Savings Options (the merged thread)

RainbowBrite

Sorry, I didn't know which was the most appropriate forum to post this in, so please read & feel free to move, thanks.

I'm a bit clueless about financial stuff & how to make the most of your money etc, but I've a simple enough question:-

I've some savings (€20k+). At the minute, these savings are just sitting in my current account doing nothing.

Could you tell me my best option (& possibly interest rates) for:-
Keeping my money in my current account,
Opening up a savings account & putting it there
(I'm with AIB, btw)
Putting savings into credit union.
(Any more creative options you can think of?)

What's my best option?

Thanks for your help,
Again, sorry if there's a more appropriate forum.

Heyes

Without sounding smart, the best option really is to make an appointment in the Bank, they ll provide you with a lot more information and ideas that any of us will be able to.

MrJoeSoap

Saving Certs/Bonds tbh.

DC

Try http://boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=544 on boards

masterK

You'll probably be better putting this in the Business section.

First off, you're mad leaving that sort of money in a current account. I'd set up a savings account with Rabodirect or an other high interest deposit account ASAP.

Once that is done you can take more time to look at other options. Have you considered investing in shares or in managed funds?

masterK

Heyes wrote:

Without sounding smart, the best option really is to make an appointment in the Bank, they ll provide you with a lot more information and ideas that any of us will be able to.

Got to totally disagree with this, the bank will try to sell you products that they offer and will not give you any independant advice. I did this before and all the advisor was interested in was getting me to invest in a high commission investment fund.

RainbowBrite

masterK wrote:

Got to totally disagree with this, the bank will try to sell you products that they offer and will not give you any independant advice. I did this before and all the advisor was interested in was getting me to invest in a high commission investment fund.

Thanks for all your replies.

This is exactly what I thought about going to the banks for advice.

where's Eddie Hobbes when you need him?

This is probably another stupid question, but is RaboDirect & the likes safe?
I don't exactly know what I mean by that, but the banks are institutions where you feel your money is safe, RaboDirect is an online bank, pretty new, coud they go bankrupt & keep all your money, have scams going that swindle your money or anything.

As for shares etc, had a bad experience there before where I lost a good bit of money.
I'll be building my house soon (like in next 2-3 years), marriage, kids etc, so although I know riskier investments will reap better rewards if all goes well, I can't afford to lose any money, it's my little nest egg.

RaboDriect says that with €20k savings, you'd earn €670 interest in one year with them, as opposed to €20 with AIB.
I don't understand DIRT & all that, but could it really be that much?

Does anyone here have a RaboDirect account, & could you recommend it?

Thanks.

ionapaul

I have a Northern Rock account, very similar to Rabodirect. Both banks are safe as houses (or, depending on your view on Irish property prices, safer than houses!) and with more interest rate increases on the way, you'll be getting a better return on your cash as time goes on.

newestUser

Askaboutmoney.com is your best bet. It's an Irish website, so you'll get a local perspective on what your options are. Have a good look through it, there's lots of info there. As you've said there's no point in going to a financial institution for advice, they'll just try and sell you their products. You have to do your own homework, and I think Askaboutmoney.com is the best place to start.

Moderator Comment: Ehhh, can we stop telling people to go to a different website to get advice? There's enough people on boards to be able to offer advice/help, as is seen by the multitude of responses to the OP's questions.

Lambsbread

ionapaul wrote:

I have a Northern Rock account, very similar to Rabodirect. Both banks are safe as houses (or, depending on your view on Irish property prices, safer than houses!) and with more interest rate increases on the way, you'll be getting a better return on your cash as time goes on.

Completely agree. I have a rabodirect account and its easy to set and easy to use. I also found them to be very quick when i set up the account. The are backed by RaboBank whcih is probably bigger than AIB and BoI combined.

godtabh

I have about €15k in the bank and am saving €1400 per month so that by the end of the year I will have the deposit for an aparment I just bought.

At the moment I have it in the credit union.

Is there any better options out there to make some extra money?

Would this amount of money be able to make any money on interest or what ever over the next 9 months or so?

LizardKing

I'm in the same boat ... setup a robobank savings account 3.35% interest ...better than the credit union and most banks ... I think ...

godtabh

LizardKing wrote:

I'm in the same boat ... setup a robobank savings account 3.35% interest ...better than the credit union and most banks ... I think ...

Haha I was looking for robobank for ages but found it Rabobank. Another lunch break wasted!

Any one used them? What are the like?

LizardKing

kearnsr wrote:

Haha I was looking for robobank for ages but found it Rabobank. Another lunch break wasted!

Any one used them? What are the like?

