:00:00. > :00:00.monkey is still ongoing. Now it's time for this week's Your
:00:00. > :00:18.Money with Declan Curry. Welcome to your weekly guide to
:00:19. > :00:26.making the most of your cash here on BBC News. Stocking up on profits,
:00:27. > :00:30.people who use tax accounts to buy shares are quits in, but is there
:00:31. > :00:37.anything left for the rest of us? We have an investment expert here.
:00:38. > :00:43.We look at the cost of repairing kitchen gadgets.
:00:44. > :00:49.And how to avoid fraudsters who want to take your cash. Tips from
:00:50. > :00:53.Citizens Advice. Is your money working hard enough
:00:54. > :00:57.do? People who put their cash into the stock market got far more back
:00:58. > :01:04.than those who just left it as cash in the bank. The financial
:01:05. > :01:09.researchers looked at different accounts. Those who put money into
:01:10. > :01:16.shares got a return of 9.42% in the 2014 tax year. If you put your money
:01:17. > :01:22.into an ice account which came out as cash, you got a return of less
:01:23. > :01:30.than 2%. The financial planning guru at SG Hambros is here. You would
:01:31. > :01:38.expect to get a higher return in the stock market, would you not?
:01:39. > :01:43.Clearly, over a number of years, the average return should be higher from
:01:44. > :01:48.stock market investment than from money in cash. We have had
:01:49. > :01:52.historically low interest rates for years.
:01:53. > :02:00.Yes. But then we had many years really stock market just did not
:02:01. > :02:05.perform. Why have things changed? The economy is recovering. That
:02:06. > :02:10.means that in theory companies are doing better. A have more profits.
:02:11. > :02:15.Their share price should go up. They can pay dividends to shareholders.
:02:16. > :02:19.Stock market returns are based on the increase of the price of the
:02:20. > :02:23.shares within the investments that the ISA manager runs. And also, some
:02:24. > :02:27.companies pay dividends and share some of their profit with
:02:28. > :02:30.shareholders each year. Therefore, to get a more balanced return from a
:02:31. > :02:35.stock market investment, and slightly less risky than the growth
:02:36. > :02:41.stocks, it is a good idea to go for a portfolio which pays some
:02:42. > :02:45.dividend. Even if you reinvest that to grow your ISA balance. As well as
:02:46. > :02:48.the share price growth you're looking for.
:02:49. > :02:54.So do not just look at the share price.
:02:55. > :02:58.Absolutely. It is possible with a shares income portfolio that
:02:59. > :03:09.investment companies that do provide dividends, you can have a yield. And
:03:10. > :03:17.income element of about three or 4%. That balance is a bit of a bird in
:03:18. > :03:20.the hand. Anyone looking at a stocks and shares Isa or a stocks and
:03:21. > :03:25.shares investment should always think they can put that money away
:03:26. > :03:29.for at least five years. People who have put money into the
:03:30. > :03:32.stock market and got that 10% per turn, is it now too late for those
:03:33. > :03:37.who did not invest in it, to joining?
:03:38. > :03:43.Now, it is not. That is another danger. Overall, timing is not that
:03:44. > :03:49.relevant in investment. Five years down the line may well look cheap.
:03:50. > :03:53.We do not know that. The important thing is not to panic if the market
:03:54. > :03:57.takes a downturn. There will be peaks and troughs. One way to lessen
:03:58. > :04:03.the risk is to save on a regular basis. Maybe not put all your money
:04:04. > :04:11.in at one time. Drip it in over 12 months. You're going to buy things
:04:12. > :04:14.at different rates each month. If it comes down, you will get cheaper
:04:15. > :04:20.investments. And a quick word on timing, the ISA
:04:21. > :04:25.allowance, the limit on how much we can put into an Isa is reset in
:04:26. > :04:28.April every year. So it has just been set for this tax year. We know
:04:29. > :04:33.it will increase later this year again. Does that mean you should not
:04:34. > :04:38.invest now, because you will lose the higher amount later? Or is it OK
:04:39. > :04:45.to invest now and still get the increase later?
