[AshWhite]

Investments into the FTSE100.

[AshWhite]

I apologise, it's 93 out of 94 18 year periods.

If youd like to read more

http://www.lovemoney.com/news/savings-investments-pensions/investments/11793/a-clever-way-to-beat-inflation

I've studied and passed my Securities & Investments Institute broker exams, and my CeMAP exams - I would invest in funds over savings accounts every time.

[trevor perry]

gold has increased on average 30 percent per year for the past ten years try getting that rate from any bank or isa i know nothing is certain and it could go down in value but lets face it in the current climate there is no gauranteed safe place to invest your money

[Danny Guest]

gold has increased on average 30 percent per year for the past ten years try getting that rate from any bank or isa i know nothing is certain and it could go down in value but lets face it in the current climate there is no gauranteed safe place to invest your money

If you go out tomorrow and invest in gold how do you know that gold hasnt just hit its peak price? Just like buying property at the height of the market in 2007 you could be throwing your money away.

No matter what you invest in its always vulnerable to economic fluctuations and we all know by now that these run in cycles

[NBwcs]

The big draw back with isa,s is that come the day you need help off the government, they take your savings into consideration and you,ll probably get nowt, whilst they wont count your private pension. Mines still going into an isa mind, but not an ideal situation.

[richard jagger]

Invest in  property as were can you invest and get someone else to pay for it,in form of a tenant.

[Londoner]

Advantage paying into a pension is you get tax relief on contributions which you do not get with an ISA, this will be either at 20% or 40% depending on income.

There is no difference as far as I can tell with paying into an ISA as you could if you so wished choose the same fund for your pension.

Only difference currently over an ISA is you have to use 75% of your pension fund on retirement to purchase an annuity unless you opt for "Income Drawdown" on retirement. Whereas you can do what you like with your ISA fund, including the temptation of spending it before you reach retirement.

You get tax relief on a pension when you pay the money in but ALL of the money you get out of it is taxed. With an ISA all of the money you take out is tax free so swings and roundabouts. Personally I think I would rather have the tax free income at the end

My big beef with pensions is they keep your money. You might retire and die a month later, bye bye to all that money. Nothing to leave to the family, just gone.

At least with the money in your control you have options. Pensions give you no control.

[dd]

You can take 25% of your pension as a tax free lump sum and have to use the rest to give you an income which will be taxed as such, so personal tax allowances will apply.

If you were to use an ISA to create an income in the same way the same tax rules would apply to the income.

Investing in property is a great idea but personally I do not have enough money to buy another house and rent it out. I would think the majority on this forum do not either.

If you keep cash in the bank or an ISA you are losing money because inflation is higher than the interest you get on your savings.

[trevor perry]

gold has increased on average 30 percent per year for the past ten years try getting that rate from any bank or isa i know nothing is certain and it could go down in value but lets face it in the current climate there is no gauranteed safe place to invest your money

If you go out tomorrow and invest in gold how do you know that gold hasnt just hit its peak price? Just like buying property at the height of the market in 2007 you could be throwing your money away.

No matter what you invest in its always vulnerable to economic fluctuations and we all know by now that these run in cycles

 i agree with you that is why it is wise to spread your money into different areas then if one takes a hit the others carry it a bit, my point was that for the past 10 years gold has been a very good investment with a 30 percent per year return and if you have spare savings then surely it is worth putting a bit of it into  gold, if you just leave your money in a savings acount offering 3.5 percent interest then in reality your money is slowly disapearing in real terms because inflation is now more than 5 percent so you have to take some risk on how to make your money work for you. Personally i think the whole economy has had it and no matter where our money is put it is going to take a big hit but that doesnt mean i should bury my head in the sand and try and do nothing rather i will take each day as it comes and like the saying says nothing risked then nothing gained.

[Mike_G]

Trevor has made a good point, diversify. Its more than likely a good idea to have lots of smaller investments rather than putting all your eggs in one basket.


Heres a few ideas
 
1. Isa's are almost certainly a must, its probably the only one thats 100% guaranteed. (other than a savings account which you will be taxed on) So fill your ISA's before your savings account and make sure you keep an eye on the interest rate you are getting on the isa, if its not a competitive rate move it

2. Property. As already mentioned if you can afford to get a buy to let, it might be a good investment (but you will almost certainly need to pay tax on these) Or buy a big expensive house now and then downsize (this way you avoid capital gains tax etc)

3. Stock markets, gold, silver etc. Prices can rise alot but they could go down as well. Some make an awful lot of money out of it, most it seems, do not.

4. Sell or rent your business, the latter could provide you with a good steady income for a very long time

5. State Pension. Dont forget you will get this, if have no other income it will be at least £130 a week. 

5. Retire abroad, somewhere where the cost of living is cheaper, that way you will not need such a big pension, not suitable for everyone but it will be for a few, me included!

[ants]

premium bonds are pretty good.i won £500 on them last week.
you can only hold £30,000 worth though,  [ i say only ] ypu know what i mean.