of having another property and then renting it out.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you, Jean.

Cautious_Investor_3

Hi

I'd seek good quality, independent advice. Find an IFA, either through friends or family (failing that use www.unbiased.co.uk) and see what they recommend.

Property, like plenty of other things, can be an excellent investment, it does come with significant risks though.

Your ISA won't ring up up at 8.00 am Sunday morning to say it has been locked out! :rotfl:

The Cautious Investor

dunstonh

I don't know what are considered the best investments.

There is no such thing as "best". Its a case of finding out what is best for that particular person along with a strong dose of opinion.

I know that property is a good investement

Is it? Its illiquid, not tax efficient and comes with different risks. It certainly can be a good investment if you get your timing right and your research. Experienced landlords can do nicely. Get it wrong or suffer a bad tenant and you soon think otherwise. You shouldnt look at the credit boom years as being the norm for property. Just as you wouldnt expect the last 15 years of China investments to be the same as the next 15.

Theyarv1

There's no such thing as a totally safe investment. Anything can happen. The bank you hold your cash in can go under, the government you bought your bonds from can theoretically go under, we all know shares can crash too. As for property, it's a masssssssssssssive headache.

Depending on whether you are happy to keep cash and effectively lose money due to inflation (the same amount of cash will buy less in 5 years), then you can do that, but make sure you keep no more than 50k in any single bank as that is the max per institution that the FSA/gov will guarantee. When finding the 2nd bank, make sure they aren't considered as one as you will not be covered on both if they are.

Alternatively, if you would like a little bit of yield, you could buy some government bonds that pay a % which should be very safe (british government anyway, rather than greek!) You could also start putting a little away in your ISA.

good luck

Cautious_Investor_3

Theyarv1 wrote: »

Depending on whether you are happy to keep cash and effectively lose money due to inflation (the same amount of cash will buy less in 5 years), then you can do that, but make sure you keep no more than 50k in any single bank as that is the max per institution that the FSA/gov will guarantee. When finding the 2nd bank, make sure they aren't considered as one as you will not be covered on both if they are.

The amount covered by the FSCS has now risen to £85,000.

The Cautious Investor

Butterscotch

Thanks for all your replies. You've given me some food for thought.
Much appreciated.