Help pls to turn £50k in premium bonds into a better green investment

chrisling

So My Mum is 80yo, mortgage free and has about £80k in a santander 123 current account or in premium bonds not earning effectively any interest. She likes premium bonds as its a bit of fun and has very quick access and is "safe". I'm worried about the deflation on it and would like to try and encourage her to do something with about 50k of it. She already has ISA's and bonds and income isnt a problem, Im just want to try and be more sensible with 50k cash.



She has had some bad luck with shares in the past and will not want to go there again but has started to show interest towards "Green projects" and "global warming" issues. So can the forum suggest a green investment or bonds that is safe that will have a better financial performance than premium bonds?



Thanks
Chris

Ken68

If your mum was younger, green projects such as solar panels and rainwater harvesting would be an option. Early adopters of solar energy saw a return of 12%, not so much nowadays for new customers.

firestone

i have a couple of Green investment trusts & renewables/infrastructure funds but i would never call them "safe" in the way you want (and at 80 years old what happens if they lose 50% in value?)

IanSt

Never used them myself, but how about looking at the ecology building society. Not the best of interest rates but it might be of use for your mum and unlike investments is guaranteed to not lose value so won't cause any unnecessary worry for your mum if you keep to fscs limits. The 90 day notice account is currently 1.45% for £25,000 and up.

https://www.ecology.co.uk/savings/savings-accounts/

chrisling

Thank you all for your help

Albermarle

There are some peer to peer /crowdfunding sites who concentrate on green /social projects .
The following two are quite well known in that sector :
https://www.abundanceinvestment.com/
https://www.triodoscrowdfunding.co.uk/

However they are for sure not 100% safe and her money will be tied up for years. They are a completely different type of investment to government backed premium bonds

Zero_Sum

At 80 id suggest just going on a round the world cruise or something
Might as well enjoy it while you can.

Rodders53

Encourage Mum to spend some now and do things she wants rather than having to worry about protecting the value of your Inheritance against inflation.

edgex

Obviously have to be careful around the Deprivation of Assets issue, but is there things that the money could be spent on, that would also meet the 'green' objective?
House fully insulated/double glazed? Solar pv?
Anything need doing to her childrens properties?

AnotherJoe

I wouldnt touch "green bonds" with a long bargepole made out of recycled wood.
At her age, I agree, a few nice holidays or similar.
If you/she "insisted" on investing in something "green", then INRG and TRIG is where I am, two very different but "green" investments.

mark13

At that age, if you already have income, keep the bonds, its a bit of fun and the litle wins will give some pleasure.