OOPS sorry ...

cooperguy

Just move it from ur current account very soon cause your getting a total of 0% interest in there. My advice would be to move it to the credit union (where the interest is higher than the banks) until you get a chance to organise something fancier (if thats what you want to do)

RainbowBrite

Thanks again.

Anyone hear of the Online Savings plan from AIB, says it offers 3.5% interest (approx)
This is nearly as good as Rabo, anyone any experience of it.

Also, does Rabo provide you with an ATM card or anything?

whizzbang

RainbowBrite wrote:

Thanks again.

Anyone hear of the Online Savings plan from AIB, says it offers 3.5% interest (approx)
This is nearly as good as Rabo, anyone any experience of it.

Also, does Rabo provide you with an ATM card or anything?

The AIB one is not that great as you can only put in €1000 a month. So it would take you 25 months to put all your savings in there!

I have a Rabo direct account and it is very good! They are the largest bank in Europe I think so your money is safe. Also they have very funny ads, for a bank.

no ATM card yet, but that just means you don't spend the money

J

Sam Vimes

give it to me. i'll put it to good use

RainbowBrite

Thanks Whizzbang, I had overlooked the point.
I thought I'd be able to put in the lumpsum first & then ad monthly to it, but you're right, there's NO mention of that, so I think I'll go with Rabo.

RainbowBrite

Commander Vimes wrote:

give it to me. i'll put it to good use

What type of payback will I receive from you?

Esel

RainbowBrite wrote:

..At the minute, these savings are just sitting in my current account doing nothing....

Sorry to be blunt, but the €20K is doing something - two things actually. Firstly, it is earning about 9% for AIB, who are loaning it to someone else. Secondly, it's value in real terms is being eaten away by inflation (now 3.8%?).

Spend about €100 with an Independent Financial Advisor (the regulated kind). Do it now.

cooperguy

RainbowBrite wrote:

Thanks again.

Anyone hear of the Online Savings plan from AIB, says it offers 3.5% interest (approx)
This is nearly as good as Rabo, anyone any experience of it.

Also, does Rabo provide you with an ATM card or anything?

A savings account doesnt have an atm card a current account does. And current accounts dont earn you interest

tricky@

I know AIB are launching a new savings account from june, 5% interest for the first year so is more competitive than rabo direct although after the first 12 months the interest rate will revert to the ECB rate ,no restrictions on withdrawing cash from the account though so its a good deal if you have some cash sitting in a current account earning no interest.

Alun

Another vote for rabodirect.ie ... the Rabobank is a Dutch bank, originally a 'farmers' bank, much like the Credit Agricole in France. In 2005, the Rabobank group had total assets of >500 billion euro, so I don't think they'll be going bankrupt anytime soon. Plus I did quite a bit of IT work for them when I lived in Holland, so they must be good

The way it works is that you also have a sort-of-current account with the Rabo, so that you can transfer money from your normal bank account to it, and then on to your savings account. You can't do anything else with it though,a nd you don't get any cards or cheques with it.

Hitchhiker's Guide to...

Merged the TWO threads on savings started today, both asking the same question!

Can we stop telling people to go to discussion rooms on other websites to get information in investments?! It's going to lead to a fairly dead investment forum on this website if we keep on sending people to a different investment forum on a rival website to ask the same question.

Esel

kearnsr wrote:

I have about €15k in the bank and am saving €1400 per month so that by the end of the year I will have the deposit for an aparment I just bought...

Explain that? At the end of the year you will have saved the deposit for an apartment you just bought?

Sam Vimes

RainbowBrite wrote:

What type of payback will I receive from you?

a hug

LizardKing

anyone know how to setup a transfer from rabobank to another bank , need to set this up to be ready for when I am due to pay the saved part of my mortgage ... gonna try a test run to see how long it takes to get through ...

r3nu4l

esel wrote:

Spend about €100 with an Independent Financial Advisor (the regulated kind). Do it now.

While a regulated IFA can be good, they also have their problems. Some (legitimately) operate on commission. They are still independent, just operate on a commission (as the Americans say, go figure).

The rest usually operate on a fee basis but you need to ask if they cover the whole market and what exactly their qualifications are. Some are excellent on mortgages but useless at savings, others are great for pensions and long-term investments but again useless for savings.

Bottom line:

1. Take it out of your current account

2. Visit as many bank websites as you can and read carefully

3. Determine if you are allowed to deposit a lump sum

4. Determine if the account you are interested in is instant access/notice/fixed term (decide which you want)

5. Determine the interest rates offered. Are they fixed, variable, does that 7% offer end after X months to be replaced bys some dismally low percentage?

6. Examine the fees and charges. Does the bank charge or penalise for withdrawals (should you need to)? Do they charge account maintanance? etc.

