Savings accounts

[qwerty123]

Anyone know of good and reliable savings accounts with high interest rates to get a good return on your money?  Even if you can't touch it for a number of years.

Any money I have is in a current account with no interest at all really - didn't think of putting into a good savings account/bonds etc until a few days ago when it was suggested to me. 

Man at the bank mentioned something about bonds (equity bonds, perhaps? - no knowledge whatsoever about money issues), but didn't really know what he was talking about. 

Which is better - savings account or bonds.

[Ulick]

Neither savings or bonds, but for an alternative safe investment, I've been using social lending site Zopa (http://uk.zopa.com/ZopaWeb/) for a 6.5% return.

[qwerty123]

Certainly looks different!  From what I gather you set your own interest rate and the borrower chooses the one they most want.  It talks about bad debt being 'part of the plan' have you much experience with Zopa - any loans not paid back? 

[thebigfella]

Try the Presbyterian Mutual Society 

[qwerty123]

Couldn't afford investing in property etc at the min, but would like a decent return for the money in my account at the min and wouldn't mind having it sit for around 5/6 years if it means that there will be a bit of an earner from it.

[Ulick]

Certainly looks different!  From what I gather you set your own interest rate and the borrower chooses the one they most want.  It talks about bad debt being 'part of the plan' have you much experience with Zopa - any loans not paid back?

All perspective borrowers get a grading based on their credit score and Zopa assessment and you get to pick whether you want to lend to the most secure or the slightly more risky. At the end of the day only those with the very best credit score will even be considered by Zopa so pretty much everyone is a safe bet. However each loan is set up as a 'micro-lend'. Eg say someone borrows £1000, that loan could consist of 100 x £10 loans from 100 different people (all automated by the website), so if someone does default, then the cost to you would be £10 not £1000. You can also recall your loans early by switching them to someone else - again all automated by the website. The returns can range from anywhere from 6%-10% considering how much of risk you want to take. I've been using it for about a year and never had a default.

[muppet]

Neither savings or bonds, but for an alternative safe investment, I've been using social lending site Zopa (http://uk.zopa.com/ZopaWeb/) for a 6.5% return.

You are a sub-prime lender!?

I had you down as left of Tyrone's Own.

[Ulick]

You are a sub-prime lender!?

I had you down as left of Tyroen's Own.

Not at all, I see social lending more in tune with a Credit Union or CoOp. Zopa lends well below the market rate available from the banks (or CUs for that matter) and only to people who can afford to pay it back. Neither does it sell on defaulted accounts to debt collectors. So it's a simple business transaction between two parties. A 6% return for the lender and 6% rate for the borrower beats all of the banks (in the north anyway) hands down on both aspects.

[muppet]

You are a sub-prime lender!?

I had you down as left of Tyroen's Own.

Not at all, I see social lending more in tune with a Credit Union or CoOp. Zopa lends well below the market rate available from the banks (or CUs for that matter) and only to people who can afford to pay it back. Neither does it sell on defaulted accounts to debt collectors. So it's a simple business transaction between two parties. A 6% return for the lender and 6% rate for the borrower beats all of the banks (in the north anyway) hands down on both aspects.

I like it. Sounds socialist.

Seriously though it looks interesting. I'd never heard of it and must give it a look. Any idea of the level of bad debts or any bad experiences?

[The Iceman]

ING Direct or another Online Bank would be your best bet for a higher interest rate but nobody is offering anything decent at the minute.
If you don't want to touch your money for a while invest in stocks.......

[qwerty123]

Problem I'd have with stocks is that if I let the money sit on stocks for a long period of time and came out with a loss, would defeat the purpose of trying to save!  I take it stocks has the higher risk-reward ratio?

[thebigfella]

Problem I'd have with stocks is that if I let the money sit on stocks for a long period of time and came out with a loss, would defeat the purpose of trying to save!  I take it stocks has the higher risk-reward ratio?

If you have to ask these sort of questions on a sports discussion forum, stocks are not for you.

[Donnellys Hollow]

Invest a wedge on Frankel at Ascot on Saturday. Guaranteed 33.3% return after approximately 100 seconds.

[The Iceman]

Problem I'd have with stocks is that if I let the money sit on stocks for a long period of time and came out with a loss, would defeat the purpose of trying to save!  I take it stocks has the higher risk-reward ratio?

You'd be better off putting money in a Life-cycle Index Fund, Vanguard have some really good ones. You can search for them online. As you learn more about the market and how and when to invest you can start a second investment account. Over time the Index fund should give you an 8% return if not more. You need to keep investing every month (take advantage of compounding interest) and forget about the amount for a few years. When you go back you'll find you have a considerable amount of money "saved".