littleoldlady
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Post by littleoldlady on Apr 7, 2017 8:15:53 GMT
Do you use p2p because you see it as alternative to other forms of savings or to other forms of investments?
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pom
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Post by pom on Apr 7, 2017 9:06:23 GMT
Oooh interesting question, I'm not really sure. Historically I was very much a saver but opportunity/necessity has changed that
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mason
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Post by mason on Apr 7, 2017 9:44:27 GMT
I've never seen it as part of my savings, rather a small part of my investments.
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theshape
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Post by theshape on Apr 7, 2017 10:06:50 GMT
I've ticked more saver than investor because I have more money in savings than investments. However, I now invest more each month than I save as I have an amount of cash savings that generate interest at the level of my PSA. Any more cash savings will produce a low level return and I've got enough 'cash' to live on for a year or more if needs be.
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Post by Butch Cassidy on Apr 7, 2017 10:47:39 GMT
I see it as both & often indivisible, rather just where you are along the risk spectrum; I use my savings to invest across a wide range of assets in pursuit of twin goals of personally acquiring a fair return that the risk of my savings warrants but also to enable businesses into which I invest to grow & hopefully flourish which brings with it the jobs, tax revenues & economic growth that makes this country such a success story. I am very selective as to what propositions my money goes to, as I don't want to simply throw it away on the latest fad or uneconomic pet project - which rules out any windmills, eco schemes or anything else that requires public subsidy to be economically viable. I'm also not keen on just financing the latest buy to let mortgage but would rather help develop new housing schemes in areas with severe need, I tend towards SME's as IMO these both need most support & bring the most benefits but also tend to require a larger reward to justify the extra risk involved.
I am fortunate in having both the time & experience to evaluate most platforms & propositions without the need for provision funds, collective risk pooling or paying part of the return to a scheme manager but fully understand those who prefer to go down this route. Ultimately it comes down to your own personal assessment of the level of risk taking or aversity that your are comfortable with but as long as the reward matches the specific risk level it can be an acceptable investment.
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DiQ
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Post by DiQ on Apr 8, 2017 11:17:50 GMT
Money is basically worthless, all you can do is spend it.
Invest!!
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Post by newlender on Apr 8, 2017 18:27:26 GMT
The fact that in theory none of your money is 100% safe must point to investment rather than savings. I've bought shares in the past that are now worthless = (bad) investment. I have a cash ISA which is earning me 0.25% p.a. if my balance goes over £25K = (bad) savings account. But I can't lose my savings; I can lose all of an investment. Some will say 'what about provision funds etc. on some P2P platforms'? Does anyone really think these will repay 100% in the event of a major crash? You know where my vote just went! I'd go further and say that anyone using P2P as a de facto savings vehicle is crazy. I have my lovely cash ISA for security and am taking a punt on P2P to bring a better return, but am ready to lose the lot if I have to. About 10% of my portfolio in P2P and 2% on Seedrs - that's about right.
