Looking for investment advice... A bit out of my depth.

QuadLeo

Hey, I've been reading a lot of threads on this forum recently. Some really good advice around here, but I find there's a pretty steep learning curve when it comes to investments/stocks/shares etc... I'm looking for some input/advice about what to do with my savings. I have a few ideas but I'm a bit out of my depth, as I said.
Simply put, I’ve recently received around €30k as part of a severance package. I’ve had it on deposit in a bank account since then (with a pretty low interest rate of 2.4%APR). Because of all the uncertainty over the euro zone and inflation etc… I’m anxious to secure this money ASAP. I don’t want to wake up some day and find out that €30k has become 500punt or something like that.

I’m thinking about spreading it around a bit (not wanting to put all my eggs in one basket). So I’ve already bought some shares around €3k worth. I was thinking about buying some gold also but that seems to be in a ‘bubble’ at the moment. Everyone is talking about gold so that can’t be good. So what I’m asking really is what would you do if you had this money to invest? I’m not looking for a massive return or growth. What I want is secure investments with lowish risk. Something that would keep up with inflation and keep my savings secure for a few years (3-5 years).

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Grecco

I doubt your out of your depth, don't be so lazy and foolish go and do a bit of research, read a book or two on investing and then go at it

irishh_bob

QuadLeo wrote: »

Hey, I've been reading a lot of threads on this forum recently. Some really good advice around here, but I find there's a pretty steep learning curve when it comes to investments/stocks/shares etc... I'm looking for some input/advice about what to do with my savings. I have a few ideas but I'm a bit out of my depth, as I said.
Simply put, I’ve recently received around €30k as part of a severance package. I’ve had it on deposit in a bank account since then (with a pretty low interest rate of 2.4%APR). Because of all the uncertainty over the euro zone and inflation etc… I’m anxious to secure this money ASAP. I don’t want to wake up some day and find out that €30k has become 500punt or something like that.

I’m thinking about spreading it around a bit (not wanting to put all my eggs in one basket). So I’ve already bought some shares around €3k worth. I was thinking about buying some gold also but that seems to be in a ‘bubble’ at the moment. Everyone is talking about gold so that can’t be good. So what I’m asking really is what would you do if you had this money to invest? I’m not looking for a massive return or growth. What I want is secure investments with lowish risk. Something that would keep up with inflation and keep my savings secure for a few years (3-5 years).

Thanks in advance for any advice.

perhaps you should stick a third of your money in gold
a third in stocks and a third in savings

stocks like nestle , vodafone , tesco or irish companys like kerry , paddy power , theese are all solid if unexciting shares which should give you a modest return

QuadLeo

Grecco wrote: »

don't be so lazy and foolish go and do a bit of research, read a book or two on investing and then go at it

Eh that's not helpful at all. I'm not a fool. I have a very basic grasp of these things and I'm asking for some advice. You don't seem to realise that not everyone has an aptitude for money matters and investments. I'm not lazy at all. I've been reading up on these things for a while now and every article I read conflicts with the previous one. I'm looking for some basic advice on safe investments. So I'd appreciate if you held back on the personal insults and kept your mouth shut if you've nothing to say.

Grecco

If you think what I had to say amounts to an insult or nothing then i was right to say it.
Its the best advice you`ll ever get Mister

cloonton

Hi QuadLeo. It sounds to me like you're risk adverse. Have you considered putting your money in an An Post Savings Bond? 10% tax free after 3 years, or their Savings Certs which give 20ish% after 5.5 years. Investments are all well and good, but I can understand where you're coming from with not wanting to wake up one day and find your €30k investment is wiped out. At least stay away from gold, would be my advice. Or at least only invest what you can afford to lose! Of course that advice applies to everything you invest in.
That's my 2 cent, anyway!

QuadLeo

Grecco wrote: »

If you think what I had to say amounts to an insult or nothing then i was right to say it.
Its the best advice you`ll ever get Mister

Please don't patronise me. I'm not here to get some random advice and follow it blindly. I respect that other people, and some users on boards included, are more knowledgable about investments than I am and I'm asking for their input. That is all. I'm looking for advice and suggestions on where might be a safe option for my money. Give me a break.

QuadLeo

cloonton wrote: »

Hi QuadLeo. It sounds to me like you're risk adverse. Have you considered putting your money in an An Post Savings Bond? 10% tax free after 3 years, or their Savings Certs which give 20ish% after 5.5 years. Investments are all well and good, but I can understand where you're coming from with not wanting to wake up one day and find your €30k investment is wiped out. At least stay away from gold, would be my advice. Or at least only invest what you can afford to lose! Of course that advice applies to everything you invest in.
That's my 2 cent, anyway!

