What else do people do with savings?

If you really want to know @Big-g

It will give you a return rate and inflation value.

Apparently I’ve lost nearly Ā£400 in 2 years :scream:

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I once had 50k in premium bonds never won more than a couple of £25 in a month so got rid and put the money elsewhere.

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All investors should have a small amount of exposure to crypto. Some influential investors used to say 2-3%, but make your own decision based on your risk tolerance.

I read or watched something recently (can’t remember what it was, tbh) that showed a US hedge fund had single-digit % exposure to crypto but it made up for ~60% of the funds’ return for the year.

Yes, it was a crazy bull market for most of the year, but long term it’s worth having a fraction of your portfolio in high risk assets and crypto is perfect for that.

I’m agnostic on crypto so will have fun ā€˜staying poor’ while others get rich (or not).

If I want high risk, I place my bets on Betfair (doubled my money this weekend on FA cup fixtures!).

I’m the same really. Prefer lower risk and slow steady gains…I’m sure with its popularity crypto will do well over next 10/20years but it’s not for me.
I went for some of the underdogs this weekend on the football…no luck ha.

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I’m happy with crypto making up a small %age of my portfolio, however If there was a way to ā€˜ISA-fy’ I could be tempted to up my investments.

If you have £4,000 in savings and have an ISA with Freetrade does it not just make sense to buy plus?

If you have the ISA without plus then you are -Ā£3 per month.

But if you buy plus and leave £4000 in your account then you offset the cost and gain the plus features?

No brainer really?

However, can someone confirm if the GIA converts into a plus account? Or do you get an additional account?

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Yeah basically, that’s why I have Plus. Assuming you would keep the cash anyway you are only missing out on the interest you’d get in the bank (almost certainly < Ā£3).

Yes Plus not a separate account, it’s an extra set of features across your existing accounts (GIA, ISA, SIPP)

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Thanks! Yes I have money sat in the bank gaining next to nothing. The benefits of plus far outweigh the scraps I get from the bank - I’ll get plus this week.

Thanks for clarifying point 2 :smiley:

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This is all true and definitely a decent idea but I go further and put the cash into $GLAD and get a monthly payment equal to 6.95% rather than the 3% for cash sitting there. It is super reliable and to me a much better option, as to pay for plus you need to withdraw it if you were actually using that cash.

Yes it would take a couple days longer to clear and withdraw that way but other than that why would people settle for 3% when they can get 6.95% monthly?

It might be super reliable but is the 6.95% guaranteed, like the 3% Plus cash?

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Nothing in life is guaranteed but its been 13 years non stop since they went to standard 6.95% :+1: And every month it does pay out i gain double the % interest so can afford if it misses out in the future slightly. Anyhow, not saying people should do that but I just thought odd people use the cash example when I personally think there are better options to make a better %.

Gladstone Capital Corp. (GLAD) Dividends (dividendmax.com)

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Talk to a good financial advisor long before retirement age. He found all kinds of things out about my various work pensions I collected over the years, then combined the DC ones. E.g. one of them was solely in cash for years. He also set me and relatives up with a shared pension wrapper so we all benefit from lower wrapper fees. Also paid AVC into my pension thus saving me a whole load of income tax. Ask by PM if you want my guy’s name.

Second for Art- unless you’re very knowledgeable or very lucky it may not amount to huge appreciation in a financial sense but it is a very safe investment (generally, ha) and one you can appreciate.

In a similar vein I have about 5% in books and maybe 1% in (a) timepiece (watch).

Also maybe look at classic cars if you have the space.

Holiday lets can provide a great return (I’ve had two but they’re now conventional BTLs due to the work involved) but not if you factor your time (though there can be tax advantages to doing so). Look into Capital Allowances if you go down this route as this can provide bigger gains than the income and appreciation) and ensure you understand the current wider tax regime.

In fact from what you (OP) have said I might submit that one of the best areas you might invest time in would be tax-efficiency, if you haven’t done so already.

I often wonder why more property investors like us don’t club together and form a REIT? another conversation for another thread!

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I too tend to stay away from crypto but some of the passive income opportunities are hard to pass up, yieldnodes.com is one example I’ve come across. So far averaging around 7-8% return a month by doing nothing. Is it a scam? Possibly, I haven’t tried to withdraw anything yet.

ISA , pension all great.
My number one is staking on cypto.com and nexo

Does anyone invest in Wine, Toys, trading cards etc?

I bought a few limited edition coins from the royal mint, not expecting anything major from them in the future, at least not for a very long time

I invest in Pokemon cards. Invest in cards from ebay, get them graded, sell them on.

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I would say if you currently have your essential pot of money that everyone goes on about i.e. 3-6 months worth of bills, then as your in your 30’s, I would suggest maximising your premium bonds first. Then use the same amount paid each month into a personal pension. my reasoning is that you have longer to save into a pension and although you are contributing to a decent enough NHS pension, this will only take care of the day to day bills. the state pension will also be available to increase your retirement to a higher level. A personal pension, which I am also doing, will take care of the luxury lifestyle everyone dreams about(me included), and may help you retire earlier than you would normally do. Think of it as, for example, sacrifice Ā£200.00 a month now to enjoy a couple of years extra doing the things you want to do. (cue the bucket list)

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