I had the same situation 12 months ago. Invested it all into stocks and shares ISA split between me and the Mrs, advised on the fund by HSBC. It’s gone up in value 10% in that time. I’ll likely lob some more in this coming tax year.

Edit: I should also have said I’m invested in a “fund of funds” so essentially you don’t need to worry about researching individual stocks, the fund manager does that.

Maybe a simple option , but , how about opening a Santander 123 account.

Pays 3% on balances up to £20,000.

Do you wawnt to do something fun, or something sensible

Sensible would be split between ISA and investment account

Fun would be a classic car. A nice old 911, or something similar, will only go up in value.

Invest it in you and your family. Go DO something that you will remember for the rest of your life.

It’s only money.

Rachel

2x Porsche 996. (Carerra 2 and 4)

leaves enough for a pot for keeping nice.

Once the world gets over the IMS shenanegans, I reckon they will give a good return.

Buy gold, it’s pretty low at the mo, and it is always good when economies are unstable and with £30k you can buy enough to notice small fluctuations. If you buy UK coins you escape VAT and some tax (capital gains i think?) since its currency.

I’m watching silver closely as I have less to invest and am buying on individual basis, but silver is at a real low at the moment, but looks to rise if technology stays using it in micro electronics and solar panels. However manufacturers will be aware of that and may look to non precious metal alternatives to avoid being trapped by an investors market.

“can tie it up for a year or so if necessary” and “investment” don’t really go hand in hand unless you are willing to risk losing lots/all of the capital.

Cash – RateSetter for a year will give 4% or so.

Shares – half decent funds or individual equities should give similar return and possibly some capital return as well. Plenty funds that aren’t unit trusts – inv. trusts are possibly a better bet.

As you know there are 2 answers

One risk it. That’s shares etc. You might get more you might get less

Be safe and basically know what you have in a years time

I’m surprised how many people said risk it

Feed back from people who the risk payed off for isn’t much help

If you can only tie it up for a year or so then a cash deposit of some sort would be your best bet but you won’t get much of a return. If you are comfortable with tying it up for a bit longer then investing in shares/funds (or pension if you want to minimise your tax bill) is probably your best bet.

As you know there are 2 answers

One risk it. That’s shares etc. You might get more you might get less

Be safe and basically know what you have in a years time

Answer 3, split the amount between Answer 1 & Answer 2.

Hold back what you might need in short term and invest the rest, Oil, India stock market(NII), OIEC (unit trust), Investment Trust or tracker.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/donate-to-get-gnar-bike-park-up-and-running

Obvs.

Thanks for the myriad of replies!
Buy to let is out anyway, we have 2 renty houses & don’t want any more.
Cars? Never, nowhere to keep it & little interest in driving apart from necessary journeys + you’ve got all the usual upkeep.

Maybe I should’ve said ‘short term investment’. Looks like the ISA type option as we’re not risk takers. (you’d know this if you’ve seen me on the bike!)

[url=https://flic.kr/p/raryYm]ftse[/url] by John Clinch, on Flickr

I’d say a year looks to short for the stock market

Some good advice here re above, 2 years is too short for the stock mkt. Its all about time not timing, my portfolio of similar companies listed above is yielding c 5% on the dividends & the capital is c 3-4% pa.

Diversification is the key – my max on any 1 stock is 5k – picked up some real winners (Imperial, Shell, National Grid) but some real dogs (Centrica, Sainsburys). The net result is +ve & the capital is increasing year on year.

I like the quarterly payers – ULVR, RDSB. Reinvest the divis & forget all about them.

BTL is the future but you need 300k now for a decent Londonish 1 bedder.

Premium bonds, could add a little excitement. (very small)Potential to win a life changing amount. The only risk you would be taking is losing the value that you would get in interest, or if the UK gov goes Greek.

India!

Funding Circle? ‘Little and often’

Good headline figures but once you have factored in charges and bad debts the returns are pretty ordinary. In fact I would say the same for Zopa as well although they appear to manage bad debts better and that is reflected in the slightly lower headline returns.

I’d say a year looks to short for the stock market

Yes but it depends on when you start your year!!
Also that doesnt reflect the reinvestment of dividends whcih would increase your returns.

I havent read all of the above:

I would invest in a stocks and shares ISA. If you havent used your allowance you can tie £15k up today and £15k in the new tax year. If you want a “relatively” low risk one I would recommend Fundsmith and you can withdraw in a year with the possibility of some growth. They are not short term investments and past performance etc but last year saw around 28% growth.

Fundsmith really does look good – thanks Surfer for the tip. But funny how they don’t let you see their performance data prior to 2010. Assume they made a boo boo

The fund only started in 2010. It was started by Terry Smith. He has quite an interesting and straightforward approach to investing which makes a lot of sense to me. If you look for him on on Youtube he is quite a good speaker

Fundsmith started in November 2010, terry smith was in the industry for along time before that though.

Edit: As above. (Posted at same time)

Thanks – that explains it!

For comparison, my Bestinvest ISA returned 7.8% last year. OP could do a lot worse than Fundsmith, then. Particularly as they are not that exposed to the ‘toppy’ FTSE 100 (see chart a few posts above)

Apple

http://www.thestreet.com/story/13063931/1/apple-aapl-stock-price-target-raised-at-morgan-stanley-today.html

Particularly as they are not that exposed to the ‘toppy’ FTSE 100 (see chart a few posts above)

I’m surprised that anyone invests in a cash ISA given the trivial returns. Investing in a fund either directly or via a platform is so accessible and given that they can be traded quickly means if you manage it carefully the risks are very small.

I’m surprised that anyone invests in a cash ISA given the trivial returns. Investing in a fund either directly or via a platform is so accessible and given that they can be traded quickly means if you manage it carefully the risks are very small.

Probably because of the usual message always trotted out about losing lots or all of your investment:-

“can tie it up for a year or so if necessary” and “investment” don’t really go hand in hand unless you are willing to risk losing lots/all of the capital.

It’s like people don’t realise there are lots of of different options available depending on your time span and risk tolerance. True all investing carries some risk, but with rates where they are now you need to look a bit long term.

The ‘go for a tracker or don’t bother investing brigade’ don’t help matters, some people might want a lower risk multi asset or Abs Return fund to give less sleepless nights!

Campervan with canoe & bike racks?