7. Other posters, please feel free to add.

Either way, get out of current account now, use it for day to day living expenses only, not saving.

RainbowBrite

Roundtower2 wrote:

Merged the TWO threads on savings started today, both asking the same question!

Don't know if you're implying that this is V odd & therefore from the same person, can I just say that I've nothing whatsoever to do with the other person who poseted something similar.

Just before people start calling me a troll or something.

Thanks for everyines advice, very helpful!

(I emailed AIB a few days ago asking them what products do they have to suit my needs, & explained exactly what I want to do. Surprise surprise, their customer service has been fantastic as usual:- not a whisper from them!!! Fcukers!!!:- if it was a case where they were intitled to swindle more money out of me you can be sure you'd hear from them then!!!)

Hitchhiker's Guide to...

RainbowBrite wrote:

Don't know if you're implying that this is V odd & therefore from the same person, can I just say that I've nothing whatsoever to do with the other person who poseted something similar.

Just before people start calling me a troll or something.

no, of course not, was just pointing out that the second thread-starter could have just asked his/her question in the first thread.

nothing about trolls etc ... just housekeeping

LizardKing

LizardKing wrote:

anyone know how to setup a transfer from rabobank to another bank , need to set this up to be ready for when I am due to pay the saved part of my mortgage ... gonna try a test run to see how long it takes to get through ...

I'll answer my own Q (emailed rabodirect).... You can only transfer money externally from your rabo current account , so you need to transfer from savings to current , then to outside account ... its quite easy to do ...

"
Thank you for your question.
To transfer from your Savings Account with RaboDirect to your Current Account and then onto your primary bank account, simply go to the secure site and login in. Then go to Payments, then Transfer and then Add. Leave the payment date blank. Make sure that your Savings Account is selected under the Payment Date Box, then on the right of the screen, enter the amount you wish to transfer. Then the next box is for the
sort code for RaboDirect which is 99.02.60 and the next box is then for your Current account No. The FOR box, is simply a reference for when you are viewing your statement on-line. Simply enter your name in this field. Ignore the payments details box and press continue. This will then pop up a confirmation screen. Press Confirm here and then you must use your Digipass. When you enter your Pin Code into the DigiPass, APPLI will pop up on the DigiPass Screen. Press 2 and five - will come up, enter the six digit code that is on the computer screen and then press send. This will complete the transfer. Creat another transfer the same way to your primary bank account.
"

godtabh

I cant see where this has been asked all ready but with an on line savings account whats the story with tax?

I assume you have to pay DIRT? What about the credit card/laser card/current account tax? Does this apply here?

r3nu4l

Yep, with an online account your interest is automatically taxed at the standard DIRT rate. Nice to know the governement are getting their slice without you having to worry about it

I'm not aware of any dedicated savings accounts that allow you to run a credit/debit card from them. The point of most "high"-interest accounts is as a vehicle for saving only, not to act as a current account.

You should only ever use your current account for credit/debit card payments.

godtabh

r3nu4l wrote:

Yep, with an online account your interest is automatically taxed at the standard DIRT rate. Nice to know the governement are getting their slice without you having to worry about it

I'm not aware of any dedicated savings accounts that allow you to run a credit/debit card from them. The point of most "high"-interest accounts is as a vehicle for saving only, not to act as a current account.

You should only ever use your current account for credit/debit card payments.

Withe the Rabodirect account you can have a current account as well. It says on the site that there are no other charges for Rabodirect current account. But the goverment has a plastic tax doesnt it?

Just noticed as well AIB has a 5% savings account. Any one know whats that like?

adox

Just a quick question about withdrawing money from a rabodirect savings account.

Can you withdraw money from the account into a current account with a different bank online or what way does it work excately?

I have around €10,000 lying in my current account and I`d like to move it to a savings account.I`m not sure if and when I may need to get my hands on some or all of the money so would like to know how accessable it is.

I`ve been meaning to do something with it since before christmas and its time I moved it to a place of benefit.

LizardKing

With the RABODIRECT account you have a current and a savings account. To transfer funds you need to put the money into the rabo current account (from the rabo savings account, this transfer is immediate) Once in the rabo current account you can setup a transfer to another current account and withdraw (this transfer can take a few days to go through)

adox

LizardKing wrote:

With the RABODIRECT account you have a current and a savings account. To transfer funds you need to put the money into the rabo current account (from the rabo savings account, this transfer is immediate) Once in the rabo current account you can setup a transfer to another current account and withdraw (this transfer can take a few days to go through)

Thanks for the help LizardKing.
I`m going to apply for an account tomorow when I`m back in work(no printer here at home).