I am happy with gold and silver but my wife is looking for something different

[danieldorkins]

I have been happy with gold and silver and my wife is happy enough with what I have done in PM's, however, she would like to put some money into "savings"  something possibly with fixed amount, term and interest, to be honest, not having had anything to do with this world I am at a bit of a loss, she has always supported and trusted 😮 me with PM's but would like something that "isn't a gamble" personally I have a deep distrust of banks as discussed many times on TSF but as she has supported me I will support her so what's it to be? I have seen many investments discussed on here and have been impressed by the knowledge shown on here so any help and suggestions would be gratefully received!

[margin]

You may want to look at premium bonds 

https://www.nsandi.com/products/premium-bonds

[Zhorro]

1 hour ago, danieldorkins said:

I have been happy with gold and silver and my wife is happy enough with what I have done in PM's, however, she would like to put some money into "savings"  something possibly with fixed amount, term and interest, to be honest, not having had anything to do with this world I am at a bit of a loss, she has always supported and trusted 😮 me with PM's but would like something that "isn't a gamble" personally I have a deep distrust of banks as discussed many times on TSF but as she has supported me I will support her so what's it to be? I have seen many investments discussed on here and have been impressed by the knowledge shown on here so any help and suggestions would be gratefully received!

Buy her a gold necklace - or would she call this a gamble?

[fehk2001]

1 hour ago, danieldorkins said:

I have been happy with gold and silver and my wife is happy enough with what I have done in PM's, however, she would like to put some money into "savings"  something possibly with fixed amount, term and interest, to be honest, not having had anything to do with this world I am at a bit of a loss, she has always supported and trusted 😮 me with PM's but would like something that "isn't a gamble" personally I have a deep distrust of banks as discussed many times on TSF but as she has supported me I will support her so what's it to be? I have seen many investments discussed on here and have been impressed by the knowledge shown on here so any help and suggestions would be gratefully received!

if Pm does not goes up or goes down, then 4-5% interest rates is good 

[HerefordBullyun]

15 minutes ago, Zhorro said:

Buy her a gold necklace - or would she call this a gamble?

Pearl ones are free...

[Chrisplym]

A fixed rate cash ISA could be a good option. I believe NatWest are currently offering a two year one with an interest rate of 5.9%.

[flyingveepixie]

I don't see the point in saving with a bank when the best interest rate they can give is still well below the rate of inflation.  As my good mate @GoldDiggerDave has often said, you would be better investing in tins of beans or tomato soup. 

Real inflation is still more than 15%, not the fake sub 10% figure they like to put out on the 6 O'Clock news to appease the masses every month.

It might be worth having a read at this.

https://www.finder.com/uk/inflation-vs-savings

and this...

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/uk-inflation-to-exceed-boe-target-for-next-4-years-niesr/ar-AA1eYHoQ

Edited August 9, 2023 by flyingveepixie

[Paul]

8 hours ago, HerefordBullyun said:

Pearl ones are free...

You beat me to it 😂😭

[Orpster]

I don't really bother with savings apart from making sure I always have 3 months of expenses available, but I do pay the maximum off my mortgage each year and put as much as possible into my workplace pension.
With my pension my employer puts in double my contribution for the first 4% of my salary I contribute, giving me £12 for every £2.40 after tax relief.  And even after that every £1 extra I put in only costs me 60p, and if you are averse to risking money on stocks and shares most pension schemes now let you pick your investments so you could go for 100% bonds.  Even a private scheme will mean you get a top up equivalent to your highest tax rate.  Obviously if you want money you can access this would be a bust for you as you have to be 55 to get at it, going up to 57 I believe. 

I feel the same as most members about banks, and were I to even look at savings I would look at P2P lending.  A colleague of mine has been doing this for years and gets a very healthy return compared to savings rates.  He uses an online platform to do it, I don't know the name I'm afraid.

[GoldDiggerDave]

ISA’s are okay and looking a bit better for savers at last, I get it  we all don’t trust the banks but they can turn your PMs off just as fast as cash, as you still need to convert PM’s back into fiat. 
 

Like Opster said if you have a mortgage or any debt you might do well driving down debt or reducing the term time. 
 

I like ISA’s as they are tax free. 
 

[danieldorkins]

Thanks to all, the deed has been done and she has gone with a simple savings account with the Halifax, we have a current account already so it was the easiest thing to do, we went to transfer funds from another bank who promptly blocked the account! so had to spend a good 15 minutes promising them that no I wasn't being told to do this and no I hadn't been told to lie to them, it made no difference that the donor account and the receiving account were in the same name and in the same town just different banks! you have to wonder where all this c**p will end!

Going to calm down and look at my pm collection 😁

[GoldDiggerDave]

3 hours ago, danieldorkins said:

Thanks to all, the deed has been done and she has gone with a simple savings account with the Halifax, we have a current account already so it was the easiest thing to do, we went to transfer funds from another bank who promptly blocked the account! so had to spend a good 15 minutes promising them that no I wasn't being told to do this and no I hadn't been told to lie to them, it made no difference that the donor account and the receiving account were in the same name and in the same town just different banks! you have to wonder where all this c**p will end!