:04:46. > :04:48.It is OK to invest now. From July, ?15,000 is the allowance. It can be
:04:49. > :04:54.held all in stocks and shares or all in cash.
:04:55. > :04:58.Thank you. If you have been keeping ?50 notes under the mattress, you
:04:59. > :05:06.might need to check they are not out of date. This particular one cannot
:05:07. > :05:09.be used in the shops any more. It was withdrawn from circulation this
:05:10. > :05:15.week. If you have one, you must swap it for this one. This is the new ?50
:05:16. > :05:20.note. You can swap them at most banks or post offices until the end
:05:21. > :05:31.of October. After that, you must go to the Bank of England itself.
:05:32. > :05:38.We spend over ?100 million using contactless cards. It is the first
:05:39. > :05:42.time our monthly spending has topped 100 million and that is a lot of
:05:43. > :05:45.money, especially as you do not always have to type in your security
:05:46. > :05:55.code before the cash is withdrawn from your account. We asked what the
:05:56. > :05:59.risk is. There is a ?20 limit on each
:06:00. > :06:04.purchase. If they get suspicious, the card user will be asked to enter
:06:05. > :06:08.the security code. If the card is lost stolen, tell your bank
:06:09. > :06:13.immediately. You are fully protected, they say. You will not
:06:14. > :06:20.have to pay for somebody else's spending on your card.
:06:21. > :06:29.How long does a washing machine or vacuum cleaner last? Not as long as
:06:30. > :06:33.they used to. The grandchildren are coming. Time
:06:34. > :06:36.to get out the food mixer to make a cake. This British meat machine is
:06:37. > :06:43.still going strong after 40 years. What around the time of the miners
:06:44. > :06:51.strike. It would have cost up to one month's wages then. It was this
:06:52. > :06:56.woman's Best Buy ever. It is noisy, but I can live with that if it works
:06:57. > :06:58.well. Hopefully it will last quite a while. I did not expect to last
:06:59. > :07:09.quite this long. People change things nowadays.
:07:10. > :07:14.For every veteran vacuum cleaner or appliance still in daily use,
:07:15. > :07:19.countless ones go for recycling. Enough to fill Wembley Stadium six
:07:20. > :07:25.times over every year. It is the relentless demand from consumers and
:07:26. > :07:32.retailers which is fitting durability. That is unless you pay
:07:33. > :07:36.far more than double for a top of the range model. White goods makers
:07:37. > :07:40.admit the life span of a washing machine has dropped from over ten
:07:41. > :07:43.years to seven years. It is also partly down to how we buy
:07:44. > :07:50.electricals. It seems that the move towards buying things online has
:07:51. > :07:55.introduced a bias against repairers, even when those are cost`effective.
:07:56. > :07:58.Another reason is that many sellers are not equipped to offer any
:07:59. > :08:06.repairers outside the guarantee period. This family business from
:08:07. > :08:11.1925 takes pride in its repairers in an industry which no longer trains
:08:12. > :08:14.many engineers. Nine out of ten washing machine can be put into
:08:15. > :08:21.perfect order and three quarters of flatscreen TVs. But whether to go
:08:22. > :08:28.for that ?100 repair will depend on what you paid initially. It is in
:08:29. > :08:31.the interest of manufacturers to get three cells every ten years. But
:08:32. > :08:37.people need to be given the opportunity, the choice, do you want
:08:38. > :08:42.a repair or do you want a new sale? That choice is seldom offered to
:08:43. > :08:47.people. Whatever you decide to buy, consumer
:08:48. > :08:51.law does not require you to get a fixed six years of use as is
:08:52. > :08:56.commonly believed. If you have a washing machine and
:08:57. > :09:03.you paid ?199 for it and have used the four times a day, every day of
:09:04. > :09:07.the week for four or five years, then the law would see you have had
:09:08. > :09:10.enough use of that product. But if you spent ?1000 and used that a
:09:11. > :09:19.minimal amount of time, then the law would probably say, yes, you may be
:09:20. > :09:23.entitled to any refund or a repair. Investing in a premium brand could
