Opinions please

Twonko

Hi everyone

After spending a significant part of my life in debt and never wishing to go back there, I find myself living in rented accommodation (having sold my house to move for a year long work adventure), with a lump sum of approximately £60,000 in the bank. My situation is this: I have temporary work until May 2012 when I will need to change employer. I don't anticipate a massive problem getting work but times are strange and one never knows. I will need to move next May as I cannot stay where I am. The lion's share of my capital is earmarked for a deposit on a new house when the time is right. I am not over-concerned about not owning property at the moment as I don't think house prices are going to go North for a while yet.

I would like to increase this capital (obviously) over the next year or so with the following provisos:
1. No stupid risks. This is my house deposit.
2. I would like to beat inflation at least. Of course.
3. I wouild like to pay as little tax as possible. Wouldn't we all?
4. I am prepared to take a calculated punt with some of the money.
5. My preference is for shares because I cannot see them diving much more as a general rule. And the return on other sane investments is rubbish.
6, I am intrigued by bank shares as the possibility exists for a rapid rise. I favour Barclays in particular.
7. I see companies like Tesco, GSK, BP, Vodafone etc as relatively secure but not exciting. This may be a good thing.
8. I may need to liquidise all these assets within a relatively short period if I decide to buy another house. I understand that this is not an ideal situation.

Without being over- critical of my desires (I understand many of the potential pitfalls), does anyone have any helpful comments or suggestions that might assist me to make a fortune prior to next May or beyond. I am likely not to buy a property until the house market starts to perk up AND I am in full-time employment.

Cheers to you all.

CLAPTON

if you are likely to need the money within 5 years then you need to save the money and not to invest it

so
-cash ISA
-indexed linked certs
-then best saving a/c you can find

if you want some excitement then think premium bonds or national lottery

atush

I agree with Cash ISA and NSI ILSCs (this is the only thing that will guarantee you beat inflation). The priviso is that the ILSCs are a 5 year bond, but can be cashed w/o penalty after one year. So if you can wait to buy til Aug 2012 rather than may you will be OK.

Then as said, your best paying acct for the rest (you can put some of this intoa Cahs ISA next April), minus a small portion if you want to gamble on stocks- put this in a S&S ISA. Stick to stocks that have a good PE, in sectors that defy economoc downturns, and have a good yeild and a good record of keeping or growing their dividends. In this case you will be looking to beach or meet inflation theru the yield and there are some good stocks out there (not exciting) that have good yields at the mo incl Vodaphone, Tesco, Aviva etc.

CLAPTON

atush wrote: »

I agree with Cash ISA and NSI ILSCs (this is the only thing that will guarantee you beat inflation). The priviso is that the ILSCs are a 5 year bond, but can be cashed w/o penalty after one year. So if you can wait to buy til Aug 2012 rather than may you will be OK.

Then as said, your best paying acct for the rest (you can put some of this intoa Cahs ISA next April), minus a small portion if you want to gamble on stocks- put this in a S&S ISA. Stick to stocks that have a good PE, in sectors that defy economoc downturns, and have a good yeild and a good record of keeping or growing their dividends. In this case you will be looking to beach or meet inflation theru the yield and there are some good stocks out there (not exciting) that have good yields at the mo incl Vodaphone, Tesco, Aviva etc.

ILSC can be cashed at any time without penalty..in the first year one gets one's money back without penalty but no index linking or interest

Twonko

CLAPTON wrote: »

if you are likely to need the money within 5 years then you need to save the money and not to invest it

so
-cash ISA
-indexed linked certs
-then best saving a/c you can find

if you want some excitement then think premium bonds or national lottery

Cash ISA already full. Index linked certs? Do they beat inflation? Savings accounts? Pitiful interest but certainly a dull home for an indeterminate sum. Premium bonds nearly maxed already and over two years have hardly over-performed. National lottery? That suggestion merely discredits the rest of your advice.

CLAPTON

Twonko wrote: »

Cash ISA already full. Index linked certs? Do they beat inflation? Savings accounts? Pitiful interest but certainly a dull home for an indeterminate sum. Premium bonds nearly maxed already and over two years have hardly over-performed. National lottery? That suggestion merely discredits the rest of your advice.

I have genuinely tried to help you.

you have set out a completely incompatible set of aims which show little understanding of financial matters

your response is discourteous and rude.

your comment about the lottery shows both your ignorance and stupity; quite common of course and normally I would take the trouble to explain

jem16

Twonko wrote: »

Cash ISA already full. Index linked certs? Do they beat inflation? Savings accounts? Pitiful interest but certainly a dull home for an indeterminate sum. Premium bonds nearly maxed already and over two years have hardly over-performed. National lottery? That suggestion merely discredits the rest of your advice.

It's a pity the Newbie alert sticker info doesn't seem to extend the other way.

atush

CLAPTON wrote: »

ILSC can be cashed at any time without penalty..in the first year one gets one's money back without penalty but no index linking or interest

By w/o penalty I meant with full interest- no interest penalty like other fixed interest cash bonds?

atush

Cash ISA already full. Index linked certs? Do they beat inflation? Savings accounts? Pitiful interest but certainly a dull home for an indeterminate sum. Premium bonds nearly maxed already and over two years have hardly over-performed. National lottery? That suggestion merely discredits the rest of your advice.

Go back over your objectives and eliminate some. your wish for beating inflation yet don't know that is what Index linked savings do (ie ILSCs- ie they beat the index ie inflation) and your wish for guarantees and stocks and shares just dont match up.

when you have decided what you actually want to do (ie risk profile) do get back to us as we can help. You can mux low risk (ILSCs) with higher risk equities if you like.

But given your conflicting requests and your abuse when one response which matches one request and not another is denigrated so awfully- well let us just say DONT' BURN YOUR BRIDGE before you get around to crossing the river.

hermante

Twonko wrote: »

After spending a significant part of my life in debt and never wishing to go back there

The lion's share of my capital is earmarked for a deposit on a new house

Premium bonds nearly maxed already

National lottery? That suggestion merely discredits the rest of your advice.

Hmm, you have a lot to learn. 3% on a savings account is hardly pitiful. Suppose you have 30K in premium bonds. Even as a higher-rate taxpayer you might be better off putting the 30K in a 3% savings account and spending the interest on the lottery. Then to talk about being debt free but wanting a mortgage .. now you're talking about gambling tens of thousands on house prices rising indefinitely.

Xbigman

Classic pyramid scheme - reported.



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