# Small long term investment



## Beau&Jodie (22 Oct 2012)

My Girlfriend was given the job of godmother to her new nephew. I was saying some small monetary token for the future might be a good idea.

Obviously setting up an account in his name and letting X amt sit there is not good. Someone suggested prizebonds but again as a long term investment it may not be the best.

I personally thought shares might be a good idea. Is there any suggestions?


----------



## Jim2007 (22 Oct 2012)

I'm not a gold bug, but how about an American Gold Eagle or a African Krugerrand?


----------



## mercman (26 Oct 2012)

OP, In my opinion, the best way to invest for a junior over the long term would be to invest in an ETF (exchange traded fund). You will have to pick an exchange (FTSE. Dow Jones, NASDAQ, NIKKEI, DAX, CAC, ISEQ, etc, etc.) in fact there are funds for most and hundreds of different sectors you can think of, including gold, commodities etc. 

Do some research on the issue and revert back to AAM. Investing in local Managed funds is a complete rip off, and any gains will be eaten by Management Fees, Sales Fees etc. I've been reporting this point out for a number of years and it seems few have picked up on it, apart from the news earlier this week when RTE clearly pointed out the costs of Fees in these type of Investments and Pensions.


----------



## 149oaks (31 Oct 2012)

Spot on Mercman
I did some research on this before but found the amount of info out there baffling. As I also will have a lump sum (€30k) becoming available in 1 months time. I will need to invest it for 3-5 year timeframe and was thinking of the ETF's - possibly Healthcare, Technology as well as the standard Index's. Where is a good introduction type of website to start researching?


----------



## mercman (31 Oct 2012)

Personally I prefer to use a broker for guidance. I won't offer advice on investments as I'm not qualified to do so. Agood broker will be able to assist an investor. It might cost a few quid but more often than not you'd be better paying a few quiud to invest rather than lose a lot of quids in bad investments.


----------



## 149oaks (31 Oct 2012)

Mercman, thanks I know you're right and I wasn't looking for advice. Simply looking for generic information regarding going down the EFT route so I'm well preped before spending time with a Broker.


----------



## amadain (31 Oct 2012)

149oaks said:


> *Where is a good introduction type of website to start researching?*


 

Name a few website please


----------



## 149oaks (11 Nov 2012)

I'm puzzled why there have been no websites named?


----------



## mercman (11 Nov 2012)

Quite simple really. Do a Google search on ETFs, relevant to your preferences etc. The Tax treatment of ETFs varies from country to country. Most important the costs of these products plus the style of Management varies very differently from normal Unit Trusts which have a Pretoria of different charges.

The important figure investors require to know are the TER (total expense Ratio) which comprises the total charges within a fund. In most modern economies where funds are based these charges are shown (must do by law) but in Ireland there is no legal requirement. And if an investor asks for these charges from Irish companies or Irish funds relevant to these funds, they will be refused the information.
*
DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH AND GET EVERYTHING IN WRITING*


----------

