# Any Investment suggestions  gratefully appreciated



## Laoisa (19 Jan 2022)

Good afternoon,
Since 2016 I've had €200,000 invested in Zurich, it did well it was €262,000 until 2020.
 I changed it to a cash fund in March 2020 and was shocked to discover the amount I was charged to have it in cash.
 The net value of the fund after tax in €190,000.
There has to be a better way to save money, I'm retired this is my nest egg.
 Any suggestions would be gratefully appreciated


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## Brendan Burgess (19 Jan 2022)

There is something wrong with those figures. 

If you invested €200k and it has fallen in value, there is no exit tax.

If you switched €262k to cash in March 2020, it has not fallen 27% 

Brendan


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## aristotle (19 Jan 2022)

Depends on exactly when they moved to cash in March 2020 as that was a very volatile month with Covid concerns. Maybe the conversion to cash happened when market was tanking and the losses were locked into cash and they missed out on the bounce back.


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## Steven Barrett (19 Jan 2022)

There should be no early exit penalties at this stage. There is a mistake with those figures. 

Investors regularly think they shouldn't be paying a management charge to be sitting in cash. That is not what the management charge covers. It covers Zurich's costs, broker remuneration, some trading costs and profit. The management charge that you pay is the same percentage whether you are sitting in cash or invested in equities. There are additional costs of trading that are deducted from the unit price before it is calculated each evening but you don't see that. 

An investment bond is the wrong place to leave cash savings. Either get it working for you again (you have missed some incredible growth already) or take it out and stick it in State savings. 


Steven
www.bluewaterfp.ie


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## Laoisa (19 Jan 2022)

Thank you, it was €262,337.90 at the begining of 2020, by March it was 252,455.51, that's when i switched it to  a cash fund. On Monday when i called for the balance I was informed it's value was €219,418.09, after tax it would be € 190,892.55


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## ClubMan (19 Jan 2022)

Laoisa said:


> On Monday when i called for the balance I was informed it's value was €219,418.09, after tax it would be € 190,892.55


Surely the tax is levied on the €19k gain resulting in an encashment value of maybe c. €210k?


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## Smoneen (19 Jan 2022)

This sounds wrong. Are you sure the €190k is the *full* encashment value after tax? To me it sounds like the max *partial* encashment value after tax which would be in the region of 90% of the fund.
You might need to clarify those values again.

Unfortunately by switching in March 2020 and deciding to stay in cash for the last 22 months you have missed out what could have been significant growth within the fund. 

You mention this is your nest egg. Have you a plan in place for future use for these funds is it just a general safety net? Without further context it will be difficult for anyone to give you meaningful guidance on what to do next.

For a start give the provider a call and clarify the values again. Perhaps ask for it in writing or look up the last annual statement as that will give you a rough guide.


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## Laoisa (21 Jan 2022)

Thanks for your replies. I called the provider & yes the figure they provided were based on a partial encashment, the full net encashment is €212+.
 Phew! what a relief not to have a negative return. These funds are for general safety. 
I think it's best to move it from cash to some sort of fund, any suggestions an a fund?


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## ClubMan (21 Jan 2022)

When will you need to use this money?
What's your overall personal/financial situation?
E.g. general health, dependents, mortgage/rent, other savings/debts, pension income, annual budget etc.?
You might be better off doing a Money Makeover post.
It's difficult to give informed comment without more info.





						Money makeover
					

Budgeting and dealing with debt moved to  Mortgage Arrears and Debt Forum .



					www.askaboutmoney.com


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## jpd (21 Jan 2022)

Had you left it alone, it would probably be worth about € 350k now


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## Laoisa (21 Jan 2022)

Thanks, if only I knew then what I know now.
*Age:*
71
*Annual gross pensions*
€55,500
*Monthly take-home pay:*
€3930
*Type of employment:*
Retired occassional work ( not since the pandemic)
*Expenditure pattern:*
Maintaince charges
Insurance
*Saving *
 1,900 permonth
*Rough estimate of value of home*
€350,000
*Mortgage on home*
Paid
*Other borrowings – car loans/personal loans etc*
None
*Do you pay off your full credit card balance each month*?
Yes
*Savings and investments:*
€700,000 ( State savings, saving bonds & Zurich)