Thanks for that. So to probe this a little bit, and excuse my ignorance, but if I put all my money (just as an example) into An Post Savings Bonds, and the euro currency collapses in the mean time and we revert to púnt, will my savings bonds hold their value or will it devalue with the euro?

irishh_bob

Grecco wrote: »

If you think what I had to say amounts to an insult or nothing then i was right to say it.
Its the best advice you`ll ever get Mister

your reply was high handed and over bearing , as for your assertion that its the best advice he,l ever get , thats quite an ego you,ve got there MR

irishh_bob

QuadLeo wrote: »

Thanks for that. So to probe this a little bit, and excuse my ignorance, but if I put all my money (just as an example) into An Post Savings Bonds, and the euro currency collapses in the mean time and we revert to púnt, will my savings bonds hold their value or will it devalue with the euro?

it would indeed devalue but if we end up leaving the euro , i dont think anyone can completley escape the fallout , heres a tip from experience , dont go near investment funds which banks offer , four out of five of them never make a schilling as any gains are either swallowed up in fees or the banks simply fling the money at any kind of a dud company , they get paid regardless , i invested with an irish life fund a few years back , i chose carefully , avoided property and focused on india - china plus commodities , despite the massive growth in india and china and a commoditys boom , i lost money , the vast majority of those funds are dogs , nothing but vechiles for banks to make handy money , buy direct shares if you want to play the markets

paky

im sure you could buy a house somewhere with 30,000 nowadays.

cloonton

QuadLeo wrote: »

Thanks for that. So to probe this a little bit, and excuse my ignorance, but if I put all my money (just as an example) into An Post Savings Bonds, and the euro currency collapses in the mean time and we revert to púnt, will my savings bonds hold their value or will it devalue with the euro?

Well based on this example, the real value of your investment would remain the same. Presumably your investment would be converted into Punts at the new rate...
Tbh, OP, you say you want security of investment. Like I say, you should only invest what you can afford to lose. Investing in stocks seems like a far bigger gamble, to me, then a State (and by default European) backed deposit account.
Btw, I was quoting An Post's rates out of pure lazyness as I've seen them advertising lately. Have you looked at other medium term deposit accounts with, perhaps, foreign based institutions?

QuadLeo

cloonton wrote: »

Well based on this example, the real value of your investment would remain the same. Presumably your investment would be converted into Punts at the new rate...

But in this case I'd imagine the exchange rate could be awful, right??. ie: €10k = 2k punt.

cloonton wrote: »

Tbh, OP, you say you want security of investment. Like I say, you should only invest what you can afford to lose. Investing in stocks seems like a far bigger gamble, to me, then a State (and by default European) backed deposit account.
Btw, I was quoting An Post's rates out of pure lazyness as I've seen them advertising lately. Have you looked at other medium term deposit accounts with, perhaps, foreign based institutions?

I can't really afford to lose anything which is why I'm so paranoid and i'm trying to be careful. I was looking at Rabo's Term Deposits. 4years, 11.00% gross return. But An Post Saving Bonds is better at 15%.

I think what I'm really looking for is a way to secure my savings in the case of a euro currency collapse. I'm pretty paranoid that this might happen.

bacon?

I'm in the same boat dude. I'm coming into a severance package in the next month myself.

There's loads of really good info on here and askaboutmoney.com. Seems you're not the only one worried about the euro collapsing.

I'll be doing the same as yourself, spreading it around a little. I think I may even get some professional advice, there's a good link on AAM, not sure if I can post it here, I'll pm you. But I think it may be worth forking out a couple of hundred for independent financial advice... probably save you a lot in the long run.

As for gold, I'll be buying a few grand myself. I use Bullion Vault myself, really easy to use and you actually own the physical gold. They give you a gram free to play around with, worth about 30 or 40 euro I think.

Aparantly ETF's are good.. there's loads of videos on youtube explaining them. So, just go out and soak up as much info as possible.

FISMA

QuadLeo,
Have you a home that you own?

Will you be able to find another job and qualify for a mortgage?

With the fire-sale prices in Eire these days I would consider buying a home.

Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful. Warren Buffet

bacon?

FISMA wrote: »

QuadLeo,
Have you a home that you own?

Will you be able to find another job and qualify for a mortgage?

With the fire-sale prices in Eire these days I would consider buying a home.

Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful. Warren Buffet

I was looking into this possibility myself... as I already own a home, the tax implications on an investment property don't make it too favourable.

Also, if you are buying as an investment property... there's a lot of hassle that goes with it.

That said... if you can get something at a complete bargain... then it may be worth it.

