Whats the safest way to invest a bit of money

And thats the catch its just a bit, I will have about £100 spare which I need to save because I can't keep buying somthing new everytime I have a surpless in my budget.

I have upto about £150 to invest, whats the safest (i.e risk free) way to invest it which will also make a little bit of interest? I am not expecting to make a lot but in a years time I would like to know I have a little bit of money stashed away to help pay off my loan.

You see the £150 can very easily be added to.

 

i bought my first hi-fi by buying it on 0% credit and putting the cash i had (enough to buy the kit outright) in a cash ISA. this gives you tax free interest and you can add to it as and when you want (up to 3k per year iirc). when the 0% period expired i just paid off the loan and trousered the difference and interest i'd earnt.
shop around for a decent interest rate - not sure what they are like at the moment.
cheers


julian.

 

Quite simply just a savings account. National Savings or a building society or something like that. That is risk free. I don't know about ISAs, they may be also.

 

iirc a mini cash isa is as safe as a savings account but tax free. you can trade stocks via an isa or work one into your pension too but they of course are less safe.
a pension is another thing to consider.
cheers


julian.

 

AT isn't tax liable yet.

I have a pension. And signed on the line for my mortgage the other day. God I feel old.

 

I think a cash isa may be a good idea. I want somthing a bit better than a normal savings account because I don't need to touch this money for a while, in fact thats the entire point. I guess the greater the risk the higher the interest.

I have just realised I can't contine my spend what I earn philosphy any longer. I'll have a look at the different schemes on saturday when I get a day off.

 

Give it to me.

 

I could but I actually want to get this money back

Abbey National are doing an e-bond with 4.85% interest rate, over a year that will work out at £20. This is ideal because a) I can't spend it, b) I make a little bit of interest.

I may open my savings tin so I can invest £200 into this.

 

You might actually get a higher rate because that rate might include tax deductions which you're not liable for.

 

Does that mean I would have to show my eanrings to the bank? I.e pay slips as I assume tax would be deducted automaticaly?

I guess I need to speak to somebody in the bank about it.

 

Ahhh, you might be liable then.

I wasn't liable for tax on savings throughout university, but I wasn't earning at the time either. That might well change things, so ignore my whitterings.

 

If this just income tax I earn well under the amount you have to pay tax. I think its around £4000 a year you have to pay tax, I have only earn't £1000 this year. I have earn't £400 for the 6 days I have just done and I was expecting this job it came up out of the blue. This why I want to invest it rather than do somthing stupid like buy a Rega P3.

 

AT,
Cash ISA is good but as you are not a tax payer something like a web-saver account might be equally good too. Most High Streets will have similar options, some of the outlets may have a slightly better deal if you look around.
Things may have changed but to qualify for your tax free status you just have to sign a bit or two of paper saying you should not pay tax. If you're lying the Inland Revenue will soon let you know!

 

You can earn up to £4,615pa before having to pay tax. All the bank should need is proof you are a student to give you tax free interest.

 

Buy a P3, you could bid on mine!

 

Ing

ING have an online / telephone account, with instant access, that pays 5% interest.......

ING

cheers
Matt

 

With interest rates so low IMHO it's not worth saving to make money, it would be better if you paid off some debt with it if you have any.
If you're saving to not spend the money then a regular payment into a savings scheme like a Friendly Society or similar that you can't access quickly would be better.

 

with £150 to invest, 5% interest gives you £7.50
personally, i would buy premium bonds.
you may win £50.
you may win £1,000,000.
and when you want to, cash them in for £150.

 

My brother has several £1000's in premium bonds and has averaged a £50 win per year, so far. Not the best investment he has made as he admits, but more for fun and the chance of winning a bigun.

 

I was thinking about this last night and I think it would be daft to put the money away for a year because I might need it an emergency but if I am working in a years time £150 won't be worth that much to me anyway. £150 is worth a lot of money now. Paying some of my loan of would probably be a better idea as I have to pay about 3% interest on this anyway.

I don't think they will let me just pay £200 off though. £200 out of £7500 is nothing.