Saving efficiently?

Rabobank are closing their investment account which is sad

You could try have an instant access savings account with a small amount for emergencies, and a notice one for actual savings, in a different bank with a better interest rate if possible

Viscount Aggro

Forget about interest rates, they are near to zero after DIRT - instead focus on savings rate. If you had 30K after tax income and you were stashing away 1K each month, thats a return on investment of 40% after tax. Think about them apples, compounded over a few years.

somesoldiers

Viscount Aggro wrote: »

Forget about interest rates, they are near to zero after DIRT - instead focus on savings rate. If you had 30K after tax income and you were stashing away 1K each month, thats a return on investment of 40% after tax. Think about them apples, compounded over a few years.

I had e50K in the credit union all last year (money left over from selling a house to be used as deposit for another one, needed it handy enough to get to and not locked away) guess how much interest I earned? ....e100


God be with the days when saving for my first house I used to get 6% off Anglo....what ever happen those guys?

LionelNashe

turnikett1 wrote: »

How the hell do ye do it? I have a 21 days savings account, which is meant to mean that I can only access it on a 21 days notice. However, if you simply go into the bank itself and ask for a transfer, they'll do it with no fee incurred. Similarly, the bank has a telephone line that is open from 8am-10pm on weekdays and 10am - 5pm on weekends. The whole process of ringing them, asking for a transfer (with no penalty) and hanging up takes about 2-3 minutes. So in effect it is pretty much a useless savings account (on my part!).

I had a credit union account but it was the same shenanigans, just pop in whenever I'm broke and withdraw some money. It's not even that I'm blowing all my money, I just don't have a lot to begin with and in those 2ish days before I get paid (weekly) I need to get better at just sticking it out and eating pasta.

Do ye have any foolproof methods to saving money? Any way for it to absolutely positively NOT be touched!? I need help...

Putting money out of reach to avoid spending it on wasteful stuff makes sense, but locking it away so that you won't spend it on basic groceries doesn't sound like a good idea. Are there any small ways that you could spend less throughout the week? What supermarkets do you use? Do you make a packed lunch, or buy it? Do you drink takeaway coffee? Are you paying interest on credit cards or an overdraft? What about bank fees? I'd imagine they charge for the assisted transactions? Do you pay attention to prices?

kyeev

Viscount Aggro wrote: »

You need to start thinking of REAL savings. Not putting away 50 or 100 per month, but more like 1000 per month. Not everyone can do that. But a middle earner family with 40K income could do it. Leave the investing for another day.

I can tell you right now, as a middle income earner family there is no way in hell I could save 1000 per month on 40k when I have mortgage to pay...

daheff

valoren wrote: »

How would they be sued? Genuine question.

That the value of the investment can fall I'm presuming?

the person providing the investment advice needs to ensure that the person acting on it understands it and can accept/understand the risks involved (including loss of investment).

Multiple cases of improper advice being given by brokers and clients suing afterwards (and in most cases winning).

daheff

seamus wrote: »

It's actually not bad advice provided that you're disciplined about it.

It is if you are not financially lierate enough to understand what you are investing into and how/when you can access your funds. I get the impression that the OP isnt fully aware of the product they already have.

seamus wrote: »

Spreading your money out across a wide range of multinational blue-chip companies means that your money will track international inflation over the long-term, up and down. It will be immune to small national events and currency devaluation.

In a standard savings account, inflation of your savings is at the whim of the bank and the local conditions and very vulnerable to upsets in currencies or local conditions.

In the former you potentially miss out on cycles where the local conditions are very strong (a la Celtic Tiger), but it also leaves you insulated from any massive busts.

As an investment strategy for somebody who understands equities/index funds /etfs/taxable gains /longer term investing etc then its not a bad strategy. Regular investing smoothes out blips in the market (like a pension).