investment ideas wanted
Discussion
hello all. i dont seem to be getting much of a return in my 3rd year of having premium bonds so i think its time for a change.<BR>
i have about 12k to invest in something/somewhere. I was originally going to blow it on a TVR but my sensible head has wrestled with my Frivolous one, and won. i'm after any suggestions on what might be a good route to take. <BR>
maybe even a buy-to-let mortgage? i keep reading about down-turns and resession so maybe not, (at least, not yet). what would be ideal would be somthing that gives me a small income each month, or is that asking too much of 12k? <BR
all suggestions greatly welcomed and appreciated
cheers
i have about 12k to invest in something/somewhere. I was originally going to blow it on a TVR but my sensible head has wrestled with my Frivolous one, and won. i'm after any suggestions on what might be a good route to take. <BR>
maybe even a buy-to-let mortgage? i keep reading about down-turns and resession so maybe not, (at least, not yet). what would be ideal would be somthing that gives me a small income each month, or is that asking too much of 12k? <BR
all suggestions greatly welcomed and appreciated
cheers
Just to get a handle on what you could reasonably expect, a risk-free investment might earn you about 5% per annum. For 12K that is £600 per year. Chances are you will need to declare that income and pay tax on it too. If any investment offers you a greater return than that, then it will also carry a greater amount of risk. Be clear about the amount of risk you are prepared to take.
Premium bonds are very low risk, insofar as you are not going to loose your initially invested capital. However, the income they generate is really pretty awful (in fact I'd say it is a disgrace and the government shouldn't be selling the damn things). National savings certificates or whatever they call them these days have a similar level of capital risk (i.e. no risk at all) and also provide a guaranteed income too. Most banks and building socs offer what they call guaranteed income bonds, or similar. Again, these are usually pretty much risk free.
Having said that, if you were thinking of buying a car with the money, you might be up for a bit more risk, in which case the stock market beckons. You could buy unit trusts to spread your risk, or you could have a flutter and invest in individual stocks (can be fun, can be a good way to loose money or make lots quickly). If you want a geared investment (i.e. you borrow money and invest that with your cash) then property is the easiest route for a private investor. Obviously geared investments allow you to loose not only your own money, but also the money you borrowed, which can lead to a great deal of pain and strife when Barry comes round to get his money back.
Premium bonds are very low risk, insofar as you are not going to loose your initially invested capital. However, the income they generate is really pretty awful (in fact I'd say it is a disgrace and the government shouldn't be selling the damn things). National savings certificates or whatever they call them these days have a similar level of capital risk (i.e. no risk at all) and also provide a guaranteed income too. Most banks and building socs offer what they call guaranteed income bonds, or similar. Again, these are usually pretty much risk free.
Having said that, if you were thinking of buying a car with the money, you might be up for a bit more risk, in which case the stock market beckons. You could buy unit trusts to spread your risk, or you could have a flutter and invest in individual stocks (can be fun, can be a good way to loose money or make lots quickly). If you want a geared investment (i.e. you borrow money and invest that with your cash) then property is the easiest route for a private investor. Obviously geared investments allow you to loose not only your own money, but also the money you borrowed, which can lead to a great deal of pain and strife when Barry comes round to get his money back.
thanks all. i like the idea of splitting the money into parts and spreading the risk. perhaps keep 2k in bonds for now and take a look at the stock market. that sounds quite appealing.
is all of the stock market high risk? it took a while to save the money so i would only be comfortable with a medium risk i think. what kind of investment would give me £600 a year?
i work from home so i can spend time researching stocks and shares, is there a favourite share-trading site you guys use? or even better, if i were to buy individual stocks, does anyone have any recommendations?
is all of the stock market high risk? it took a while to save the money so i would only be comfortable with a medium risk i think. what kind of investment would give me £600 a year?
i work from home so i can spend time researching stocks and shares, is there a favourite share-trading site you guys use? or even better, if i were to buy individual stocks, does anyone have any recommendations?
I think everyone knows someone who made and lost a small fortune in the tech boom of the .coms, some lucky people got out just at the right time and made a ton, most were lucky to escape bruised. The stock market is risky, the traders seem to always know more than you and so by the time the bad news hits it is too late.
Everyone has made a big thing about property and indeed rental values have reduced considerably in real terms over the past 5 years, simple supply vs. demand. However, if you take a long term view, then property imho is a good safe bet. But you do have to take a 10-15 year view. Again many people lucky 2-3 years ago.. but over a longer period it's hard to see property values decreasing. But as the phrase says, it's location that counts. A terraced bought in 1990 for £11k could either be worth £100k or at worst case be boarded up and worth nothing.
I would still consider property but position yourself in a very strong buying position and be an aggresive buyer.... find a local letting agent with a good reputation and ask them what lets easily.. but it's doubtful you would cover your mortgage unless you do put down a large deposit..
Short term, if you have credit cards or mortgage, use the money too pay them off....
Everyone has made a big thing about property and indeed rental values have reduced considerably in real terms over the past 5 years, simple supply vs. demand. However, if you take a long term view, then property imho is a good safe bet. But you do have to take a 10-15 year view. Again many people lucky 2-3 years ago.. but over a longer period it's hard to see property values decreasing. But as the phrase says, it's location that counts. A terraced bought in 1990 for £11k could either be worth £100k or at worst case be boarded up and worth nothing.
I would still consider property but position yourself in a very strong buying position and be an aggresive buyer.... find a local letting agent with a good reputation and ask them what lets easily.. but it's doubtful you would cover your mortgage unless you do put down a large deposit..
