Savings certificates

cork1

Has anyone here ever bought An Post savings certificates?? looking at investing 4,500 euro. this seems to be the way to go. it has a 21% gauranteed return over 5 and a half years. any opinions???

Collumbo

Sounds like a safe bet... and risk free and pretty much head-ache free. If you don't mind the cash being locked away for a few years then why not.

On a slightly unrelated matter, I got a present from my Granny when I was born of a £5 savings cert with an post which matured last November. To be honest I hadn't a clue that I had it until I got the letter telling me it was worth €47.86. That's a multiple of 7.5 after converting the fiver to euros... mind you it was over 30 years Pity Granny didn't make it £100

broker2008

cork1 wrote: »

Has anyone here ever bought An Post savings certificates?? looking at investing 4,500 euro. this seems to be the way to go. it has a 21% gauranteed return over 5 and a half years. any opinions???

It really depends how long you want to tie your money up for. You could also look at a high interest deposit account which is more accessible than An Post savings certs especially if you find you need the money within that time frame.

Time Magazine

cork1 wrote: »

Has anyone here ever bought An Post savings certificates?? looking at investing 4,500 euro. this seems to be the way to go. it has a 21% gauranteed return over 5 and a half years. any opinions???

Are these adjusted for inflation? By my reckoning if they're not and inflation runs at 3.8% or above, you're making a net loss.

Inflation is currently well above that, at 5%.

Reyman

Don't forget the Saving Cert interest is Dirt free so the nett returns aren't too far off the the competition

cork1

well i don't mind my money being tied up for 5 years at all as long as its amking something. i already have a regular savers account with AIB. The other thing i was told about today was prize bonds but they dont sound very promising. theres no gaurentee with them. you could get anything between 75 and 1,000,000.

Time Magazine

cork1 wrote: »

well i don't mind my money being tied up for 5 years at all as long as its amking something.

It really looks like you will be losing money once inflation stays near current levels. If inflation stays at or above 3.8% over the period, put simply, you'd buy more with that money now than in five years.

Have you considered putting it away in a fund (see Quinn's or Rabo's for example) for five years?

There's more risk involved but given the battering markets have taken recently, I'd say there's less risk investing broadly (in a large number of funds) now than there was in the previous few years. If I was you, I wouldn't go near saving certs.

daheff

cork1 wrote: »

The other thing i was told about today was prize bonds but they dont sound very promising. theres no gaurentee with them. you could get anything between 75 and 1,000,000.

Forget prize bonds. they are just a cheap way for the government to borrow money. You are guaranteed NOTHING back over and above your initial investment....not even interest. You might win one of the prizes...but i'd doubt it!

Put your money into a savings account-or several .if you can get something that will average above 6%pa (and there are a number of accounts offering this)then you are doing ok.

rinnin

Does anyone know if its possible to electronically transfer funds into a Savings Certificates account from online banking?
Going to the bank & getting a draft is a pain