What Are Today’s Good Investments? Blog By Chris Davenport

Regular readers of this column will know that it’s not always easy reading, for which I make no apologies. By telling you what’s really happening in the world of savings and investment, I hope to improve your chances of making the best out of your cash, savings, capital and pensions.

With this in mind, here’s some new research from Lloyds TSB Private Banking. They’ve concluded, unsurprisingly, that your money has been losing its value for the past 30 years. What IS surprising is the exact amount it’s lost - 67%.

Your cash has lost two-thirds of its value due to the constant increase in retail prices. Everything from a pint of milk to an average house has increased in price so much in the last 30 years that you now need £299 in your pocket today to buy the same goods you’d have bought 30 years ago for £100. Basically, retail prices have increased three-fold since 1982.

Some examples: a pint of milk has doubled in price from 20p in 1982 to 46p; a loaf of bread has increased more than three-fold, from 37p to £1.24; and the cost of the average house (despite the slow market since 2007) has increased six times, from £45,211 to £273,700.

The reason that we haven’t yet felt the full impact of the growing gap between our income and expenditure is that we’ve encumbered ourselves with large levels of personal debt. Ultimately, most of us have achieved our lifestyles not by earning more, but by borrowing more.

The flip side of all this is: if you bought your house 30 years ago, you might have made around 505%. Or if you bought Gold when a troy ounce was £203, it’s now £1,096, so you’ve made 439%. Proof that when you invest wisely, you not only maintain your personal wealth, you increase it.

What are today’s good investments?

I’m going to spend the next fortnight researching, so watch this space.

For more information on the do’s and don’ts of modern-day investing, check Chris’s blog:  www.real-insights.com, or check www.davenport-wealth.com for the latest in overseas property investments. Or you can call Chris Davenport direct on 01273 763900.