Investing

Investing? Me?

Investing is just a flash word for what to do with your savings to make your money grow. Investing isn't just for rich people. It isn't just for people saving for retirement.

We all invest money some time. Some of us just don't know that the savings we've had earning interest in the bank for the last couple of years is actually an investment. If we thought about it, maybe that money should be earning more somewhere else.

Investing simply means making your money grow the smart way. To get smart you'll need to understand some basic principles of investing, and understand which type of investment suits you.

This section covers the following topics:

• Your investment profile
  Work out what types of investments suit you
• Types of investment
  Understand more about the range of investments
• Options
  Learn about different types of products
• Comparing products
  If you've already got some investments in mind, use our product comparison checklist to compare similar products
• Advice checklist
  Make sure you can pick good advice
• Paying your adviser
  Know how they're getting paid so you can see their advice in context
• Credit ratings
  Read our quick guide to independent credit ratings and why they're useful for investors
• Investment guarantees
  Get an overview of the Crown Retail Deposit Guarantee Scheme and capital protected investments
• PIEs and PIRs
  Find out about the tax advantages of investing in a PIE (Portfolio Investment Entity)
• 8 rules for sorted investing
  Follow these rules before you leap into any investment decision

You can order or download a printed summary of this section in our Sorted booklet 'Investing - Making your money work for you'.