Going to calm down and look at my pm collection 😁

Didn't you invest in a 18th century cannon?  

[Agaupl]

I just don’t understand ‘investing’ in a guaranteed loss on a retail scale. I understand making a loss on speculation, but guaranteed loss unless for tax reasons is crazy to me. A basic savings account is guaranteed loss. As someone said having ready cash for x month’s expenses aside is good sense, but above that. Why?
Beans and long term food stuffs are a better investment 

Edited August 10, 2023 by Agaupl

[danieldorkins]

6 hours ago, GoldDiggerDave said:

Didn't you invest in a 18th century cannon?  

I did but it has subsequently turned out to be a 17th century cannon so bonus! not really an investment more a toy!

 

6 hours ago, Agaupl said:

I just don’t understand ‘investing’ in a guaranteed loss on a retail scale. I understand making a loss on speculation, but guaranteed loss unless for tax reasons is crazy to me. A basic savings account is guaranteed loss. As someone said having ready cash for x month’s expenses aside is good sense, but above that. Why?
Beans and long term food stuffs are a better investment 

I get what you are saying but I am not crazy and you do not know my situation, this is a sum of money that my wife wants to earn a bit back on, yes I know all the reasoning for finding something "better" but she is comfortable with this, that is important and  I am not going to interfere, we are at the stage of life where we are lucky enough not to have to screw every last penny to live on and yes, it does help with the tax situation 😉 🙂

[Darr3nG]

13 hours ago, danieldorkins said:

not really an investment

if you were to lay siege to a bank vault, though?

[GoldDiggerDave]

21 hours ago, Agaupl said:

I just don’t understand ‘investing’ in a guaranteed loss on a retail scale. I understand making a loss on speculation, but guaranteed loss unless for tax reasons is crazy to me. A basic savings account is guaranteed loss. As someone said having ready cash for x month’s expenses aside is good sense, but above that. Why?
Beans and long term food stuffs are a better investment 

It depends on circumstances I suppose, I hear what you are saying but I have savings accounts that now return more than my yearly fixed outgoings, so I don’t see that as a loss…..I’m effectively living for free.  
 

People do confuse savings, investments and being liquid, as they are not all the same thing.  
 

more than ever people now need to be more liquid so they can absorb inflation, savings is a must at least a minimum of 3 ideally 6 months outgoings, investment wise there’s loads of opportunities however investments can not be at the expense of being liquid or having savings. 
 

I see liquidity as what you will need immediately and consistently. 
 

Savings to cover liquidity if something unexpected happens,

Investments make money work for you over the longer term, hopefully hedging or reducing the erosion of inflation. 
 

 

 

[Agaupl]

6 minutes ago, GoldDiggerDave said:

It depends on circumstances I suppose, I hear what you are saying but I have savings accounts that now return more than my yearly fixed outgoings, so I don’t see that as a loss…..I’m effectively living for free.  
 

People do confuse savings, investments and being liquid, as they are not all the same thing.  
 

more than ever people now need to be more liquid so they can absorb inflation, savings is a must at least a minimum of 3 ideally 6 months outgoings, investment wise there’s loads of opportunities however investments can not be at the expense of being liquid or having savings. 
 

I see liquidity as what you will need immediately and consistently. 
 

Savings to cover liquidity if something unexpected happens,

Investments make money work for you over the longer term, hopefully hedging or reducing the erosion of inflation. 
 

 

 

Yeah I agree with the need for adequate liquidity/savings. It’s just a case of how much, how liquid and at what opportunity cost. Obviously personal circumstances vary and the balance will change over time.
 

Most of my gold is liquid enough for me to consider it as savings , I don’t think of it as investment. 
I like ISAs (or used to when I could) and recently term deposits for longer term savings. 
I suppose the question is how liquid does it need to be for you and obviously cash is as liquid as it gets. I’d be happier to hold GBP but in my neck of the woods being long on cash is a recipe for disaster which is where gold comes in for me. I’m otherwise exposed to fx swings too much even for shorter term savings. 
 

my most liquid invest is my wine 🤣

[Coverte]

On 08/08/2023 at 22:04, danieldorkins said:

I have been happy with gold and silver and my wife is happy enough with what I have done in PM's, however, she would like to put some money into "savings"  something possibly with fixed amount, term and interest, to be honest, not having had anything to do with this world I am at a bit of a loss, she has always supported and trusted 😮 me with PM's but would like something that "isn't a gamble" personally I have a deep distrust of banks as discussed many times on TSF but as she has supported me I will support her so what's it to be? I have seen many investments discussed on here and have been impressed by the knowledge shown on here so any help and suggestions would be gratefully received!

If you open an a/c at LLoyds bank, as a customer you can get an ISA (cash) with 5.5% interest - not bad, tax free 👍

[Agaupl]

Jokes aside though I’ve just sold a lot of wine at auction and it took about 6 weeks.. but the returns have been stunning. My wife wasn’t so warm on that investment but she is now a convert. 

