Savings Advice Needed!!

keep the change

Hi all,

I am hoping that I could get the advice of those much wiser than me on some financial matters!

I have finished college and have landed a contract job of 4 years for myself. The job itself doesn't pay particularly well (~26k), however it is in an area of work I love and additionally it is close to home and I can commute which will allow me to save a bit harder.
I have some money saved up from my student days (20k) and it is sitting in the Credit Union.

I would call myself quite frugal with regard to spending money. So I am hoping that I should be able to save near 20k per year over the course of my contract.

So, I would hope to have near 100K saved up in total by the end of my contract.

Would you have any advice about the best savings accounts or other schemes that would give me the most security or return? Should I move the money from the Credit Union?

I would really appreciate all input and advice guys,

Thanks a million!!!

JTMan

Most credit unions give savers a zero or close to zero return via a dividend.

You could consider the KBC Extra Regular Saver account which will pay 3.00% AER variable. One is allowed a 10,000 EUR lump sum deposit at the start and then allowed save up to 1,000 EUR per month. You must also open a KBC Extra Current Account but there are no fees if you deposit at least 2,500 EUR per month into the account.

Other options list here.

ANXIOUS

keep the change wrote: »

Hi all,

I am hoping that I could get the advice of those much wiser than me on some financial matters!

I have finished college and have landed a contract job of 4 years for myself. The job itself doesn't pay particularly well (~26k), however it is in an area of work I love and additionally it is close to home and I can commute which will allow me to save a bit harder.
I have some money saved up from my student days (20k) and it is sitting in the Credit Union.

I would call myself quite frugal with regard to spending money. So I am hoping that I should be able to save near 20k per year over the course of my contract.

So, I would hope to have near 100K saved up in total by the end of my contract.

Would you have any advice about the best savings accounts or other schemes that would give me the most security or return? Should I move the money from the Credit Union?

I would really appreciate all input and advice guys,

Thanks a million!!!

How would you manage to save €20k on €26k gross?

mickmac76

ANXIOUS wrote: »

How would you manage to save €20k on €26k gross?

This is a good point to make. Even if it turns out that your pay is €26k net your goals appear to be too ambitious. I am also pretty frugal but saving that portion of your salary means you have no social life at all. You need a balance between living and saving for the future.

silent_spark

ANXIOUS wrote: »

How would you manage to save €20k on €26k gross?

If it is €26k gross, your net income will be around €22k, leaving you with €2k to live on for the year. Unless all your expenses (rent/utilities/groceries/phone/work clothes/commuting etc) are being covered by your parents, that does seem a little ambitious.

keep the change

Hey guys, thanks for the input.

@JTMan thanks for the list of options.

I know it sounds ambitious. But, we have a farm at home which I work on at the evenings and weekends, and I get enough money to live reasonably comfortably from that. Which allows me to put any money from my job into savings.

If any of you were in my position, what would you do?

I'm not great with these kind of schemes. But I spoke to a guy a few years ago who told me he had and endowment mortgage. Basically, with his job, his employer provided him with a house. But he had a mortgage which he paid into that he would get back when he was finished.

Thanks for all the replies, I really appreciate it!

silent_spark

I would look at putting your savings into a few different categories. From my (cautious/prudent) perspective I would start with:

Long-term: Retirement, maximise your pension contributions, speak to your employer about starting this as soon as possible (there may be a six month lag)

Mid-Long-term: Mix of low risk (money you need to stay intact - for mortgage deposits etc) to medium/high risk (money you can afford to lose) investments, anything from national solidarity bonds upwards

Mid-term: Easy access, savings for particular things - car replacement fund etc.

Short-term: Easy access, build up six months net income as an umbrella fund in case of illness, job loss etc.

Merowig

I would also consider pension contributions - even if he pays only the lower tax rate right now. Pensions are still a good deal because of compounding.

Boardnashea

I would +1 on the pension contributions. A small payment to a pension/PRSA could leave you with no tax bill. And it would be a great advantage to have a pension in place at your age.
Other than that there are a couple of institutions offering good interest on regular savings as mentioned above.