Savings And Investments

[lupestripe]

With inflation outstripping interest rates on nearly all savings accounts and ISAs perhaps now is the time to look at other ways of maximizing returns.

I have never turned to the markets but I may have to study this more in-depth. Investing in BP or banking may be a good idea after recent events but the current climate makes things uncertain in both sectors (Middle East unrest in one, Portugal's crisis and new tax levies on the other). I have never been a fan of risk so where is best - commodities?

Pensions is another thing I am considering but I simply do not trust them. Governments and financial authorities seem to make the rules up as they go along and I feel this is a big black hole in which to pour money on the off chance I survive to whatever the retirement age will be in 40 years time. The BoE can't predict the financial situation next year accurately so who is to say what the state of the world will be in 2050? These are gut feelings rather than ones of any education so I do need to look into this further.

Aside from that, what else is there? Megadog linked me to a bond which looks interesting and I may consider locking money away for an extended period of time to gain higher interest. I don't have loads of spare cash but it would be nice for it to do some work for me rather than devaluing over time.

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Comments

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

It depends what the markets do in the next few years but I don't see things picking up until around 2014 at the very earliest so a 3 year bond may be the best thing to do. I do hope this is a temporary blip - I am very frustrated with it all.