Property

Property is generally a stable investment in every sense of the phrase. This is particularly true in countries such as the UK where there is not only a high population density and an acknowledge lack of housing in general, but also a need to replace existing low-grade and/or dated housing with housing which is suitable for modern requirements. There are various ways to invest in the property market, of which buy-to-let is probably the most visible, but alternatives such as investing in property development can give your portfolio the benefit of exposure to the housing market without taxes, landlord involvement or a property to sell should you want a shorter term investment.

Peer-to-Peer Lending

Banks essentially take deposits from savers and lend them to borrowers taking a percentage for themselves along the way. Thanks to technology, peer-to-peer lending allows individuals to cut out the middle-man (or at least change their nature) so that lenders and borrowers can both get better rates. Of course, if you put money in a bank then, in principle it should be absolutely safe (although only deposits of up to £75K per bank benefit from an FSCS guarantee), whereas, as a lender, you accept the risk of default. Having said that, the role of the P2P platform is to screen borrowers and assign them risk categories, so lenders can make informed decisions.

Crowdfunding

Probably the most famous crowdfunding site of them all, at the moment, is Kickstarter, but this is unlikely to be of any great interest to investors since at this time Kickstarter explicitly forbids funders being given shares with financial value, instead they are given gifts to show appreciation. There are, however, other sites which do allow investors to receive shares. The key point to remember with this type of investment is that it tends to be high-risk/high-reward. These companies often have a serious risk of failure, in which case, there is a strong chance you will lose your money. If they succeed, however, you could be hugely rewarded.

Gold and silver coins

This is a hybrid of investing in collectables and investing in precious metals. Investing in collectables can be both fun and profitable, especially if you’re collecting something which really interests you. Precious metals have an obvious, long-term appeal. If you go for collectable coins in silver and gold then you will have the physical quantity of the precious metal, plus the chance that the coin itself will acquire collectable value or that its collectable value will increase.

Premium Bonds

If interest rates were higher, premium bonds would be a horrendous place to park your money, but at current time, savings accounts and ISAs are offering pitiful returns and current accounts are places to hold your money for easy access rather than to grow it. So even though premium bonds have the same disadvantages they have always had, namely they pay zero interest and your chances of winning anything at all, let alone any significant amount of money, put them into the category of having a flutter rather than serious savings or investment, today’s low-interest-rate environment makes these points much less significant than they used to be. So if you need somewhere to park your cash over the short term they could be a reasonable option and, you never know, somebody has to win.