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Originally Posted by Earl of Bronze
Last thing. I was told 6 or 7 years ago, if you ever have a good chunk of mony comming to you. Then invest in Guilts. As I understood at the time, Guilts are loans to the government to pay off the national debt, and earn a fantastic rate of interest. With, I think, a tax free return at the end of the investment period.
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Gilts are Government Bonds. They're called that because they're "Gilt Edged" ie they're going to be redeemable unless the entire country's economy goes titsup unlike Corporate Bonds which are effectively loans you make to a company (if it goes bust, you lose everything)
Gilts are complicated instruments because if the Bank of England interest rate goes up, the value of Gilts goes down simply because they pay a fixed rate and that may not be as good as you can get elsewhere.
This does mean that because interest rates are rising, Gilts are now less attractive. For more info see:
http://www.bizhelp24.com/personal_fi...it_trust.shtml
I'd strongly suggest that if anyone wants to get into investment in a big way, they don't jump right in at the deep end with investments like these because if you don't completely understand the way they work, you can end up losing your shirt.
For useful online information see:
http://www.moneyfacts.co.uk/
http://www.iii.co.uk/
http://www.fool.co.uk/
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/
The last one gives a regular weekly newsletter of helpful tips and information, as well as there being a discussion forum (which will look *very* familiar in style, if not content, to users of this one!)
Other useful resources are:
http://www.switchwithwhich.co.uk/
- How to switch to a better current account/ mortgage/ phone/ energy provider
http://www.unravelit.com/
- How to find cheaper loans, insurance, credit cards etc
http://www.uswitch.com/
- Cheaper gas/ electricity/ phones/ loans/ credit cards etc