What would you do with €130K in savings as a 30 year old?

HillCloudHop

I've managed to save 130K through the combination of a frugal lifestyle, living several years rent free and a decent paying job.

Not sure what my next step is. I'm hesitant to buy into the stock markets. I know people say you can't time the market, but I feel that it's primed for a major pullback at some point in the near future (people have been this for years though). The markets seem crazy at the moment. I conversely don't like the idea of my savings rotting away in a bank.

I've got a PRSA. I can't take out a mortgage at the moment as my line of work means it will be at least 5 more years before I'll know where I'm living long-term.

What would you do?

Buddy Bubs

Drip feed it into the stockmarket. You don't have to put 130k in now. Buy into a fund at maybe 1000 a month or something like that. If market drops you're buying in cheaper and you'll benefit from future upswing. Google dollar cost averaging.
Enjoy having a few quid at hand. Go on a holiday for a month when you can. Learn about investing with your relatively small regular contributions.
And get a financial advisor, fee paid.

But before you do this in a savings fund, max out the prsa contributions.

Lmkrnr

Live a little. Marry a women with a bit of land, build a house and enjoy your life.

macsauce

Are you using your full pension contribution allowance? If not, for your age I think you can put 20% of your gross salary in. If you make a contribution into your pension from your after tax salary you can claim tax relief on this. Basically you’ll get a 40% return in year one which you could then reinvest or save.

I am NOT a QFA and with the amount you’re talking about you should talk to a financial advisor.

Stark

+1 on maxing out pension contributions. Investments are generally taxed punatively in Ireland but pension funds are allowed to grow tax free.

Rezident

Bitcoin.

Rezident

Lmkrnr wrote: »

Live a little. Marry a women with a bit of land, build a house and enjoy your life.

OP - Be very careful about getting married here, the Family Laws in Ireland are significantly biased towards the woman and are openly biased against men/fathers. She will get the kids, the house, the money and your future earnings no matter how poor her conduct.



Be very careful especially now that 50% of marriages fail and 80% of divorces are initiated by the woman. As soon as you run into issues, as every relationship does, it is only a matter of time before one of her female friends will tell her: 'you know, if you leave him girl, you get the house, the kids, all his money etc. etc.'

berocca2016

Rezident wrote: »

OP - Be very careful about getting married here, the Family Laws in Ireland are significantly biased towards the woman and are openly biased against men/fathers. She will get the kids, the house, the money and your future earnings no matter how poor her conduct.



Be very careful especially now that 50% of marriages fail and 80% of divorces are initiated by the woman. As soon as you run into issues, as every relationship does, it is only a matter of time before one of her female friends will tell her: 'you know, if you leave him girl, you get the house, the kids, all his money etc. etc.'

OP could be a woman?

SuperSean11

Im hearing good things about Anglo Irish Bank

Irishphotodesk

Don't do anything with it ... Keep it unless you need it.

Darc19

Rezident wrote: »

Bitcoin.

And GameStop

With benign inflation and zero interest rates ( possibly going negative soon) people are searching for alternatives.

Def max the pension, after that it's difficult to give any advice except get a decent advisor.

I would agree that the stock market is top heavy at present and is bound to have a pull back, but there could be value in the UK where the market has lagged due to Brexit

Yyhhuuu

I'm amazed to learn how you amassed that sum at such a young age. Care to let us know. I personally have a gross income of 2900 per month and can save about 1,650 net per month. My property is morthgage-free.

If you intend to buy a property then keep your money in cash. Drip feed in to regular saver accounts. Ulster Bank pay 0.85 per year and you can pay 3,500 per month. But they may pull out of ROI. PTSB regular saver pays 0.20% interest. I think buying a property as your principal private residence should be a priority.

Perhaps pre nuptial contracts will be fully recognised In Irish Law when or if you decide to marry. I suggest you sign one as it looks like you will be heading for your
First million in no time

Yyhhuuu

Yyhhuuu wrote: »

Perhaps pre nuptial contracts will be fully recognised In Irish Law when or if you decide to marry

They don't exist in Irish Law, and there's no push to change that.


Regarding marriage - any girlfriend becomes a common law wife after a few years anyway, so if you're wanting to be with anyone long term, you're in trouble, married or not.

If I were you, OP, I'd keep it in an short notice savings account. Five years will pass quickly enough. If you know you'll have a permanent location in 5 years, I'd hoard the money until then, and I'd sign up to the likes of Bank Of Ireland's mortgage-saver account (they give you 2k back if you save with them for a little while and get a mortgage with them). You could be in a position to buy your house outright if you are fortunate enough, or at the least, get a mortgage on a more expensive, nicer house, if you wanted to go down that road (wouldn't saddle yourself with loads of debt, though, obviously).