*Do you have a pension scheme*?
I have one and it pays €38,650  a year
*Do you own any investment or other property*?
Just a plot
*Ages of children: *
None
*Insurance:*
Health insurance
*What specific question do you have or what issues are of concern to you*?
I would really appreciate any suggestions on whether it's a good idea to leave the €212,000 in cash in Zurwich or if there is a better imvestment alternative


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## noproblem (21 Jan 2022)

1st thing you should do Laoisa,  make a will.


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## Laoisa (21 Jan 2022)

Thanks, it's on file


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## jpd (21 Jan 2022)

That depends on what your objectives are - do you want to to increase your capital, have extra income or ensure no loss?


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## ClubMan (21 Jan 2022)

Laoisa said:


> *Annual gross pensions*
> €55,500
> 
> *Do you have a pension scheme*?
> I have one and it pays €38,650  a year


I presume that the first figure is the second plus the state pension?

You mention a plot of land - do you have any intention to develop this?

As @jpd says you probably need to clarify what your priority is for the lump sum.

You seem to be in a very comfortable financial situation so congratulations.


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## Laoisa (22 Jan 2022)

Thanks again, I appreciate your replies.  The plot is my burial plot,  I would like to put the funds from Zurich in a safe investment  around a mid risk range. Yes I would like to protect the fund and get a return on it. I just have no idea which funds are good. I like what I read on this site and the information & suggestions are really sound.


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## ClubMan (22 Jan 2022)

You would've been better off leaving it with Zurich invested in equities or some lower risk/reward fund rather than trying to time the market, switching to a cash fund and then cashing in. But that's water under the bridge now.

You haven't clarified if/when you might want to use some or all of the money and for what.

What charges applied on the Zurich product that you were in?


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## Laoisa (24 Jan 2022)

Thanks, the funds are for my dottage & druelage, home care or nursing home.
The service charge in Zurwich was .85% it was the negative return on cash that gobbled up the funds
I need to decide what to do with that fund this week to avoid the - return on cash. HELP, PLEASE


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## Laoisa (26 Jan 2022)

Thank you all for your feedback, I hope I provided anough information for suggestions on where I might stash this €212,00. It is not needed  for the forseeable future, mid risk, possible 5-7 years maybe longer, depends on how well I age & how my health holds up.


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## Laoisa (31 Jan 2022)

Maybe I should put it in the Post office 10 year saving bond, unless anyone has any other suggestions.


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## ClubMan (31 Jan 2022)

Laoisa said:


> Maybe I should put it in the Post office 10 year saving bond, unless anyone has any other suggestions.


You said that you wanted to avoid a negative return but at less than 1% p.a. on that product it is almost certainly not going to keep pace with inflation so your money will lose value.

If your investment timeframe is up to 10 years then, in my opinion, you should consider a low charges open ended (not fixed term) investment product and select an fund with an appropriate asset mix/risk-reward profile. As I said before, I think that you might've been better off leaving it where it originally was with Zurich (although I don't know what sort of fund it was in) rather than panicking, trying to time the market and effectively crystallising losses by switching to cash. 0.85% annual management charge isn't the worst but even lower charges may be possible elsewhere.

You should probably have a read of existing Askaboutmoney threads dealing with options for those with a lump sum to invest to get other ideas and opinions.


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## Laoisa (31 Jan 2022)

Thank you for your suggestion, I will read those threads for ideas


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## benbuffett (1 Feb 2022)

Best to keep with Zurich, great returns over the past number of year. Just be careful, most of their funds are Tech heavy.


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## ClubMan (1 Feb 2022)

Past performance is no guide to future returns.
Zurich have lots of funds - I don't think that most of them are necessarily tech heavy.




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						Complete list of funds | Zurich Life Funds
					

Zurich Life invest in a wide range of funds to suit your investment needs. Check out our complete list of funds.




					www.zurich.ie


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