Investment for the next 3-5 years

Albermarle

I personally think that piling money into it at this time, whilst wanting to have access to that money within 10 years is asking for poor returns.

You might be right and you might be wrong. Hopefully for the sake of your pension ( and mine ) you are wrong.
The problem is you said this :

I am looking for a way to invest my monthly savings in such a way to try to protect against inflation

This is difficult/impossible without taking some risks with your funds .
One possible solution is to invest in funds that are classed as medium/low risk. it does not protect you from market downturns fully but it will reduce any downsides and hopefully the funds will over time at least beat inflation .

Zero_Sum

MaxiRobriguez wrote: »

I think most overpay their mortgage because they don't know any better, rather than it being a conscious choice. If people were equipped with the knowledge about the ability to gain 20%+ tax bonus on SIPPs and a general knowledge of how to invest in simple index trackers then they would almost unanimously opt to do just that rather than overpay.

Ive argued this with an accountant on the 40% tax rate, but theyve basically come back & said yeah i know but, prefer the psycologicial benefit of being mortgage free.

The ones who know no better tend to just treat the mortgage like rent. Pay what the bank asks for & enjoy living on the rest of the hard earned cash

Thrugelmir

Pepod wrote: »

I believe 10 years to be around the minimum timeframe to be investing 'long term' if that makes any sense

Historically to date, 12 years is the minimum length of time to guarantee a positive return from investing in the stock market. The uncertainty of knowing the value on any given future date would be an issue. If you have definitive plans in place. With inflation low currently, I wouldn't be overly concerned. The US markets underperformed inflation over a decade in the 80's.

DairyQueen

ZingPowZing wrote: »

Employers' sharesave schemes are a great form of medium term investment for £500 a month.

Royal Mail employees may disagree.

enthusiasticsaver

If you don't want to put any more in your pension and are not willing to consider stocks and shares isas then regular savers would have to be my next choice.

We did a combination of over payments into the pensions, mortgage overpayments and stocks and shares isas. I don't think the psychological aspect of being mortgage free should be overlooked although I agree that higher rate tax payers should look at pension overpayments too.

Thrugelmir

DairyQueen wrote: »

Royal Mail employees may disagree.

Kamikazee springs to mind.......

SonOf

DairyQueen wrote: »

Royal Mail employees may disagree.

Don't forget bank staff. I know bank staff that were millionaires through SAYE and profit shares over the years who didnt diversify before the credit crunch and some lost the lot.