Either that, or a €130k sports car.

macsauce

macsauce wrote: »

Are you using your full pension contribution allowance? If not, for your age I think you can put 20% of your gross salary in. If you make a contribution into your pension from your after tax salary you can claim tax relief on this. Basically you’ll get a 40% return in year one which you could then reinvest or save.

I am NOT a QFA and with the amount you’re talking about you should talk to a financial advisor.

OP, be very careful who you seek advice from, get an actual proper adviser and not just someone who has QFA after their name. I personally qualified as a QFA (Professional Diploma in Financial Advice) a number of years ago and it is a nonsense qualification, only required an odd bit of study and cramming the night before exams. I worked in other aspects of financial services more in line with my degree so I never actually sold anyone investments and such, but it was scary that in theory the bank could have had me selling stuff to people and 'advising' them when I had basically no idea.

Nice problem to have though OP, well done.

Evan White Car

Evan White Car wrote: »

OP, be very careful who you seek advice from, get an actual proper adviser and not just someone who has QFA after their name. I personally qualified as a QFA (Professional Diploma in Financial Advice) a number of years ago and it is a nonsense qualification, only required an odd bit of study and cramming the night before exams. I worked in other aspects of financial services more in line with my degree so I never actually sold anyone investments and such, but it was scary that in theory the bank could have had me selling stuff to people and 'advising' them when I had basically no idea.


Nice problem to have though OP, well done.

CFA is the premium qualification isn't it?

Jim2007

HillCloudHop wrote: »

What would you do?

Start by defining your objective, the time line and how you will measure it. It is the only way you can decide what financial products are right for you.

Understand the nature of risk and realize there is no such thing as a risk free option. Every financial product comes with its own set of risks and some are not understood by most people. Even the decision to do nothing comes with a risk profile.

Have a look in the mirror, the person you see looking back at represents the biggest threat to your financial well-being, if not handled correctly. For instance if you are a risk averse person, there is no point in buying a highly volatile product, since the chances are good you’ll bail at the wrong time costing you money.

Once you have all this in place you are in a position to start filtering the options available to suit you.

Darc19

[Deleted User] wrote: »

CFA is the premium qualification isn't it?

Or SFA? Sweet f All

I'd go to someone that charges a fee and will see you as a long term client

Deleted User

Deleted User wrote: »

CFA is the premium qualification isn't it?

Well there are CFPs too, they have had to do a Grad Dip and have to have a certain amount of real world experience.

Just don't blindly follow advice or let qualifications overawe you.

Tar.Aldarion

I woulnd't be going to anybody with that amount of money, it's not in the millions. Really your options are limited. Maxing out pension, ETF's or sitting in your bank account waiting to use on a house.

Evan White Car

Evan White Car wrote: »

Just don't blindly follow advice or let qualifications overawe you.

There is zero risk of that happening.

Deleted User

Deleted User wrote: »

There is zero risk of that happening.

I worked in personal insolvency and bankruptcy. The amount of people who made investments and stupid decisions unquestioningly because they just blindly followed the advice of people who were "qualified" or "experts" (and I'm not talking about Eddie Hobbs!) who must know best even if they personally didn't think it sounded great was staggering (and sad).

douglashyde

Im 31, and have done relatively well - through savings and then my own company so have a good bit of experience here.

Short answer is it's complicated and there's no such thing as a crystal ball when it comes to financial advise....

In my own humble opinion, the market is overpriced right now, you're also right 'don't time the market, it's time in the market' . If I had 130K at 31 personally Id look to put 15K into a spread of crypto, 50K into a spread of solid high tech (hardware, software, bio) companies with solid financial foundations and buy in over the next 2-3 years. I'd then take 25K and invest into personal development - that could be a degree, setting up your own business or just personal development, last I'd take the remaining balance and go buy expensive whisky, bags of coke, hookers, and a 1st class ticket around the world << balance.

Everyone goes on about Irish pensions, which is true, they are a great tax savers - but make sure you are actually paying the tax to save.

However, the one golden rule is; do not buy off the shelf pension or investment products from financial institutions.. -- they are easy to access and seem like a great idea but they will charge you a fortune to 'manage' in fees for something you can do yourself or pay someone to setup.

Yyhhuuu

[Deleted User] wrote: »

They don't exist in Irish Law, and there's no push to change that.


Regarding marriage - any girlfriend becomes a common law wife after a few years anyway, so if you're wanting to be with anyone long term, you're in trouble, married or not.

