What are the safest investment oppportunities?

Earning money is just one factor in boosting your finances. There are the obvious considerations – budgeting, picking the correct bank accounts, managing credit and shopping around where major outgoings like utility bills, car finance and phone contracts are concerned – but one area in which most people don’t take proper advantage is investment.

While big businesses may be halting larger investments due to wider financial constraints, there’s nothing stopping individuals from doing what they can for themselves. Other than putting money in to property, which may be seen by some as more of a purchase than long-term investment, the average person isn’t making the most of the opportunities there are to maximise their own money.

Open a savings account

No matter which bank you’re with, they will have several financial products that could be worth your while. Savings accounts come in a wide range of variations, but the thinking behind them all is fairly similar – the lower the risk, the lower the yield, the higher the risk, the higher the yield. By placing your money in a lower risk account for an extended period of time is a fantastic way of making additional money from minimal work and extremely limited risk.

Helpful when you’ve a larger purchase in mind too – ISAs are fantastic for those looking to work their way on to the property ladder for the first time – banks don’t have to just be somewhere to store your money, you can make money through them too. An additional benefit of creating a good relationship with your bank is that when it comes to loan, mortgage or credit applications, they’re more likely to approve as a result.

Invest in gold

There’s a good reason why you see so many adverts offering cash for unwanted gold and jewellery, because it’s an item that very rarely if ever loses its value – gold can, in fact, actually appreciate considerably over time, if you’ve bought something of real quality. A physical object that will retain cash value at the very least – in a similar way to how purchasing a property can be seen – it’s a way of keeping your assets tangible, which many people find preferable.

With nothing stopping you from purchasing something you actually want and will get some use out of at the same time, you can have peace of mind knowing that if the time ever came where you’d like to gain some liquid cash back, your gold will be there to fall back on.