Short term, if you have credit cards or mortgage, use the money too pay them off....
I would suggest avoiding property for a next few years what with record high house prices, record low rents and 40 odd year low interest rates it seems there is only one way for them to go.
ING offer 4.75% and some offer higher rates than that.
If you want to get involved in property, speak to someone who's been involved through the 80's crash etc as everyone can be an expert in a rising market!
ING offer 4.75% and some offer higher rates than that.
If you want to get involved in property, speak to someone who's been involved through the 80's crash etc as everyone can be an expert in a rising market!
valuable advice on the property front i think. went out drinking last night with a mate who rents out a flat, and makes a loss each month. he's trying to take a long view i guess, but not what im after at all.
steviebee - like this idea very much. only sold a few little bits on ebay, and always made a small profit. ive read that plenty of people seem to be making the sole income on ebay, so it obviously works. just need to work out what EVERYBODY wants to buy i guess....
is there an obvious place to buy items in bulk? i mean a website that maybe lists a variety of products or links to suppliers?
steviebee - like this idea very much. only sold a few little bits on ebay, and always made a small profit. ive read that plenty of people seem to be making the sole income on ebay, so it obviously works. just need to work out what EVERYBODY wants to buy i guess....
is there an obvious place to buy items in bulk? i mean a website that maybe lists a variety of products or links to suppliers?
tollytuff said:
take a look at the stock market. that sounds quite appealing.
is all of the stock market high risk? it took a while to save the money so i would only be comfortable with a medium risk i think. what kind of investment would give me £600 a year?
i work from home so i can spend time researching stocks and shares, is there a favourite share-trading site you guys use? or even better, if I were to buy individual stocks, does anyone have any recommendations?
Not all Stock market is high risk, again split up your £12K say in 3k X lumps, or even smaller amounts. I’d stay away from spread betting or day trading leave that to the ones in the know.
I use a company called ADVFN.com to view the FTSE shares "real time" (this you pay for). If you have a BT YAHOO account they also do a Finance section there FSTE 100 runs about 15-20 minutes behind the exchange but its free. You can also set up port folios and things so you can see what your investments are doing on a "daily/weekly basis" if you want.
Take British American Tobacco (bats) let say today’s date is a year ago 11/5/04
BAT had a share price around £8.20 per share a year ago today.
So if you invested say 4K this time last year you would hold today 488 shares.
Well today you could sell those 488 for around £10.27 a share.
So 488 shares at £10.27 = £5012. so you’re a grand up + you would have got a shares dividend of somewhere in the region of another £100.
BAT have had a good track record over the last 5 years. 5 years ago a share was worth about £3.50 each! You do the maths…..
Usual disclaimers apply…… your investments may go down as well as up! OH
tollytuff said:
is there an obvious place to buy items in bulk? i mean a website that maybe lists a variety of products or links to suppliers?
My local WHSmith stocks an A5 sized magazine that is full of ads for wholesalers selling bulk goods. It's with the 'misc' magazines like Private Eye and The Grocer.
tollytuff said:
steviebee - like this idea very much. only sold a few little bits on ebay, and always made a small profit. ive read that plenty of people seem to be making the sole income on ebay, so it obviously works. just need to work out what EVERYBODY wants to buy i guess....
is there an obvious place to buy items in bulk? i mean a website that maybe lists a variety of products or links to suppliers?
The publication that Guy refers to is called The Trader and is a good starting point. Exchange and Mart is another.
Think about what you could sell and do some searching for suppliers/manufacturers - including the far east, where - for example - Bluetooth headsets can be had for very reasonable prices
The closer you can get to the manufacturer, the cheaper the costs but the more you will need to buy: thus the greater the risk BUT; the greater the profit.
I do a bit of trading on ebay, and have looked at lots of markets on there. However, the ones you imagine might be straightforward (say buying blank DVD media in massive bulk and splitting them) just don't seem to work out. Keeping to that example, the best wholesale price per DVD (based on a bulk buy of 10,000 discs) was HIGHER than the per disc price of a box of 20 or 50 ..on.. eBay itself - eBay 'retail' can be cheaper than wholesale!! It's very competitive and also many buyers are pretty astute too. Haven't discovered too many exceptions to the above rule yet, just one or two small volume (and still low value) things. Geoff.
We sell on ebay and do well because..... we manufacture it. It's a cut throat business and making a profit once the fees etc have been taken is tricky if you have to buy your goods in.
Our next project (hence the investment) will do extremely well on ebay as we will be able to market it worldwide. I'll let you know in 12 months time! eBay really is a great tool.
Our next project (hence the investment) will do extremely well on ebay as we will be able to market it worldwide. I'll let you know in 12 months time! eBay really is a great tool.
I don't mind sharing something really funny with you all... 3 years ago we paid for christmas by buying childrens wooden railways from the local tesco and selling on ebay... One item bought for £4 sold for £12 day in day out... I dunno why but we had a lot of brown wrapping paper and sellotape and spent our nights posting, you soon get bored!!!
I'm not sure my take on the property market is the same. Different conditions to the 80's, the BTL market is not such a huge part of the total market to have a massive effect, but certainly prices are dropping and it is a buyers market. There are so many views on the property market you can read any number of articles to suit your opinion.
Does anyone know of anyone who has made money in penny shares???
I'm not sure my take on the property market is the same. Different conditions to the 80's, the BTL market is not such a huge part of the total market to have a massive effect, but certainly prices are dropping and it is a buyers market. There are so many views on the property market you can read any number of articles to suit your opinion.
Does anyone know of anyone who has made money in penny shares???
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