If I were you, OP, I'd keep it in an short notice savings account. Five years will pass quickly enough. If you know you'll have a permanent location in 5 years, I'd hoard the money until then, and I'd sign up to the likes of Bank Of Ireland's mortgage-saver account (they give you 2k back if you save with them for a little while and get a mortgage with them). You could be in a position to buy your house outright if you are fortunate enough, or at the least, get a mortgage on a more expensive, nicer house, if you wanted to go down that road (wouldn't saddle yourself with loads of debt, though, obviously).


Either that, or a €130k sports car.

I studied family law as part of my law degree. I understand The courts may have regard to pre nuptial agreements, but they may not be obliged to enforce them.

The other matter you refer to as property rights acquired by a common law wife is in fact not common law but statutory law namely the Civil Partnership and Certain Cohabitants Act(out of memory not the precise title) which confers rights on cohabitants after a prescribed number of years of cohabitation.

The priority for OP is to buy a house to live in if you dont already own a house. I personally would use the savings to do that. In the meantime Invest the savings in a Deposit account with a max of 100k in each bank. Do not invest in the stock market if you intend to use the money in the short term.

If you do intend to invest the money make sure you obtain advice from a fee charging financial advisor who is not being paid commission.

I agree with the other poster, spend some of it on yourself e.g. an expensive holiday etc...

Hope all goes well for you

Jimbobjoeyman

Deleted User wrote: »

CFA is the premium qualification isn't it?

As someone studying for the CFA I can tell you that it is and it isn't.

It's considered the gold standard qualification in investment management, particularly at the institutional level. You'll learn a lot about portfolio management, equity analysis, fixed income,derivatives etc.

But it's not really geared towards advising individuals and wealth management as there's no country-specific portion that looks at tax law and so forth.
So while I could talk all day about fundamental analysis and building risk-efficient portfolios when it comes to tax which is just as if not more important I know nothing and would need a financial planner/tax advisor.

I'd advise looking at reputation rather than a qualification in this area as the QFA isn't that old a qualification and a lot of the more experienced advisers may not have it as they were grandfathered in when it became a requirement. Plus as mentioned above it's handy enough to pick up with minimum effort so other than for regulatory purposes its hardly worth the paper it's written on.

dd973

Bricks and mortar.

Yyhhuuu

Jimbobjoeyman wrote: »

As someone studying for the CFA I can tell you that it is and it isn't.

It's considered the gold standard qualification in investment management, particularly at the institutional level. You'll learn a lot about portfolio management, equity analysis, fixed income,derivatives etc.

But it's not really geared towards advising individuals and wealth management as there's no country-specific portion that looks at tax law and so forth.
So while I could talk all day about fundamental analysis and building risk-efficient portfolios when it comes to tax which is just as if not more important I know nothing and would need a financial planner.

I'd advise looking at reputation rather than a qualification in this area as the QFA isn't that old a qualification and a lot of the more experienced advisers may not have it as they were grandfathered in when it became a requirement. Plus as mentioned above it's handy enough to pick up with minimum effort so other than for regulatory purposes its hardly worth the paper it's written on.

All the Bank staff in branches seem to have a QFA qualification. They are the LAST people I would take advice from qualification or not.

Irishphotodesk

OP, put it into prizebonds, you can access your money at any time (I think it takes 30days) and you get the chance at winning a few prizes

homewardbound11

Irishphotodesk wrote: »

OP, put it into prizebonds, you can access your money at any time (I think it takes 30days) and you get the chance at winning a few prizes

Once banks start charging negative interest you’ll see a lot more in prize bonds . Most won’t see any prizes then even with 50k in the pot.

malinheader

Sounds like alot of people have became more interested in money and spent alot of their younger years working instead of living it up. Don't be scared to spend some of it on things you want that will make you happy. Life is to short to be worrying about making loads of money.

2012paddy2012

Yyhhuuu wrote: »

I'm amazed to learn how you amassed that sum at such a young age. Care to let us know. I personally have a gross income of 2900 per month and can save about 1,650 net per month. My property is morthgage-free.

If you intend to buy a property then keep your money in cash. Drip feed in to regular saver accounts. Ulster Bank pay 0.85 per year and you can pay 3,500 per month. But they may pull out of ROI. PTSB regular saver pays 0.20% interest. I think buying a property as your principal private residence should be a priority.

Perhaps pre nuptial contracts will be fully recognised In Irish Law when or if you decide to marry. I suggest you sign one as it looks like you will be heading for your
First million in no time

Pre nup in Ireland have - no legal standing whatsoever. Be wary

facehugger99

Go to Vegas and put it all on black (or maybe red).

Win or lose, you'll have a great dinner party anecdote for years to come.