:09:24. > :09:27.give you 20 years service or more, with fewer breakdowns of parts
:09:28. > :09:32.always available. As long as you use is lighter, then cheaper appliances
:09:33. > :09:43.that will have to be replaced after a few years will turn out to be a
:09:44. > :09:58.good buy. Even the server falling victim to this. Scams are becoming
:09:59. > :10:08.more productive. 16% of scams were by letter or fax. Only 10% were
:10:09. > :10:16.through e`mails. Here is the head of policy at Citizens Advice. What
:10:17. > :10:21.should we be looking out for? For a million people per year are affected
:10:22. > :10:28.by scams and we want people to be able to take action against them by
:10:29. > :10:37.reporting them when they see them. Sometimes people pose as the police
:10:38. > :10:40.or the bank and we had a man who gave ?14,000 to who they thought was
:10:41. > :10:45.the landlord that when he came to move on their web people living
:10:46. > :10:51.there and you are just as likely to be scammed on the phone or text
:10:52. > :10:57.messages as on line. We talked a couple of weeks ago around the Green
:10:58. > :11:00.Deal energy scheme where people think they are paying for the survey
:11:01. > :11:05.that they are giving money to someone who is running for that. We
:11:06. > :11:09.have looked at people who think they are handing the bank card over to a
:11:10. > :11:12.truly are from the bank but are actually giving it to a complete
:11:13. > :11:17.stranger. The reason I mention these is that people feel that these are
:11:18. > :11:26.genuine and they do not feel like scams. Tell`tale scams are being
:11:27. > :11:30.contacted out of the blue being asked to make our financial position
:11:31. > :11:35.on the spot. Police are the bank will never ask for your PIN number
:11:36. > :11:39.or ASCII to make a decision on the spot. Before you give details of way
:11:40. > :11:44.make sure you can be absolutely sure you trust the person. If you pay
:11:45. > :11:51.online always check that the website is secure and look for the padlock
:11:52. > :11:55.by the web address. You wonder who is most at risk. People often say
:11:56. > :11:59.the elderly should watch out but most older people I know I'm not as
:12:00. > :12:05.gullible as that. It is disgraceful that scammers target older people
:12:06. > :12:12.and we had a man in his 80s who was so worried he had been scammed after
:12:13. > :12:16.giving his an actual details away to somebody who had caught offering to
:12:17. > :12:23.save money on his water bills. People are struggling to save money
:12:24. > :12:27.and this opens the to people. If you are worried what should you do? Come
:12:28. > :12:34.and see Citizens Advice and we will be able to help as well as report
:12:35. > :12:39.this camp. You can also reported to Action Fraud and they will pass it
:12:40. > :12:43.onto the police Trading Standards. It often feels like you're blaming
:12:44. > :12:47.the victim for the crime rather than the scammer. Should more not be done
:12:48. > :12:54.to track down those people and bring justice to them? May is scam
:12:55. > :13:00.awareness month and we should raise awareness that more people are being
:13:01. > :13:03.scammed and that scammers are using deceptive and sophisticated methods.
:13:04. > :13:09.We want people to be able to report scams so that others do not get
:13:10. > :13:21.caught out. He was how you should report a scammer. When your credit
:13:22. > :13:27.card company and rigidly and ask if he can get your money back. If you
:13:28. > :13:32.have used the bank card are debit card at the bank if you can get a
:13:33. > :13:41.chargeback. You can check out this online advice. That is all for this
:13:42. > :13:50.week. You can keep up`to`date all week on the BBC website. You can get
:13:51. > :14:07.updates by following our feed on Twitter. I hope you will join this
:14:08. > :14:13.next week. A quick look at the headlines this afternoon. In
:14:14. > :14:17.Ukraine, seven international observers captured by pro`Russian
:14:18. > :14:21.separatists have been freed but violence has intensified in the east
:14:22. > :14:22.of the country. Rescuers in north`eastern Afghanistan