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Vast sum to invest - advice

13

Comments

  • innovate
    innovate Posts: 16,217 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Combo Breaker

    without revealing the "niche" can you tell us what you bet on?

    I hope (s)he won't. Any information is too much information, and a risk to the golden goose. I would not even have revealed that the money is from gambling because it's pretty much irrelevant to the question (which was: how to best invest £500Kish) and nobody has to justify to a forum where they got their funds from.
  • newfoundglory
    newfoundglory Posts: 1,912 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    thats a good point
  • mulronie
    mulronie Posts: 284 Forumite
    As Don Corleone says in The Godfather:
    It doesn't make any difference to me what a man does for a living, you understand

    Me, I'm happy with the occasional £5 free bet from William Hill, I leave the spread betting to someone else ;)
  • Fed
    Fed Posts: 109 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    innovate wrote: »
    I hope (s)he won't. Any information is too much information, and a risk to the golden goose. I would not even have revealed that the money is from gambling because it's pretty much irrelevant to the question (which was: how to best invest £500Kish) and nobody has to justify to a forum where they got their funds from.

    Yeah I wouldn't reveal my niche but even if I did it would be hard for someone to act on it, take them a while to match my efficiency. I only revealed it so to avoid mortgage suggestions, which is off the cards for me unless I managed to secure a buy to let one
  • Fed
    Fed Posts: 109 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    without revealing the "niche" can you tell us what you bet on?

    Forgot to add I trade most sports bar horse racing
  • grey_gym_sock
    grey_gym_sock Posts: 4,508 Forumite
    only £500k? ... i thought the fed balance sheet was about $3tn :)
  • atush
    atush Posts: 18,731 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    IFAs don't usually recommend property as an investment, but should recommend owning your own home (if not investment property).

    How much are you wasting on rent each month? Can you not get a short term tenancy where you are now (ie 1-3 months notice?).
  • newfoundglory
    newfoundglory Posts: 1,912 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    edited 12 April 2013 at 5:53PM
    atush wrote: »
    How much are you wasting on rent each month?

    Renting is not a dirty word. I would rather rent with friends, than live on my own. I have more than £200k, over 95% in cash, so its not as if I couldn't afford my own place...

    BTW, OP, there are tax benefits to being a live-in landlord. You can earn so much in rent per year and pay no tax on it. Definitely worth considering if you want to buy your own place and rent rooms out to others.

    http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/individuals/tmarent-a-room-scheme.shtml
  • Fed
    Fed Posts: 109 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    Wasting enough but as newfound points out, I am renting with two good mates who I have been for years. So a two bed would mean living alone/renting to a random which is another factor.
  • Adameck
    Adameck Posts: 6 Forumite
    Hi Fed,

    I have read your post, and here is what I think:
    - gambling- well, gambling is investing money when the odds of actually winning (making cash out of it) are much smaller than loosing. It's also addictive, and the companies like to tempt people just so they get started. True enough online companies offer incentives such as a few pounds to start with, and maybe they will also let you win, but ultimately odds will be always against you,
    - premium bonds- that is a safe way of keeping your capital, although 2-3% above the inflation rate is probably all one can hope for,
    - investing via a bank into various funds- usually no return guarantee and the bank will always take much more for themselves (that's how they make their profits),
    - peep to peer- might be risky, but I prefer this way of investing money because of ability to calculate risk (which normally stands at less then 5% even for the most risky kind of investment) based on the annual statistics of bad debt. Also it gives you some more interest than in usual investment. I am doing that- started from putting some cash into Zopa, but as a 'rapid return' (basically cashing your money) costs 1% of the amount you cash, and the rates there aren't as competitive as in the Funding circle, I switched to using the later. It does give an option of buying small parts of loans (£20) and in that way the risk may be better spread. It's also possible to sell parts of loans even with a profit.
    - investing in the market by using other companies then banks- again, more risky, I would make sure to know well the establishment I give my money to (should be registered in the uk for a number of years, have a good reputation, a real address, etc.)
    - investing in shares and comodities- shares are too unpredictable for me, but I use automated buy and sell system for investing my ISA allowance into commodities, e.g. Halifax Bank offers such a tool for online investments.

    Hope any of this advice comes useful to you,

    Good luck,

    Adam
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