I need Help investing small money

abadref

Hi.

Rather than just saving a few hundred a month I would like to begin investing small money every month and having the ability to withdraw when I please.

Is there anywhere I can go and put €300 pm into something come back a few weeks later and withdraw that whether it have lost or gained?
All online and easily of course.

If not can someone recommend an alternative?
Is there such a thing as a Pension where I can put in what I like every month?
Is it possible to invest in bonds with small money every month or must I pay once off in lump sum?

Sorry if i seem a bit clueless I really am .

Thanks in advance

ulinbac

For the markets depositing and withdrawing so often will mean high transaction costs.

How about a fixed 3 month account with your local bank and earn interest like that?

No risk or fuss but you need a lump sum eg €2. Otherwise you are stuck with a regular savings account or prize bonds. No point dabbling in the markets unless your putting it into a fund and not touching it until retirement.

Maybe talk to a financial broker also but only if you want to keep it in and not take it out for a larger time frame

brick1

have a look at trustnet.com. A lot of the funds will accept £500 minimum lump sum investment.
Check money supermarket.com it may be possible to put funds into investment trusts without commision.
have a read off moneyweek or money observer magazine for trust ratings and suggestions.
I suggest this would be a good way to start as while you would not have the funds to trade in and out of the market or use derivatives a fund manager has and as an example of how qiuckly a manager can turn around a fund after a stockmarket down move have a look at the chart for the trust BIOG.
You can buy into themes like a certain country or biotech for example without having the downside of been stuck with a holding at your scale where it would be too expensive to sell it when things go wrong.
also ETF's as a low cost way to build up a holding. read investors insight (john mauldin) ,seeking alpha,etc

Boardnashea

Investment funds through a Rabo ac are easy to operate. No minimum investment (I think). And fees are small. I have used them for 3 - 6 month periods. Using them for 3 - 6 weeks may be a bit short to see results.
I have no connection with Rabo apart from being a customer (just deposits at present).

Nwm2

abadref wrote: »

Hi.

Rather than just saving a few hundred a month I would like to begin investing small money every month and having the ability to withdraw when I please.

Is there anywhere I can go and put €300 pm into something come back a few weeks later and withdraw that whether it have lost or gained?
All online and easily of course.

If not can someone recommend an alternative?
Is there such a thing as a Pension where I can put in what I like every month?
Is it possible to invest in bonds with small money every month or must I pay once off in lump sum?

Sorry if i seem a bit clueless I really am .

Thanks in advance

Overall I would say that you seem as if you would benefit from some general advice on saving and investing, more than answering your specific questions, so I'll separate the post in two.

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Specific questions:

Look at regular savers accounts, where you can get up to 4.5%, see here:

http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=20747

You get instant access to this money and is a pretty good place to keep cash, although note that you will almost certainly pay DIRT tax on the interest at 41%.

As mentioned, Rabo funds will allow you to invest at the cost of 0.75% initial fee, then 0.45% to 1.5% annual fee (or more), and 0.75% fee when you withdraw (plus paying tax on the gains). They are a reasonable solution for regular novice investors, with small amounts to invest.

https://www.rabodirect.ie/investments/im-new-to-investing/default.aspx

If investing in funds, I would tend to invest in 'index tracking' funds (you can select these at the Rabo site) as these tend to have the lowest fees and better overall performance compared to 'actively managed' funds.

On bonds - Rabo have bond funds you can invest in also.

As regards pensions, this is really a very long term investment and in general you should not be thinking of this as short term savings in any sense, but you can set up a personal pension plan (PRSA) and any contributions you make will reduce your tax bill and you have a limited ability to withdraw the money back.

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General:

Much depends on your age, work situation, family situation etc.

Make sure you pay off any expensive loans before you invest (credit card, car loan, mortgage if on a variable rate).

Then build up to having 6 months expenses in cash as an emergency fund. This prevents you having to sell your investments at an inopportune time to fund some crisis. Keep this cash in the best deposit account you can find.

What are your pension arrangements? Some of your best value savings come from your tax-free pension contributions (up to a limit).

What are you saving for? Why might you need to withdraw after a few months? Investing in shares (either directly or through Rabo-type funds) should be for several years. If you plan to buy a home in a couple of years I wouldn't be putting that cash into the stock market.

If you hold the Rabo funds for 5 years, then the Rabo fees account for 0.75% annually on the cheapest funds. What they don't tell you is the cost of running the fund (buying and selling the shares, paying all their bills) - this is a hidden cost subtracted from the value of your stake and might be another 0.5% or more.

You can do a bit better than the Rabo funds by going to a stockbroker and buying 'Exchange Traded Funds'. These can have total annual cost as low as <0.1% plus the cost of the account with the broker and the cost of buying the ETFs. This approach is not suited to regular monthly investing of small amounts as the cost of buying €300 worth of ETFs might be €15 or more (5%), but if you were to save up for several months it could begin to work out cheaper.