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Post by d_saver on Apr 9, 2017 8:02:35 GMT
I'd say by nature I was a prolific saver dabbling in investments (bought my first shares at ~ 14 in my father's name - still remember those oil companies. Paid for my first car!). Saving simply does not work now in this country. Inflation erodes any reasonable savings pile very quickly these days. So, now I'm a natural saver forced to be an investor. I feel kind of let down as I expect a few do my age, though it's all failure to act on my part really. From age 11 we had childrens savings accounts. Saving we were told was the thing to do. I worked my ass off. It's a near worthless habit now. Who remembers the Griffin Saver account and 11% deposit interest?  I failed to adapt early enough. I was too busy building wealth to save and certainly dropped the ball. Ended up with a decent pile of cash in savings eroding away at a remarkable rate. Trying to make up for it now best I can without overcommitting given where we/the economy is, but honestly missed out fairly big time. I would certainly be happier with a much larger portion of my savings in a low rate interest account, covering inflation by a few points. You simply can't do that now. |
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littleoldlady
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Post by littleoldlady on Apr 9, 2017 8:09:11 GMT
The fact that in theory none of your money is 100% safe must point to investment rather than savings. I've bought shares in the past that are now worthless = (bad) investment. I have a cash ISA which is earning me 0.25% p.a. if my balance goes over £25K = (bad) savings account. But I can't lose my savings; I can lose all of an investment. Some will say 'what about provision funds etc. on some P2P platforms'? Does anyone really think these will repay 100% in the event of a major crash? You know where my vote just went! I'd go further and say that anyone using P2P as a de facto savings vehicle is crazy. I have my lovely cash ISA for security and am taking a punt on P2P to bring a better return, but am ready to lose the lot if I have to. About 10% of my portfolio in P2P and 2% on Seedrs - that's about right. IMO that's too simplistic. Firstly you can lose savings. They may not be protected by the FSCS in some circumstances or the interest may be lower than inflation so you are losing in real terms. It's true that you could lose all of one investment, although in the case of an asset based loan this would probably require fraud, but in the case of a widely diversified portfolio of asset backed loans the issue is whether the excess interest earned exceeds the losses. A share in a company can lose all or most of its value overnight because the shareholders were unaware of the recent financial circumstances, but this is less likely to happen with an asset (apart from art which is why I never invest in art loans).
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adrianc
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Post by adrianc on Apr 9, 2017 9:24:29 GMT
They're the same thing.
The money is there. So let's get it doing something and bringing in an income.
Low risk, low return = "savings"
Higher risk, higher return = "investment"
Or, to look at it in a slightly different way...
Savings = putting something aside from income.
Investment = what you do with it when it's been put aside.
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Liz
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Post by Liz on Apr 9, 2017 10:53:11 GMT
They're the same thing. The money is there. So let's get it doing something and bringing in an income. Low risk, low return = "savings" Higher risk, higher return = "investment" Or, to look at it in a slightly different way... Savings = putting something aside from income. Investment = what you do with it when it's been put aside. I was thinking exactly the same thing. You save money then you invest your savings to increase their value. Or you put your savings into a savings account for low risk. You can't invest if you haven't first saved, unless born into money and the question again comes back to risk. I will always(pre-retirement at least) invest a large proportion of my savings because I'm greedy.
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littleoldlady
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Post by littleoldlady on Apr 9, 2017 11:20:47 GMT
They're the same thing. The money is there. So let's get it doing something and bringing in an income. Low risk, low return = "savings" Higher risk, higher return = "investment" Or, to look at it in a slightly different way... Savings = putting something aside from income. Investment = what you do with it when it's been put aside. I don't disagree. My poll is intended to ask where people lie on the risk:reward spectrum.
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ablender
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Post by ablender on Apr 9, 2017 12:07:36 GMT
They're the same thing. The money is there. So let's get it doing something and bringing in an income. Low risk, low return = "savings" Higher risk, higher return = "investment" Or, to look at it in a slightly different way... Savings = putting something aside from income. Investment = what you do with it when it's been put aside. I was thinking exactly the same thing. You save money then you invest your savings to increase their value. Or you put your savings into a savings account for low risk. You can't invest if you haven't first saved, unless born into money and the question again comes back to risk. I will always(pre-retirement at least) invest a large proportion of my savings because I'm greedy. I have read elsewhere in this forum that there are people who borrow to invest. This results in investing without first saving.!!!
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elliotn
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Post by elliotn on Apr 9, 2017 12:10:51 GMT
Saver - forced into p2p because of the financial repression to bail out the banks and asset owners.
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adrianc
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Post by adrianc on Apr 9, 2017 12:50:21 GMT
I have read elsewhere in this forum that there are people who borrow to invest. This results in investing without first saving.!!! Isn't that what a BtL mortgage is...? Leveraging like that is often known as stoozing, and used to be REALLY popular when interest-free credit cards were given away with cornflakes.
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