save in bank or credit union?

mondeo

Hi there

So do people choose to save their money in a bank or a credit union these days?

I'm thinking of opening up a credit union account for this purpose. Which would I be better of saving in?

Thanks:)

chris85

mondeo wrote: »

Hi there

So do people choose to save their money in a bank or a credit union these days?

I'm thinking of opening up a credit union account for this purpose. Which would I be better of saving in?

Thanks:)

The one which gives you the better rate.

JTMan

Banks almost always give a better rate of return than a CU.

Scortho

Definitely the one that gives a better rate.

As far as I know youre tied to the local credit union or occupational credit union. While you can join any bank in Ireland, you can't with the credit union.
You have to have some sort if bond with it-community,occupation or association.
So even though the Garda credit union has some of the best benefits, you can't join it if you're not a guard or directly related to a guard-son/daughter.

Also credit union works as shares. So the interest rate won't be given. It's paid as a dividend at the end of the year which is linked to the performance of the credit union.

While the credit union in the neighbouring town might have paid a dividend of 3% last year, your local credit union might have paid 0. This happened in most credit unions in the last few years. So in effect you can lose money, when inflation is taken into account.

That said I still have a credit union account with about 10% savings in it as its a very easy place to get a loan if ever required too. They're also easier to deal with if you fall behind in repayments.

How much do you want to save, is it a lump sum or is it monthly amounts? Do you require instant access or are you willing to have it under stricter notice? E.g 7 days, 30 days, 1 year, 3 years, 5 years or 10 years. All these factors need to be decided on before you can decide where you wish to save.