Long term savings - good returns??
Discussion
Hi,
I'm wondering what is out there where I can put a small amount of money away each month and get decent returns on it.
I'm after a long term plan, I'm not worried about being able to access it until our kids are 18 or thereabouts (they are 2 years and 3 months at the moment).
I'm currently putting £60 a month away into a savings account which is pretty rubbish.
A friend at work was saying he puts a small amount each month into an investment company and his monthly returns are far greater than what he puts in. Obviously these fluctuate but overall the gains are very good. He showed me a statement which shows his money has effectively doubled! He mentioned P.E.P which in having a quick google search these don't seem to exist anymore?
So my question is, is there anything similar out there which is going to be better than a savings account or an ISA which also seem to be quite low returns?
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Apologies if this topic has been covered before, happy to be redirected and this closed down if that's the case.
I'm wondering what is out there where I can put a small amount of money away each month and get decent returns on it.
I'm after a long term plan, I'm not worried about being able to access it until our kids are 18 or thereabouts (they are 2 years and 3 months at the moment).
I'm currently putting £60 a month away into a savings account which is pretty rubbish.
A friend at work was saying he puts a small amount each month into an investment company and his monthly returns are far greater than what he puts in. Obviously these fluctuate but overall the gains are very good. He showed me a statement which shows his money has effectively doubled! He mentioned P.E.P which in having a quick google search these don't seem to exist anymore?
So my question is, is there anything similar out there which is going to be better than a savings account or an ISA which also seem to be quite low returns?
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Apologies if this topic has been covered before, happy to be redirected and this closed down if that's the case.
If you want something for them at 18 I'd start "junior ISAs" and buy some mainstream stocks & shares funds.
Either of Fidelity or Hargreaves Lansdown are big in this area, have helpful websites and are very accustomed to dealing with small investors. (There are other providers who may apply lower charges.)
https://www.fidelity.co.uk/investor/isa/open-junio...
http://www.hl.co.uk/partners/search/junior-isa?the...
You really do need to head for the stocks & shares funds rather than savings in cash. Cash returns are shocking - you're going backwards after inflation - and it's a waste of ISA tax relief not to be targeting decent positive returns. (Yes, there is some risk in the stock market.)
Either of Fidelity or Hargreaves Lansdown are big in this area, have helpful websites and are very accustomed to dealing with small investors. (There are other providers who may apply lower charges.)
https://www.fidelity.co.uk/investor/isa/open-junio...
http://www.hl.co.uk/partners/search/junior-isa?the...
You really do need to head for the stocks & shares funds rather than savings in cash. Cash returns are shocking - you're going backwards after inflation - and it's a waste of ISA tax relief not to be targeting decent positive returns. (Yes, there is some risk in the stock market.)
Paul_B said:
Hi,
I'm wondering what is out there where I can put a small amount of money away each month and get decent returns on it.
I'm after a long term plan, I'm not worried about being able to access it until our kids are 18 or thereabouts (they are 2 years and 3 months at the moment).
I'm currently putting £60 a month away into a savings account which is pretty rubbish.
A friend at work was saying he puts a small amount each month into an investment company and his monthly returns are far greater than what he puts in. Obviously these fluctuate but overall the gains are very good. He showed me a statement which shows his money has effectively doubled! He mentioned P.E.P which in having a quick google search these don't seem to exist anymore?
So my question is, is there anything similar out there which is going to be better than a savings account or an ISA which also seem to be quite low returns?
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Apologies if this topic has been covered before, happy to be redirected and this closed down if that's the case.
An ISA is just a tax efficient wrapper - you can have very safe (cash) or risky (equities) in an ISA which have massively different risk profiles and hence massively different opportunities for high returns / losing your capital...I'm wondering what is out there where I can put a small amount of money away each month and get decent returns on it.
I'm after a long term plan, I'm not worried about being able to access it until our kids are 18 or thereabouts (they are 2 years and 3 months at the moment).
I'm currently putting £60 a month away into a savings account which is pretty rubbish.
A friend at work was saying he puts a small amount each month into an investment company and his monthly returns are far greater than what he puts in. Obviously these fluctuate but overall the gains are very good. He showed me a statement which shows his money has effectively doubled! He mentioned P.E.P which in having a quick google search these don't seem to exist anymore?
So my question is, is there anything similar out there which is going to be better than a savings account or an ISA which also seem to be quite low returns?
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Apologies if this topic has been covered before, happy to be redirected and this closed down if that's the case.
Craikeybaby said:
I've set up a separate fund within my stocks and shares ISA for my son, I did think about a Junior ISA for him, but as I am not using my ISA limit I am using some of if for him, so I have control of the money, rather than him automatically getting it on his 18th birthday.
Depending on your overall financial position and life expectancy, don't forget that if it's in the kid's name you can give £3,000 a year completely outside Inheritance Tax and after 7 years any size of gift falls outside IHT. Using your own ISA may risk an IHT charge later but does enable you to keep full control. Gassing Station | Finance | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff