In the present economic climate it is difficult to know what to do with our hard earned savings. One hears all the time how people have lost their life savings in a doggy investment.
The truth is there is no sure fire way of protecting your capital. However, there are many ways to ensure your money will get the best return. The way you approach the problem depends on the amount of savings you have. If you only have modest savings, perhaps just enough to pay an unexpected bill or two, then the best place for your savings is in a building society or bank savings account. Unfortunately, your saving may not compete with inflation and slowly lose value. You’ll need to look for best deal going. However, the money you deposited is protected should the bank have financial problems.
On the other hand, if you have large savings, then the best thing you can do is not have all your eggs in one basket. Diversify and spread your capital out over many different investment schemes. At the present time, metals are doing really well, and investing in gold may be an option. Gold has been steadily going up for a few years, and is regarded to be better than hard currency. But watch out, what goes up must come down, and gold has been going up in value for awhile. You don’t need to fill your wardrobe with gold sovereigns, you can buy shares in a gold mine instead.
You might consider the stock market and hedge your bets by buying ‘blue chip’ shares. Look for those that pay dividends on a twice a year basis. Most ‘blue chips’ will do well in the long term and one must avoid the temptation to sell if the share price unexpectedly goes up. You’ll be looking for long-term growth, and not a short-term blip in share value.
Do invest some of your portfolio in a secure saving plan. This may not yield huge returns but the cash will always be there even in a financial holocaust.
Property is still a solid investment; it doesn’t produce huge profit like it once did, but bricks and mortar will always be a safe haven for your hard earned cash. You’ll have the added advantage of letting the property to bring in extra revenue.
The secret to hanging on to our capital in these difficult times is to diversify and spread out our savings. Should the world goes into financial melt down, some of your savings are going to do well if you have spread your investments around sufficiently.