[GoldDiggerDave]

17 minutes ago, Agaupl said:

Yeah I agree with the need for adequate liquidity/savings. It’s just a case of how much, how liquid and at what opportunity cost. Obviously personal circumstances vary and the balance will change over time.
 

Most of my gold is liquid enough for me to consider it as savings , I don’t think of it as investment. 
I like ISAs (or used to when I could) and recently term deposits for longer term savings. 
I suppose the question is how liquid does it need to be for you and obviously cash is as liquid as it gets. I’d be happier to hold GBP but in my neck of the woods being long on cash is a recipe for disaster which is where gold comes in for me. I’m otherwise exposed to fx swings too much even for shorter term savings. 
 

my most liquid invest is my wine 🤣

I’ve got a decent whisky investment, and I’ve always said if every goes to c rap at least I can drown my sorrows with the really good gear🤣

 

But there is one thing really nagging me, is that we all could be seduced into liquidating assets for higher interest returns from the bank and then we get hit with an exit scam where it’s next to impossible to pull out as they have converted it all to a CBDC……I can see something like this coming within the next decade.  
 

I know in your neck of the woods some banks are openly going cashless……. We are heading for some uncertain times. 

[Agaupl]

6 minutes ago, GoldDiggerDave said:

I’ve got a decent whisky investment, and I’ve always said if every goes to c rap at least I can drown my sorrows with the really good gear🤣

 

But there is one thing really nagging me, is that we all could be seduced into liquidating assets for higher interest returns from the bank and then we get hit with an exit scam where it’s next to impossible to pull out as they have converted it all to a CBDC……I can see something like this coming within the next decade.  
 

I know in your neck of the woods some banks are openly going cashless……. We are heading for some uncertain times. 

It’s getting to the point where people are being questioned when trying to pay IN cash now. Plus the AUD is in free fall. An AUD CBDC was used for the first time for a transaction this month.
My personal medium term plan is to buy land. 

I’ve taken to holding physical bills over using plastic. I’ve never actually used as much actual cash as I’m using now. 

[GoldDiggerDave]

39 minutes ago, Agaupl said:

It’s getting to the point where people are being questioned when trying to pay IN cash now. Plus the AUD is in free fall. An AUD CBDC was used for the first time for a transaction this month.
My personal medium term plan is to buy land. 

I’ve taken to holding physical bills over using plastic. I’ve never actually used as much actual cash as I’m using now. 

What’s crazy from my UK perspective countries that offered freedom, Australia, Canada, NZ are the ones that are really pushing state control.   
 

I get it here with cash, try and deposit your own cash savings and you are treated like you are laundering Pablo Escobar fortune.   
 

I have to withdraw cash every 3 months from my account if not they cancel my debit card  for being dormant, so every time  I walk past the atm I withdraw a few £100 a time just to pay some back in so the don’t cancel my debt card…….what a nuts system we have. 

[Agaupl]

44 minutes ago, GoldDiggerDave said:

What’s crazy from my UK perspective countries that offered freedom, Australia, Canada, NZ are the ones that are really pushing state control.   
 

I get it here with cash, try and deposit your own cash savings and you are treated like you are laundering Pablo Escobar fortune.   
 

I have to withdraw cash every 3 months from my account if not they cancel my debit card  for being dormant, so every time  I walk past the atm I withdraw a few £100 a time just to pay some back in so the don’t cancel my debt card…….what a nuts system we have. 

Ah man don’t get me started on state control .. during 20-22 in Aus the restrictions were crazy. I was offered work in the UK and I had to explain I was not allowed to actually leave the country…. People didn’t believe me ! It’s only been a year or so since the whole of WA reopened. The states went rogue.. it was like seperate countries. At one point we could freely go to Asia, Europe US etc… but not Perth. Australia and NZ really showed its totalitarian streak. 
 

A great quote from Clive James … ‘the problem with Australians isn’t that so many of them are descended from convicts.. it’s that so many of them are decent from prison guards’… never been more true. 

Edited August 11, 2023 by Agaupl

[Paul]

19 hours ago, GoldDiggerDave said:

It depends on circumstances I suppose, I hear what you are saying but I have savings accounts that now return more than my yearly fixed outgoings, so I don’t see that as a loss…..I’m effectively living for free.  
 

People do confuse savings, investments and being liquid, as they are not all the same thing.  
 

more than ever people now need to be more liquid so they can absorb inflation, savings is a must at least a minimum of 3 ideally 6 months outgoings, investment wise there’s loads of opportunities however investments can not be at the expense of being liquid or having savings. 
 

I see liquidity as what you will need immediately and consistently. 
 

Savings to cover liquidity if something unexpected happens,

Investments make money work for you over the longer term, hopefully hedging or reducing the erosion of inflation. 

What is silver ?

( Asking for a friend ) 

[GoldDiggerDave]

1 hour ago, Paul said:

What is silver ?

( Asking for a friend ) 

Silver if just another tax on poor people. Like fast food and designer clothes.