There has been a great deal of talk about disposable income and average savings rates in the UK this year, particularly as inflation continues to rise at a disproportionate rate.
Even though base savings rates have increased throughout 2017, customers are still unable to earn or save at the requisite to stave off the impact of inflation. A lack of real wage growth is at the heart of this issue, with pensioners currently seeing their disposable income rates rise at a faster rate than those in work!
This means that your best method of boosting savings in the current climate is to speculate, investing your capital in various vehicles in order to secure a return. There are some creative options in the marketplace too, including the following:
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Use Money to Save Time
They say that time is money, while in some cases the former is actually a more valuable commodity than the latter.
With this in mind, it may be worth investing your disposable income in a way that saves or optimises your time, creating the potential to increase your earnings over a sustained period of time.
This type of expenditure can manifest itself in numerous ways, from the procurement of self-cleaning ovens (such as those available from AEG) to the deployment of multi-purpose appliances (washer-dryers, anyone?) to complete several tasks with minimal human interaction.
By adopting such an outlook and spending your income in this way, you can optimise the amount of time spent working in the future. This will lead to increased earnings and provide your greater financial security over time!
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Trade the Financial Markets
As recently as the 1980s, the financial markets were inaccessible to anyone who didn’t work as a trader or for a large corporation.
This is no longer the case, however, with technology and the proliferation of virtual trading platforms such as LCG having removed barriers to entry and made numerous markets more accessible.
So long as you arm yourself with theoretical knowledge and leverage demo accounts to put hone your practical strategies, this can be an outstanding way of utilising your disposable income and building wealth. You should also strive to diversify your assets over time, in order to minimise risk and drive sustained returns.
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Become an Equity Crowdfunder!
While crowdfunding has existed for more than a decade, its historical format was not particularly appealing for those in search of meaningful returns. The new equity crowdfunding model has changed this, however, as it rewards investors with fixed equity shares (that have a tangible value) in exciting start-up ventures.
How effective this vehicle is depends in part on the amount of capital that you can invest, of course, but there is nothing to stop committing money that would otherwise go into savings. If you are able and willing to commit funds while also identifying the business opportunities that offer the greatest growth potential, this can be a lucrative pastime that builds tremendous wealth for the future.
This is also relatively creative too, particularly if you invest in relatively niche and high-risk ventures that can offer larger returns.