Investment Bonds
Investment bonds are a form of investment that allow you to save a lump sum of money for a period of time with the aim of seeing it appreciate in value. Your money here will generally be invested in various types of stock market funds and/or shares.
Many investment bonds will have a minimum deposit that you will have to invest before you can sign up to the bond. In general terms you may be expected to keep your money invested in the bond for a few years at a time. In most cases you can withdraw your money early but you may lose money in the process.
There are various types of investment bonds available to you. You can, for example, invest in bonds that are set up by private investment firms or financial institutions. The government also offers this kind of bond and some investment bonds will be tied into insurance policies.
In many cases you have no guarantees with investment bonds that you will make a profit or, indeed, get your money back. Many bonds are tied into stock market returns so there is a risk that you might lose money if things do not go well. However, if things do go well then you could make better profits than those given with other savings mechanisms.
It is also possible to find investment bonds (especially those offered by the government via National Savings) that will give you guarantees of getting your initial investment back and so on.