FISMA

bacon? wrote: »

I'm in the same boat dude. I'm coming into a severance package in the next month myself.

There's loads of really good info on here and askaboutmoney.com. Seems you're not the only one worried about the euro collapsing.

I'll be doing the same as yourself, spreading it around a little. I think I may even get some professional advice, there's a good link on AAM, not sure if I can post it here, I'll pm you. But I think it may be worth forking out a couple of hundred for independent financial advice... probably save you a lot in the long run.

As for gold, I'll be buying a few grand myself. I use Bullion Vault myself, really easy to use and you actually own the physical gold. They give you a gram free to play around with, worth about 30 or 40 euro I think.

Aparantly ETF's are good.. there's loads of videos on youtube explaining them. So, just go out and soak up as much info as possible.

bacon?,
I would watch buying from bullionvault and the like. Although, I just read about them from your post and have never had any dealings with them.

First, check the volume. There's two ways to buy gold: physical or paper. If you want to buy, sell, or dump it fast, than a paper gold - an ETF is the way to go. I like to buy physical.

In the event of a stock market meltdown, what will happen to the ETF's and goldvault?

Also, I do not understand how they can claim to have the gold on hand, or even a percentage thereof.

It seems to be if they are required to hold a certain %, the more sales, the more they must acquire. But if they are buying for the ETF, aren't they going to drive the price up on themselves?

Again, I do not know how they work it. However, if the market crashed and all of the investors said "I would like my gold now please," I would be shocked if everyone got paid out.

On the plus side of an ETF, there's usually a buyer and you can always put in a stop loss.

I'm going to do a write up on buying gold for this forum. Should be up in a day or two. I think you may like it.

irishh_bob

FISMA wrote: »

bacon?,
I would watch buying from bullionvault and the like. Although, I just read about them from your post and have never had any dealings with them.

First, check the volume. There's two ways to buy gold: physical or paper. If you want to buy, sell, or dump it fast, than a paper gold - an ETF is the way to go. I like to buy physical.

In the event of a stock market meltdown, what will happen to the ETF's and goldvault?

Also, I do not understand how they can claim to have the gold on hand, or even a percentage thereof.

It seems to be if they are required to hold a certain %, the more sales, the more they must acquire. But if they are buying for the ETF, aren't they going to drive the price up on themselves?

Again, I do not know how they work it. However, if the market crashed and all of the investors said "I would like my gold now please," I would be shocked if everyone got paid out.

On the plus side of an ETF, there's usually a buyer and you can always put in a stop loss.

I'm going to do a write up on buying gold for this forum. Should be up in a day or two. I think you may like it.

far as i know , goldcore charge up on 4% commission to buy physical , do you know of anyone who is keener than that

unalloacted gold btw is 2% commision with goldcore

FISMA

irishh_bob wrote: »

far as i know , goldcore charge up on 4% commission to buy physical , do you know of anyone who is keener than that

unalloacted gold btw is 2% commision with goldcore

I'll have my how-to post up tonight.

I am in the states and have sussed many dealers out.

Lesson learned - buy from GainesvilleCoins.com .

I believe they ship internationally.

Check them out!

irishh_bob

FISMA wrote: »

I'll have my how-to post up tonight.

I am in the states and have sussed many dealers out.

Lesson learned - buy from GainesvilleCoins.com .

I believe they ship internationally.

Check them out!

what if you want to buy a few bars of the stuff , shipping charges etc

HowFinancial

Talk to a good Financial Advisor (there should be no direct charge). If you can't find a good one email me.
Have a look at Secured Investments, Asset Allocation, and investment vehicles in foreign denominated currency.
When speaking to Financial Advisor have a clear idea roughly how long you want to put money away for. The longer you can afford to put it away for the better the returns you can hope to get. Also, ask yourself how much you are prepared to loose (if any) in the hopes of a greater return.
If risk averse, "secured investments" will usually offer protection of anywhere from 75% to 100% on your initial capital.
Best of luck!

bullyakeen

Hey Mate,

I know how you feel with a lump sum and wondering what to do with it,....if you choose to put some in a share , have a look at Patagonia Gold in the UK stockmarket. I've invested in them at 26p and at the moment they are trading at 63p. They are uncovering more gold resources every few months and gold is the only place to be at the moment. There worth a bit research anyway. Best of luck.

OfflerCrocGod

Invest in a Financial Times subscription and try and read it everyday. Any terms that you are not familiar with Google them and keep doing that until you start to fully understand articles.

Read all the articles in http://monevator.com/ get books, read Motley Fool. Make a fake portfolio and invest in that for at least 6 months.