With savings accounts and other investment and savings opportunities not offering the same returns as they did a generation ago, it’s time to start thinking about alternative and new methods of putting your money away. Here are some of our favorite and most recommended ways of saving money these days.
Peer To Peer Investment
Peer to peer funding is all the rage and you’ve no doubt heard the term before, but do you know what it actually means? Well, it’s not that difficult really. Basically put, a traditional loan would be offered by a bank or finance company and the money lent to the customer with interest charged. A peer to peer loan is the same except that the money is lent by one individual to another and a peer to peer company will act as an intermediary, setting up the paperwork and ensuring everything is above board and legal. If you act as the lender you will get a better return than many high-street savings and investment products but there is some risk and you can select lower risk or higher risk peer-to-peer investments for different levels of return.
Invest In Someone’s Future
This is something I only just heard about and it’s a fascinating idea considering how simple it is. You can actually lend money to a student studying an MBA. If you look at the employment rates for graduates then it’s a reasonable thing to invest in and Prodigy Finance can set this all up for you. The expected return on this kind of investment is around 5%.
Crowdfunded Property Investment
Property is usually a wise investment, but is your money best put to use just sitting in your own home? You could check AMF Equity Loans to see how much you can take out of your own home and look to other property investments and crowdfunding can spread the risk. If you invest a small amount in many different commercial investments then it can give you a range of returns on your money.
Physical Assets
Investing in physical assets is not new but it’s certainly an alternative to how most of us think about investing money. But be careful about what you pick to invest in. For example, although often cited as a good bet gold is risky and may not be the best and safest form of physical investment, look at things that increase with age, classic cars, whiskey or fine wine are good bets.
Credit Unions
Credit unions are an alternative to banks and are often thought of as ways of people getting credit when they can’t get it from a bank or won’t get a good rate of interest. But did you know that you can be an investor in these organizations as well? They tend to be fairly safe and steady with the rate of return and have the added advantage of being non-commercial so you are helping the ordinary members rather than shareholders when investing here.
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