Just started work. what do i do to save & invest

teckno

Hi All, I am a 22 year old graduate and I have just started full time employment in the recreation and leisure sector. I have got a very good jobs with a decent salary 42k, I have just been paid and I have a money now just in my current bank account.
Has anybody any opinions on what i should do in regard to savings and investments. Im single and still living at home and not planning on moving out just yet, i would like to save and invest wisely, i have my current bank account and a credit union account which i save in regularly. Has anybody any opinions about what I should or should not do

C.chiron

Read a good book on investing ( jim slaters the zulu principle and beyond the zulu principle ) for your libary ; available 2nd hand on amazon. look up trustnet.com to get info on investment trusts which would be a good way for a beginer to invest while learning ' how to '

A Random Walk

I would suggest you figure out what you will need cash for in the future. First job is probably to get an emergency fund together (unemployment, health problems etc) which should be kept as a bank deposit. Any near term requirements (e.g. within 5 years so house deposit, weddings and the like) should be kept in the bank also and you will want to look into more longterm investments for longterm money (equities, property etc)

I would buy one of the simple "Family Finance" type books first to give you the basic overview. There are lots of "how to get rich in investing" books, they're mostly a waste of time - if the author knew how to get rich he wouldn't be writing books for a living.

homer911

...and dont forget tax efficient pension contributions - the earlier you start...

fobster

In a similar situation myself, started a grad job in september. For the moment I've set up a halifax current a/c and have my salary put into that to get the 10% interest. I was thinking about investing with Rabo in the enrgy/commodities/metals area just a matter of sorting all the info they want.

Thinking about buying shares as a long-term side investment, some good opportunities to be had especially with some of the banks and one or two other companies.

moe_sizlak

people assume just because bank shares have been going down like a led balloon lately that there good value , i dont , banks do well on the back of a strong economy, ours is on the way down and due to the housing market being in poor health , you will see more and more reposessions which will not help banks either , i think banks will be in worse shape this time next year than they are now

dunkamania

THe yield alone is pretty tempting as long as dividends arent cut

Running Bing

fobster wrote: »

In a similar situation myself, started a grad job in september. For the moment I've set up a halifax current a/c and have my salary put into that to get the 10% interest. I was thinking about investing with Rabo in the enrgy/commodities/metals area just a matter of sorting all the info they want.

Thinking about buying shares as a long-term side investment, some good opportunities to be had especially with some of the banks and one or two other companies.

Halifax give 10% on their current accounts:eek: Is that APR?

fobster

Babybing wrote: »

Halifax give 10% on their current accounts:eek: Is that APR?

Ts&Cs apply. You have to fund the account with €1500 a month and interest of 10% per annum is paid up to a balance of €2000.

The true compounded annual interest is 10.47% when you work out (1+.1/12)^12.

ircoha

teckno wrote: »

Hi All, I am a 22 year old graduate and I have just started full time employment in the recreation and leisure sector. I have got a very good jobs with a decent salary 42k, I have just been paid and I have a money now just in my current bank account.
Has anybody any opinions on what i should do in regard to savings and investments. Im single and still living at home and not planning on moving out just yet, i would like to save and invest wisely, i have my current bank account and a credit union account which i save in regularly. Has anybody any opinions about what I should or should not do

OP, given your age consider some long-term investment product that carry a life cover element so that if an when you need life cover for a mortgage it is already in place: like pensions the sooner the better.

Once you have the emergency fund set up then think long-term with say equities
say u plan on retiring at 50 then you can take a 20 year view and start getting into cash or near cash 10 to 8 years before u retire.

The key to any investment strategy is a diversity of [ asset and risk classes and liquidity profiles ]
If you take the time you can learn the basics and self admin the process, saving on all the fees people charge for managing your money, where on average they will not 'beat the market'

kaiser sauze

ircoha wrote: »

OP, given your age consider some long-term investment product that carry a life cover element so that if an when you need life cover for a mortgage it is already in place.....

I would disagree very strongly with this.

Having life cover in some shape or fashion is never bad advice, but tying it into an investment and saying that you may use it in future for mortgage protection is folly.

I am not saying that this can't be done, but bear these facts in mind:

1 - Life cover as part of an investment is eating into the premium you are paying; this means that your savings are not benefiting from the amount you're actually paying in, part of it is paying for your cover.

2 - How are you to know the level of life cover you will need for a mortgage in the future? You might end up with too little and have to get another policy out in any case.

3 - If the investment is a fixed term, say 10 years, with no option to continue it at maturity, a mortgage provider would almost certainly refuse it. How many people take out 10 year mortgages?

The only benefit that I garner from the above advice is that you have cover out before a medical condition, that would impair you from getting cover, possibly blocks you from obtaining any. I am assuming that you are healthy and have no existing conditions (given your age).

kincsem

Buy one share of BRKB for about $4,750. Get rich slowly.

And that tip about putting money into a pension fund now is good. I bought extra years service (your pension is usually years service divided by 60), and also topped that up with AVCs (additional voluntary contributions) so that when I retired last year at 56 I had a pension and extra cash. You won't miss 10% or 15% pension deductions as you get tax relief on them so it will be a smaller reduction in net pay. In effect the taxman funds your pension.