eznfrank
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| posted on 18/12/08 at 08:46 PM |
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OT - Sharesave
Ok, I appreciate thsi is not particularly Locost related but I'm hoping this may help fund my next build.
At work they are offering a Sharesave option which basicaly works like this -
Company offers shares at todays price, lets say 50p, but gives a 20% discount so they become 40p. I can put in up to £250 a month for 3, 5 or 7
years. The savings bonus they give is in the region of 10%. When they mature I can either take th ecash back (no risk?) or buy the shares at their
offer price and then immediately sell them for whatever they are worth.
So, as an example I save £250 a month for 5 years = £15,000. Plus a £1,500 bonus makes £16,500. But if the shares have gone back up to just £2.00
(the usual price is quite a bit higher) then that gives me a fund of £82,500.
Sounds pretty good right?? Just never done one of these before and wondered if others had and had any issues? My missus works for same company and
we're actually thinking of doing £250 each which could give a massive return in theory?
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blakep82
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| posted on 18/12/08 at 08:55 PM |
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[Edited on 18/12/08 by blakep82]
________________________
IVA manual link http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/detail?type=RESOURCES&itemId=1081997083
don't write OT on a new thread title, you're creating the topic, everything you write is very much ON topic!
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stevebubs
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| posted on 18/12/08 at 09:11 PM |
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If you have confidence in the company's share price rebounding, and intend on staying there, it's definitely worth doing....
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MikeRJ
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| posted on 18/12/08 at 09:14 PM |
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My old employers (Nortel) had what seemed like a great employee stock purchase plan, you put in a percentage of your monthly wage and the company
matched it (a BOGOF deal ).
Loads of people I worked with invested quite a lot of money in this as things were looking good back then (10 years ago). Then the telecoms market
went down the drain, stock prices plummeted and have never fully recovered so an awful lot of people lost large amounts of money, as well as their
jobs.
I think the usual advice is not to invest in the company that employs you for this exact reason. Fortunately I had just bought my first house at the
time and couldn't afford to spare any money, so whilst I thought I was losing out on a handsome windfall, turns out I was better off than most
at the end.
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tul214
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| posted on 18/12/08 at 09:15 PM |
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Asda do a similar scheme and a lot of people have made a lot of money.
In the current climate the gains are not so massive and many people see it as just a savings account.
1.6 Raw Super6 sold
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eznfrank
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| posted on 18/12/08 at 09:16 PM |
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I guess the difference is with this one, if after the 5 or however many years the share price hasn't gone up you can just take your cash back
and not bother with the shares - so you just get the £16,500.
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greggors84
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| posted on 18/12/08 at 09:19 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by tul214
Asda do a similar scheme and a lot of people have made a lot of money.
In the current climate the gains are not so massive and many people see it as just a savings account.
But in the current climate, if you do have some money to put into a savings account this could be a good way of taking advantage of low share
prices.
Of course it all depends what the company does and the likelyhood of it making it through the 5 years until you can free the money.
Chris
The Magnificent 7!
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001Ben
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| posted on 18/12/08 at 09:29 PM |
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they are good schemes. I did one until last year, got double what I put in back
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markyb
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| posted on 18/12/08 at 09:33 PM |
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i am currently in a sharesave scheme and have benefited from this (helped a long way to financing the build). To date I have always made money due to
the length of time I have to hold the shares
Overall I am in a no lose situation as I can get my money back if the market (or company's performance) plummets
as has been pointed out there are other ways to invest your money but, personally, I am glad I have been in my companys SAYE for the last 9 years
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jimgiblett
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| posted on 18/12/08 at 09:45 PM |
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I did one back in the 90's. Did very nicely too.
As Steve says as long as you are confident in the company you can get a good return.
- Jim
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Meeerrrk
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| posted on 18/12/08 at 09:52 PM |
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go for it, i did & boy was i pleased i did. My situation:
basically i viewed it as a tax free saving scheme (at the end of the term you can just walk away with the money youve saved plus the
"bonus" interest) with the possiblity that i could make some money from it after 3 years.
So i'd been at my company for a year which ment i could start paying in, i was 22 and i lived with my parents and earnt a reasonable salary for
my age, therefore, i had a lot of disposable income; so i went for it.
2yrs later (a year ago now) GE announced they were buying out the company i worked for and buying out all shares for £4.50/share, including any share
save schemes which were running.
my share allocations were £1.10/share (as you said, 20% discount on price at time of opening account) so i x4 my 2yrs of savings. Damn was i chuft,
meant i could buy my own house without the pain of having to sell of my cars/save for months.
My advice would be to go for it and put in as much as you can realistically afford (you cant change the monthly payment during the 3/5/7 years). Like
i did, veiw it as a tax free savings account with a chance of making lots of money 
oh and the other thing to remember is that these "savings accounts" are totally independant of your company, in my case it was abbey then
yorkshire. This means that if the worst was to happen to the company, you wont lose your money. In todays climate, its something worth thinking
about.
regards,
meeerrrk
[Edited on 18/12/08 by Meeerrrk]
For Sale : 2008 Aries/Stuart Taylor Motorsport Locoblade (954 Blade)
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JohnN
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| posted on 18/12/08 at 10:03 PM |
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Go for it
My company used to do the same scheme, they've now swapped it for a different one limited to £125/,month, but taken before tax.
