digital or physical gold

alisonnpaul

in short i went bankrupt 2007 and built my wealth from then i now have a isa with 23k and an account with 12k and a few envelopes around the home. my 23k isa is giving a return of around 0,20% (£50 a yr) so looking at a better investment at 46 i hope to invest a lot into gold and run the risks but wonder if it's worth investing with the royal mint in gold bars the math has me puzzled https://www.royalmint.com/digital-investments/digigold/ but in short at what point do they say your now supposed to pay tax and declare your savings.
I'm informed that buying small amounts such as x1 gram rather than larger bars makes it easier to resell in 20 yrs time but quiz if it's easier to go digital with a big bill to eat the hopeful profit or go physical gold i currently don't do self tax returns

masonic

Putting your life savings into gold seems a very odd thing to do. If you insist, then digital would surely be safer, and the easiest way to do that is via an investment account (e.g. a S&S ISA) and a gold ETF. What do you have against traditional equities/bonds?

ColdIron

alisonnpaul said:

https://www.royalmint.com/digital-investments/digigold/ but in short at what point do they say your now supposed to pay tax and declare your savings.

These are not savings and the value can go down a lot more than 0.20%

UK Sovereigns and Britannias are exempt from Capital Gains tax but gold bars are not. There is an annual 'allowance' of £12,300 so any profit when you sell above that figure would be taxable. It is easy to sell in chunks over several years to avoid the tax

I'm informed that buying small amounts such as x1 gram rather than larger bars makes it easier to resell in 20 yrs time

I disagree. One ounce gold coins are the bread and butter of the bullion world

alisonnpaul

i have an isa but feel it's dead in the water and not making anything bonds Iv'e looked at but again feel unless i have 50k plus in bonds i stands no chance of winning anything https://youtu.be/514jRnKtf2Y I'm very new to investing. so open to ideas 
in the near future I'm possibly inheriting a further 30-40k as a house shared sale and around 6-10k shared isa from my parents in ill health thus increasing my purse to 80-90k by then so hope to find a good place to invest 

eskbanker

alisonnpaul said:

bonds Iv'e looked at but again feel unless i have 50k plus in bonds i stands no chance of winning anything

Are you talking specifically about NS&I Premium Bonds there, with the reference to winning anything?

'Bonds' is an unhelpfully vague and ambiguous term, used for anything from fixed term savings accounts to government or corporate loan-based investments, and it was the latter interpretation that was bracketed with equities as a typical mainstream investment option.

There are numerous threads for newbie investors on here, focusing not just on the actual investments themselves (global multi-asset funds being a popular choice for the less experienced) but the choice of tax wrappers, e.g. a pension will often be a better vehicle than a S&S ISA and both are generally preferable to general investment accounts.

masonic

alisonnpaul said:

i have an isa but feel it's dead in the water and not making anything bonds Iv'e looked at but again feel unless i have 50k plus in bonds i stands no chance of winning anything I'm very new to investing. so open to ideas 
in the near future I'm possibly inheriting a further 30-40k as a house shared sale and around 6-10k shared isa from my parents in ill health thus increasing my purse to 80-90k by then so hope to find a good place to invest

For the avoidance of doubt I am not referring to Premium Bonds. As eskbanker has suggested, a multi-asset fund, which will invest your money broadly and globally, would be the natural choice for a new investor.