Forum Home
PC World Chat
 
Thread ID: 147375 2018-11-26 20:24:00 How to invest ones small savings? Digby (677) PC World Chat
Post ID Timestamp Content User
1456005 2018-11-26 20:24:00 If one is on the super and with very limited savings what do you think is a good strategy for "investing"
Eg bank deposits are low
Term Deposits are not much better.
Suggestions
Bonus Bonds - the chance to win big but still keep your money (with low inflation)
Term Deposits
Shares - I hear that dividends are still good
Commercial property syndicates
Mortgage Lenders
Bit Coin

Which would you pick and why?
Digby (677)
1456006 2018-11-26 20:45:00 It's all gambling and I don't gamble money I can't afford to lose so term deposit for me as the safest option.

I'd personally avoid Bit Coin like the plague, it could make you a lot of money or just lose all value in an instant.
dugimodo (138)
1456007 2018-11-26 21:29:00 You didn't have managed funds in that list....can potentially have higher returns that bank, term deposits etc. Without all the problem of direct share market access. psycik (12851)
1456008 2018-11-26 21:41:00 Best advice I was ever given was to not put all of your eggs in the same basket. Split up your savings into a balanced range of investments, so if one goes belly up you still have the rest. With one investment, on maturity I only got $0.20 in the $1 back, even though it was a conservative investment using the best advice. My wife and I get virtually nothing out of bank deposits, but years ago we put our savings into managed funds, and last year we got a return of 3.5% to 6.15%. We pay management fees, which are well worth the expenditure. I tried to manage the savings myself at one stage, but quickly gave them back to the fund manager because I didn't know what I was doing. John H (8)
1456009 2018-11-27 03:19:00 I started a small Harmoney investment a couple of years ago & it's looking good - I've earned roughly 10% per annum over its lifetime. That said, you have to be prepared to stay in, because it's not that liquid - you're always getting repaid in small increments for loans with a 3 or 5 year duration (most borrowers opt for 5). There are other peer-to-peer lenders that allow you to sell your loans to other users. I've also been reasonably aggressive in allocating my lending - I choose the mid-range investments with larger returns, but also larger default rates. Worth a look - there's plenty of info online about how it all works.

This year I opened a Sharesies account (simplified online share trading app run in NZ). I opted for a pretty aggressive portfolio, so although being up by over 10% by August/September from the start of the year, right now I'm very slightly down, due to lots of sharemarket ETFs in my portfolio. They do offer less risky (more stable) funds in other areas if you want to be more conservative. There's a couple of other similar services available now also. They are a really simple way of toying with various investment types and pretty cheap (Sharesies is fixed $30($35?)/year, most funds have no transaction charges), plus you can invest small amounts just as easily as larger ones. You can sell off pretty much immediately (usually 3-5 days, fund-dependent) if you need access to your money. Other services (Hatch is one suggested to me recently) offer more/different selections, but different fee structures - you'd have to pick which suited you best.
MushHead (10626)
1456010 2018-11-27 03:54:00 Real estate.
But me and my mum have a tiny amount in a bank that pays 2.5%, on call.
As good as you can get at present....
piroska (17583)
1456011 2018-11-27 04:50:00 It depends if you might need to call on that money all of a sudden... car repairs / car replacement / medical issue.

And if it would hurt to lose it all in a hurry, then forget the last 3 items on your list.

I'd aim for laddering of term deposits. Divide the amount by 12, and make a bunch of term deposits arranged so that their future maturity dates all fall on different months of the year. That way every month you have funds available if needed. If not needed then reinvest it for the next round. If you're not likely to need it any time soon, then plan to put it onto a 2 year or 3 year cycle for the marginally better returns.
Paul.Cov (425)
1456012 2018-11-27 04:57:00 Real estate.
But me and my mum have a tiny amount in a bank that pays 2.5%, on call.
As good as you can get at present....

So how can you invest in real estate if you only have small savings?
Digby (677)
1456013 2018-11-27 06:26:00 A passively managed market based index share fund.

Managed funds are known to, on average and over the long term, underperform compared to index funds.

Simplicity is a good option - https://simplicityfunds.kiwi/

Bonus bonds are pure crap. Fixed interest options are good if your investment horizon is short (eg plan on withdrawing it all in 5 years). The issue with putting it in real estate is you've got absolutely no diversification.

Basically if you don't plan on keeping the money invested for a long time - fixed interest investments.
If you plan on keeping your money invested for a while - passively managed growth fund.

Either way, Simplicity is a good way to go.
Nick G (16709)
1456014 2018-11-27 06:59:00 Invest in me, I can help your money grow. I will buy more trees for my property. gary67 (56)
1 2 3 4 5