| The financial security umbrella that most wage | | | | Gold is of course an attractive option! Not only |
| earners would like to shelter under after | | | | does it have value but it also looks nice and |
| retirement is now leaking very badly indeed! | | | | impresses friends but too many problems are |
| Money savvy experts block up news channels | | | | associated with this metal. When the time comes |
| and advertisement spaces with offers of | | | | to sell the price maybe way down; actual |
| transforming the average citizen into a healthy, | | | | appreciation is not a definite possibility and storage |
| wealthy and wise investor; advocates of 'parting | | | | is a constant hassle. Storage boxes in banks are |
| with your money' do house calls alongside those | | | | not cheap and the money used for rental would |
| selling vacuum cleaners and the sole 'wanted' | | | | be best invested elsewhere. Under the bed is not |
| letter fights for attention in the mail box amongst | | | | the safest or most secure of places, especially |
| the hundreds of once-in-a lifetime offers of | | | | when friends are 'shown the hoard' after a |
| richness! | | | | drunken night on the town! |
| News these days is very negative regarding | | | | In reality there are only a limited number of ways |
| government pension schemes! They blame it on | | | | for the average wage earner to invest money |
| either too many old people one day, not enough | | | | for the future! One way is to choose a couple of |
| young people the next! The answer we are told is | | | | Investment Trusts - more than one just incase |
| "Go Private"! | | | | one of these institutes happens to go bust! These |
| Private pension funds are collapsing left right and | | | | are companies that work with 'small' people's |
| center! Directors, Managers and Chairmen of | | | | money by spreading risk over a variety of |
| companies tend as a rule to do one or more of | | | | businesses that trade on a stock exchange of |
| three things with employee's pension funds. They | | | | one nation or another! The other advantage of |
| decide that the amount is too great to give back | | | | these companies is that the government tends to |
| and so move to a remote island with no | | | | be favorable towards them and so tax incentives |
| extradition treaty and eat caviar and drink | | | | and reductions often apply! |
| champagne without moral conscience creeping in. | | | | One could of course invest heavily on horse |
| Or they gamble the future of a failing company | | | | racing or into a casino in Las Vegas but gambling |
| on money within the pension fund and (as always | | | | has never really provided long term returns. |
| happens) the company collapses anyway! Or last | | | | Lottery tickets and scratch cards remain an ever |
| but not least they listen to a door-to-door | | | | hopeful means to an end but, dream on! |
| salesman who suggests that the proceeds are | | | | Let's not live under false pretences. Be brutal and |
| invested in some amazing opportunity that in | | | | face the fact that unless one has lots of money, |
| actual fact turns out to be a big scam! So pension | | | | the chance of getting lots of money is well best |
| schemes and for that matter provident funds | | | | left unsaid! For example: 2000 pounds worth of |
| that are either controlled by the government or | | | | bonds purchased from the Post Office (National |
| by the company that you work for are basically | | | | Savings - hahaha) yields 2475 pounds after five |
| not worth a dime; unless a sieve be an attractive | | | | years of care. Now in anybodies calculations even |
| replacement for an umbrella! | | | | after twenty years in servitude that amount is |
| There are other ways to go, other ways to | | | | not going to keep the 'cat in the bag or the |
| invest money and to build up a "portfolio" of | | | | 'pigeons in the coop' (whatever best describes the |
| stocks and shares in a variety of companies that | | | | situation)! The security of investments even in the |
| hopefully will provide high returns in the years to | | | | most secure of environments is not secure and |
| come. Naturally, an extremely large sum of | | | | the property bubble might explode at any |
| money is required to invest initially which defeats | | | | moment, oh and should you be winning the |
| most people but start off small and buy one | | | | government will ruin it all by charging stamp duty |
| share and should the company not go bust, not | | | | or VAT, inheritance tax, capital gains tax or just |
| file for bankruptcy, not use the pension fund to | | | | tax to reduce the final amount to what you first |
| prop up falsified accounts, not be accused of | | | | started with and plus a penny for luck! |
| insider dealings and not overstate earnings or be | | | | What is the answer? |
| caught actually having no capital, reserves or | | | | One supermarket recently had on offer tins of |
| ability to continue trading then it is quite possible | | | | baked bean; buy twelve and get one free! |
| that within a thousand years this one share might | | | | Another chain decided to offload hundreds of |
| be worth something! Too many companies have | | | | packets of pasta: spend a hundred and get a |
| recently collapsed taking with them thousands of | | | | delightful packet of pasta twists for free. And |
| shareholders dreams of not having to skimp and | | | | another had loads of; two for the price of one |
| do without during retirement! | | | | items around the store! The answer is to buy |
| Property has always been heralded as one of the | | | | these products, as much as one can get hold of |
| best investments available. And certainly many | | | | and store them for the future. Dig holes |
| children saw their very own parents exclaiming | | | | underground, fill cellars and attic's with |
| over the profit they have made on a recent | | | | non-perishable goods and so when retirement |
| house sale (never mind the fact that they had to | | | | days sneak up unexpectedly you may not have |
| buy a new one at the same time)! A nice | | | | the money to go out but at least you will not go |
| thought, a dream of dreams but in reality | | | | hungry! |
| property prices have increased so dramatically | | | | Well, not quite a suitable answer but then options |
| that nobody can afford anything larger than a | | | | are very limited for those without a penny to |
| shoebox under the town bridge! Property has | | | | spare! Selling oneself as a matured sex slave to |
| become an unaffordable luxury that now many | | | | some North Korean General will probably not |
| people still invest in thus saddling themselves with | | | | appeal to many and suicide at the age of 67 |
| a life-time mortgage that eats incomes dry, that | | | | (after having spent the 1,347 pounds saved over |
| prohibit investments elsewhere due to lack of | | | | the last forty years of hard work) is more |
| excess funds and that produces many retired | | | | difficult to achieve than previously planned for. |
| people with roofs over their heads but without | | | | In fact the only real answer is to move out of |
| the finances to turn on the lights! Oh, and of | | | | the country, to buy a small property in the south |
| course it is impossible for property prices to keep | | | | of France, in Romania or Spain where prices are |
| on going up! Nobody ever talks about possibility, | | | | half if not a quarter of those in the UK, where |
| but face the simple fact that people cannot | | | | the value of life is far better and where the air is |
| afford to buy houses anymore! That bubble will | | | | clean. One pound will go a lot further so Maybe |
| burst and any savvy investor should take heed | | | | this is the only way! |
| before falling into the tangled property web! | | | | |