I was very satisfied when the scheme matured and I bought shares at £4 that were at the time trading at over £7.
You can't really lose with it, and the upside could be very very good, with a rising stock market, as you show.
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fatfranky
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| posted on 19/12/08 at 12:21 AM |
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Done a couple of these myself
Firstly
SHARE PRICES CAN GO DOWN AS WELL AS UP
As I understand it
Worst case scenario you take the amount you've invested plus a small rate of interest
Best case scenario, share price goes up you make lots of money
Bottom line, not necessarily the best investment - but you cannot lose
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splitrivet
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| posted on 19/12/08 at 12:22 AM |
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Trouble is all the above comments are made on past share returns.
Buying shares when the market is low is a great time to buy, but we are now moving into a new phase. Personally I think the shite is nowhere near
hitting the fan yet thats yet to come, after 27 yrs in business and through all the recessions I have never seen business so slow along with
confidence.
Having a go on the stock market is gambling as with all gambling if you are happy to lose your stake great, if not you shouldnt gamble to start
with.
Cheers,
Bob
[Edited on 19/12/08 by splitrivet]
[Edited on 19/12/08 by splitrivet]
I used to be a Werewolf but I'm alright nowwoooooooooooooo
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richardlee237
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| posted on 19/12/08 at 06:17 AM |
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There are very few Guaranteed winners in this world but this is one of them.
You have the potential for large gains.
You savings are as safe as any building society.
If the shares don't perform then you have saved a lot of money at a reasonable rate of interest.
You can take the money at any time.
I have invested in about 8 of these schemes and made several thousands.
Quote Lord Kelvin
“Large increases in cost with questionable increases in performance can be tolerated only in race horses and women.”
Quote Richard Lee
"and cars"
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tomblyth
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| posted on 19/12/08 at 09:18 AM |
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take the maximum amount! I have asda shares were £25 now £36 will sell wen i find out how and have next lot due in 18 months (so if pound/doller still
the way it is will make a bit more!!!!
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Daddylonglegs
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| posted on 19/12/08 at 09:33 AM |
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Being the eternal pessimist.......
what happens if the company itself goes down the tubes?
Woolies was a British institution, but it ain't no more!
MOFWIW
It looks like the Midget is winning at the moment......
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tul214
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| posted on 19/12/08 at 09:44 AM |
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Tom,
do you work for ASDA?
To sell your shares you need to ring 'computershare' and they do it for you.
1.6 Raw Super6 sold
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Dick Axtell
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| posted on 19/12/08 at 11:22 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by stevebubs
If you have confidence in the company's share price rebounding, and intend on staying there, it's definitely worth doing....
.....provided that your company continues independently, i.e. without mergers or takeovers, and achieves suitable growth over time.
On the other hand, such sharesave schemes do limit your risk, by keeping your cash in the account, and making interest (if there is any?????).
You don't part with it until maturity date is reached, so you will be able to evaluate risk at that time.
What interest rate is your scheme quoting? (Bear in mind that BofE suggests rate will decrease to 0).
Always remember the Peston principle - if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Good Luck
Work-in-Progress: Changed to Zetec + T9. Still trying!!
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b16mts
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| posted on 19/12/08 at 11:36 AM |
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sounds to me that you work for barclays bank plc, as that the identical share scheeme in everyway that i took advantage of.
As previously said i was lucky as the price went up alot, but even if it didn't. at the end of the term you have the choice whether to take the
shares or take the money. if i'd taken the money i'd still have made more than putting it in a building society.
plus it goes striaght out of your payslip, so its not as if you can decide to skip a payment and buy a new dvd player instead, which was good for
me!
I did the 3 year one, and paid in £100 per month, as its all i could afford.
with the 20% off etc i paid 3.73 per share, meaning i got alocated 965 shares, plus they took into account the bonus, so i was given 991 shares for my
money.
3 years later and i took the shares when i could, sold them straight away for £7.14 per share, and paid off most of my wedding (which was the plan all
along).
so my £3600 investment over 3 year turned into £7075, which is not a bad return!! just wish i'd put more into it in the first place now.
Martin
who says you can't drive a kit car when you're 6'5"?
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eznfrank
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| posted on 19/12/08 at 06:14 PM |
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I do work for a big bank but I think alot of them, Natwest, Barclays, HSBC and RBS do them to name but a few. Think I'm going to go for it.
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Meeerrrk
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| posted on 20/12/08 at 08:02 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Daddylonglegs
Being the eternal pessimist.......
what happens if the company itself goes down the tubes?
Woolies was a British institution, but it ain't no more!
MOFWIW
The savings are in a building society, not the company so if the company was to go down the pan your money is still your money, in an account not
linked to the compay in any way.
Mark
For Sale : 2008 Aries/Stuart Taylor Motorsport Locoblade (954 Blade)
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Simon
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| posted on 21/12/08 at 02:11 AM |
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You can't lose - if there company shares are crap, you don't buy, just take the cash and bonus payment!
I did it for the max and probably doubled my money. If it hadn't been for a cetain US attorney investigating the insurance market (Spritzer -
currently being done for using prostitutes ahh the shame), I'd probably have paid off most of my mortgage!
ATB
Simon
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