NS&I certificates

Oblivion

OK, excellent. Thanks very much for that both of you.

adindas

Good to know this. I am waiting the maturity of my RS account. So I still need to wait 2-3 months.

Is there any signal that could be used to predict whether the new issue in 3 months time will be offering the same return e.g RPI+ avg. 0.5% ?

lisyloo wrote: »

Traditionally there has been a new issue about every 3 months, so you might find you don't even reach the max before there is another issue.

JamesU

adindas wrote: »

Is there any signal that could be used to predict whether the new issue in 3 months time will be offering the same return e.g RPI+ avg. 0.5% ?

Yes there is. Buy a crystal ball and learn how to read it correctly:

(i) Point the crystal towards the sun and close your left eye.

(ii) Move the crystal around until there is a round glow in the centre.

(iii) Open your left eye and close your right eye.

(iv) If the glow is still there with your left eye open, a new issue will be available in 3mths time.

(v) If the glow is brighter with your left eye open, the future issue will have a higher bonus applied to it than the present issue.

JamesU

Alter_ego

JamesU wrote: »

Yes there is. Buy a crystal ball and learn how to read it correctly:

(i) Point the crystal towards the sun and close your left eye.

(ii) Move the crystal around until there is a round glow in the centre.

(iii) Open your left eye and close your right eye.

(iv) If the glow is still there with your left eye open, a new issue will be available in 3mths time.

(v) If the glow is brighter with your left eye open, the future issue will have a higher bonus applied to it than the present issue.

JamesU

Save the money! A crystal bll is not essential. I do the same using a hazel twig. Now that's MSE.

londoner1998

Oblivion wrote: »

I've not dabbled in savings certificates before. I can see that the minimum purchase is £100, and the maximum is £15,000.

What I'm not clear about is whether I can purchase say £5000 now and then purchase further amounts in subsequent months up to the £15,000 max. Can someone clarify please.

I am new to this and thinking of applying- and have question that might be very silly, but anyway- if I put £100 to begin with on one of this, can I add bits of money as I go along (as I would with a regular savings account) or does it consist of a lump sum and that's it until the end of the term?
thanks,

Ax

Baldur

londoner1998 wrote: »

I am new to this and thinking of applying- and have question that might be very silly, but anyway- if I put £100 to begin with on one of this, can I add bits of money as I go along (as I would with a regular savings account) or does it consist of a lump sum and that's it until the end of the term?

You can't add to a certificate but you can purchase separate certificates with a minimum value of £100 each but only for as long as the issue remains on offer.

Primrose

I think they operate in the same way as premium bonds in that respect - there's a minimum purchase but above that level you can buy in batches of any amount until you reach the maximum holding for that particular issue. If a new version comes out, you can start all over again and continue paying in until you reach the maximum £15K holding again.

lisyloo

Is there any signal that could be used to predict whether the new issue in 3 months time will be offering the same return e.g RPI+ avg. 0.5% ?

Absolutely no way to know what will be offered in future I'm afraid.
For RPI you can look at economists predictions and look at the consensus.
They could still be wrong though.
Inflation is quite high at the moment, so one risk of waiting is missing out on the currently high RPI.

I'm afraid there is an element of risk on the return you will get (no risk to the capital).
Personally I think these are a great buy for the next 12 months, but wouldn't want to guess about 5 years, so i'm taking a flexible approach (keep an eye on RPI and cash in if better returns elsewhere).

JamesU

lisyloo wrote: »

Inflation is quite high at the moment, so one risk of waiting is missing out on the currently high RPI.

Not really. Perhaps what you mean is that by waiting and not being invested, you are delaying any future returns based on the next 12mths inflation.

JamesU

lisyloo

Perhaps what you mean is that by waiting and not being invested, you are delaying any future returns based on the next 12mths inflation

Yes, pretty much, but it does work slightly in arrears though doesn't it.
You don't get the next 12 months strictly speaking as it uses the RPI figure from 2 months ago.

But basically, what I'm saying is that if you delay to try to get a differenet increment, then you will also get a differnt RPI.
Whether that's a worse or better RPI is anyone's guess (my guess is that it's worse FWIW as long term I don't expect inflation to be tolerated at 4%-5%).