What would you do with 5k savings?

[Xaero]

Nickbrapp said:

i have about the same as you,

2k in a tsb account earning 5%
2.5k in a nationwide earning 5%

add 300 a month to my first direct saving account which gives 6% after a year,

This is exactly the set up I had, although I have an additional TSB account too when they allowed 2 per person, and now my Nationwide 1 year 5% thing has ended I've transferred the £2.5k, plus any remainder in Santander too.

[Mike29]

I have 12k doing nothing in a cash ISA, time to put it to work next week

[FiF]

I'd agree and of course the money is at a much higher risk. No FCSC guarantee etc etc. Go back to my pyramid explanation for stuff in the top third of risky investments.

I have no idea about the company in question but Martin Lewis wrote a piece in the Telegraph in 2013 about his experience in various P2P schemes here Note changed tax rules.

There's not much out there, someone wrote a *very* short blog piece here

But I agree 12% sounds just too good to be true.

[scottri]

FiF said:

I'd agree and of course the money is at a much higher risk. No FCSC guarantee etc etc. Go back to my pyramid explanation for stuff in the top third of risky investments.

I have no idea about the company in question but Martin Lewis wrote a piece in the Telegraph in 2013 about his experience in various P2P schemes here Note changed tax rules.

There's not much out there, someone wrote a *very* short blog piece here

But I agree 12% sounds just too good to be true.

Thanks, i just signed up to their site to have a look around and it would appear, at the moment, are no loans which need funding, in fact they are over funded. Pretty much all the loans are property bridging loads which goes some way to explaining the high rates of return.

[turbobloke]

FiF said:

I have no idea about the company in question but Martin Lewis wrote a piece in the Telegraph in 2013 about his experience in various P2P schemes here Note changed tax rules.

There's not much out there, someone wrote a *very* short blog piece here

Thanks for the links FiF, even from a quick scan that's interesting stuff worthy of a longer linger. However...

Martin Lewis said:

Six per cent interest is enough to put a rosy glow into the cheeks of any depressed saver.

Now believe me I know this is PH where we all earn deep into six figures, have mahoosive BTL portfolios on top of £1m+ pension pots and a stable full of supercars lovingly polished by the tightly-worn underwear of supermodels, but...really?

Even being cognisant of the minute interest levels around at the mo...really?

You put a grand in (say) and jump up and down at the end of a year over sixty quid? Yes of course sixty smackers is what it is, but honestly? In London that would barely be enough for you to buy a round of drinks for the other members of your footy team, with a packet of pork scratchings on the side.

[FiF]

TB, that's pretty much how I thought about the whole deal. Interesting enough to have a mooch over and a think about. Maybe worth a couple of grand, so 240 quid. Which is better in my pocket than someone else. But only 140 above that which can be obtained dead cert and secure.

Then one remembers the Iceland malarkey and the pain that was experienced chasing those high returns, and no I'm not talking about Peter Andre and frozen ostrich fillets.

[daytona365]

Maybe buy a pretty little cottage in the country ?

[Nickbrapp]

scottri said:

Has anyone used www.savingstream.co.uk ?

12% seems a bit too good to be true...

yes i use it. its quite a simple platform really, i only have 2k in mine but after 2 months ive had £15 in interest, i know its not backed by fcsc but saving stream are backed by another company and they have the loans to recover any loss from.

not had any bad loans, they did have one bad loan but they pulled out and everyone got their money back.

[scottri]

Nickbrapp said:

yes i use it. its quite a simple platform really, i only have 2k in mine but after 2 months ive had £15 in interest, i know its not backed by fcsc but saving stream are backed by another company and they have the loans to recover any loss from.

not had any bad loans, they did have one bad loan but they pulled out and everyone got their money back.

Thanks, how easy to you find actually investing the money? I have checked again today and there is nothing available to fund. Any idea how long it would take to actually invest?

[Nickbrapp]

scottri said:

Thanks, how easy to you find actually investing the money? I have checked again today and there is nothing available to fund. Any idea how long it would take to actually invest?

i get a text message and a email about new loans, and normally invest the same day, other wise other users will get in first. you can click on the loans section to see what they have coming online shortly. ive not missed out on one yet

[gregf40]

Mandat said:

okgo said:

My PB are returning around 1.5% based on the year so far

My bonds are averaging about 2%, which I don't think is too bad, although I'm still waiting to hear from Greg as to why he avoids them like the plague?

Recommending premium bonds is the equivalent of recommending someone sticks their money in a 1.5% interest savings account then spending the interest on lottery tickets.

Does it sound like a sound financial strategy when it is phrased like that? I don't think so.

[Mandat]

gregf40 said:

Recommending premium bonds is the equivalent of recommending someone sticks their money in a 1.5% interest savings account then spending the interest on lottery tickets.

Does it sound like a sound financial strategy when it is phrased like that? I don't think so.

I see what you are saying, but it's not quite the same though. The interest earned with bonds is not spent or lost, and gets added to the principal sum (if you choose that option).

The % return with bonds is not great but I do like the idea of having a chance (however small) of winning a large payout with no risk involved.

[gregf40]

Mandat said:

gregf40 said:

Recommending premium bonds is the equivalent of recommending someone sticks their money in a 1.5% interest savings account then spending the interest on lottery tickets.

Does it sound like a sound financial strategy when it is phrased like that? I don't think so.

I see what you are saying, but it's not quite the same though. The interest earned with bonds is not spent or lost, and gets added to the principal sum (if you choose that option).

The % return with bonds is not great but I do like the idea of having a chance (however small) of winning a large payout with no risk involved.

Sorry, I don't follow you.

How is that any different from using interest from savings and spending it on lottery tickets? It's exactly the same.

(Not that there is anything wrong with buying lottery tickets if you want to - I just don't think it is sound financial advice!)

[Mandat]

gregf40 said:

Sorry, I don't follow you.

How is that any different from using interest from savings and spending it on lottery tickets? It's exactly the same.

(Not that there is anything wrong with buying lottery tickets if you want to - I just don't think it is sound financial advice!)

If you don't win on the lottery, the money that you spent on the tickets is gone, you've lost it.

Whereas with bonds, you get the chance to win one of the bigger prizes without spending or risking any of the money that is invested. Even if you don't win big, you don't lose your money.

[gregf40]

Mandat said:

gregf40 said:

Sorry, I don't follow you.

How is that any different from using interest from savings and spending it on lottery tickets? It's exactly the same.

(Not that there is anything wrong with buying lottery tickets if you want to - I just don't think it is sound financial advice!)

If you don't win on the lottery, the money that you spent on the tickets is gone, you've lost it.

Whereas with bonds, you get the chance to win one of the bigger prizes without spending or risking any of the money that is invested. Even if you don't win big, you don't lose your money.

Again, I genuinely don't understand your point.

You aren't getting any interest on the PB's. Any interest you should receive is being put automatically into a pot for the prize draw. You only receive 'interest' if you win a draw.

If you put £10k in a savings account and get £20 a month interest and spent that on lottery tickets you aren't 'losing' any of the initial capital either.

The only difference is in the savings example you are being given the choice of what to spend the money on - with PB's you have no choice.