Investments Offering Interest

By Author: Lecia Selbo
Total Articles: 49
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With the Bank of England''s low base rate it''s not very easy to find a good place to save on the High Street at the moment. Most savings accounts are offering less than 1% and cash ISAs aren''t too much better.

There is some suggestion that things may shortly improve. The Bank of England recently announced an end to stimulus measures for the economy and the current high inflation may result in a rise in the interest rates. Still, with the economy still a little unsteady any rise is at least several months away.

If you have money to invest then, and you want to do something with it, where is the best place to go? The first thing that you should look to do is to make the most of your ISA allowance, even if you can''t find an ISA offering a particularly good rate, you should still try and fill up your ISA as when interest rates return to decent levels it will mean you earn a larger amount of tax-free interest.

If your cash ISA allowance is full, another thing you could do is look at stocks and shares ISAs.

Many people are wary of stocks and shares ISAs, primarily because of the recent volatility of ...
... the stock market. However, stocks and shares ISAs can offer excellent returns and if you find a low risk account can be a really good place to invest.

One of the lowest risk places to invest is in a corporate bond ISA. Corporate bonds are a financial instrument that companies sell in return for a promise to pay a certain amount of money every year over a pre-agreed period.

You should be wary, however, that corporate bonds are a form of debt, and therefore are not 100% safe. Most good ISA suppliers offer a range of corporate bond ISAs, some with high levels of risk and some with low. Accounts with low levels of risk invest in bonds issued by fundamentally sound companies and governments. They''re very safe because governments are unlikely to go bankrupt so bonds issued by government will pay a consistent level of interest.

Stocks and shares ISAs can be risky, but they''re a long term investment that can make you really excellent returns. Make sure you find a supplier you trust, and one with a good reputation and you may well find that your stocks and share ISA earns far more than any cash ISA could. Lecia Selbo opened his own corporate bonds with Legal