£500 Saved....what to do

Kingdom34

Kingdom34

Kingdom34

Associate
Joined
6 Apr 2016
Posts
486
Hi

Looking for some advice and personal experience....my goal, to save £500pm. For a few years with no access 2-3yrs plan. What savings account, ISA's, Bonds, Stocks, mix would you go for and have.

Low Risk, Medium Risk, High Risk.

I have looked at ISA's, Zopa, Ratesetter but cant make my mind up. Im looking for rates above 4% really.
 
Marvt74 said:
Is this a one off £500 or do you plan to add to it?
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Kingdom34 said:
....my goal, to save £500pm. For a few years with no access 2-3yrs plan.
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To the OP. Medium to high risk stocks as shares ISA’s seems a good fit for you, for the amount of money you’re trying to save. Aslong as you’re prepared to see short term falls for a longer term gain.
 
The days of making 4+% from ISAs are mostly gone - with medium risk you might manage it with stock and shares ISAs - without taking a fair bit of risk the returns on savings at the moment are pitiful :( if you want to make 4+% in the long term then you are probably looking at "index" funds.
 
Jimmeh said:
To the OP. Medium to high risk stocks as shares ISA’s seems a good fit for you, for the amount of money you’re trying to save. Aslong as you’re prepared to see short term falls for a longer term gain.
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Ok any links to a guide on these types of shares would be of interest.
 
EGuitarStar said:
What are your personal goals for this money you save, other than to have more? Are you saving for a home, car, holiday....?
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Goals are to build up a savings/safety net for the future, I have a side business and the money from this used to go on my house improvements but they're all covered off now. This would be spare cash over and above any other outgoings on holidays, cars etc.
 
Rroff said:
The days of making 4+% from ISAs are mostly gone - with medium risk you might manage it with stock and shares ISAs - without taking a fair bit of risk the returns on savings at the moment are pitiful :( if you want to make 4+% in the long term then you are probably looking at "index" funds.
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Yes definitely...this is why I wanted to look at alternative avenues without risking it too much. Ok many thanks for the advice.
Has anyone used Zopa? Ratesetter and I take it I need to declare that on Self-Assessments etc with my side business yearly Assessment.
 
Homeowner? If not, a help to buy ISA is the best means of return for now... Has to go towards your first home tho.

Other than that, just find the highest savings account you can, virgin and Santander have been good recently.

If you want to bitcoin, don't do the 500 as it could fail bigtime! Perhaps skim 100 off a month to play with, see if you think it's worth it.
 
Tee Hee Johnson said:
don't do the 500 as it could fail bigtime! Perhaps skim 100 off a month to play with, see if you think it's worth it.
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Bitcoin is just so unpredictable - I know a couple of people who were convinced the first big spike was going on and on and threw pretty much everything they had at it and then it dropped out for like 2-3 years or whatever - one eventually cashed out for a loss of about 50% while the other just left it long term and actually turned a small profit with the increase recently (but could have made more probably from just sticking the money in an ISA).

At the moment Bitcoin looks good but you just never know.

On another note if you work for a larger company some have their own shares or similar based savings that have a bit more security and so far have mostly done OK - my work one was paying out about 11.5% until this year when it dropped to about 2.4% and probably gonna go on dropping.
 
Rroff said:
Bitcoin is just so unpredictable - I know a couple of people who were convinced the first big spike was going on and on and threw pretty much everything they had at it and then it dropped out for like 2-3 years or whatever - one eventually cashed out for a loss of about 50% while the other just left it long term and actually turned a small profit with the increase recently (but could have made more probably from just sticking the money in an ISA).

At the moment Bitcoin looks good but you just never know.

On another note if you work for a larger company some have their own shares or similar based savings that have a bit more security and so far have mostly done OK - my work one was paying out about 11.5% until this year when it dropped to about 2.4% and probably gonna go on dropping.
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You're one friend was a fool to sell, and your other friend made more than a little profit, he made at least 5x - not sure what ISA's beat that in 3 years.
 
If you don't need the money then a Lifetime ISA stuck away could be a good option. You get a 25% bonus on up to £4k each year but could only be used for retirement (or there's a penalty).

That's assuming you're under 40 anyway.


Otherwise i'd open a Stocks and Shares ISA. Then stick it into a variety of funds. Russinating posted a good mix of funds in the Trading the Stockmarket thread about 1 page back. That's my current plan.


You could stick some in Bitcoin/Litecoin/any of the various digital currencies but if you don't understand them then there's always risk as it's very unpredictable.
 
I'd say go for a Vanguard Lifestyle S&S ISA. There are a few different options depending how risk averse you are. Obviously I'm not an IFA though!
 
morguk said:
You're one friend was a fool to sell, and your other friend made more than a little profit, he made at least 5x - not sure what ISA's beat that in 3 years.
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Nah he got out (at the start of this year) the moment it went above what he'd paid in at when it spiked like in 2013 or whenever it was.

EDIT: I imagine he feels a bit of a fool looking at the price now but he was probably glad just to get his money back out at the time.
 
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Street said:
I'd say go for a Vanguard Lifestyle S&S ISA. There are a few different options depending how risk averse you are. Obviously I'm not an IFA though!
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This if it is medium term savings. If it is a safety net, I have mine across a few P2P lenders.
 
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