# Where to invest?



## polly_wolly (13 Feb 2007)

pardon my ignorance, but tbh i don't really know a helluva lot about investments/stocks/bonds/shares kinda thing. 
am currently reading rich dad poor dad and am considering putting money into some kind of investments/stocks/bonds/shares kinda thing.

where do i start?


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## CCOVICH (13 Feb 2007)

*Re: where to invest*

What age are you?
For how long are you willing to invest?
Have you got any dependents?
Have you got any debts?
What other assets do you own?
What is your attitude to risk?

etc. etc.

The answer depends on your individual circumstances.


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## ClubMan (13 Feb 2007)

*Re: where to invest*

Start here.

Key posts


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## polly_wolly (13 Feb 2007)

*Re: where to invest*

have mortgage
have debts
no dependents
f/t €40,000 plus job
32
no lump sum





wanna start making my money work for me instead of me working just to scrape by





DO I NEED A LUMP SUM IF I WANT TO INVEST???


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## ClubMan (13 Feb 2007)

*Re: where to invest*



polly_wolly said:


> have mortgage


How much and what term are outstanding and what is the rate (and type - variable, tracker or fixed)?


> have debts


 Details? Amount, rate, rate type, term for each.


> f/t €40,000 plus job


 You mean you earn more than €40K? Does "f/t" mean full time?


> no lump sum


You mean you have no existing savings/investments to speak of?


> wanna start making my money work for me instead of me working just to scrape by


 Clear your non mortgage debts first perhaps?


> DO I NEED A LUMP SUM IF I WANT TO INVEST???


 Not necessarily. For example there are regular contribution deposit and unit linked fund options out there as well as lump sum options.

For details of the best deposit rates on offer see the _Financial Best Buys _forum. This is just for short term savings. For longer term savings/investments you might want to consider options such as low charges unit linked funds. But your debts might merit attention first.


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## CCOVICH (13 Feb 2007)

*Re: where to invest*

You should probably look at starting a pension if:

(a) you don't have one already; and 
(b) you own your own home


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## ClubMan (13 Feb 2007)

*Re: where to invest*

Yes - my suggestions above were very selective and certainly no comprehensive. A pension is certainly another thing to consider depending on circumstances.

If in doubt you should get independent, professional advice from a good authorised advisor or multi-agency intermediary.


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## CCOVICH (13 Feb 2007)

*Re: where to invest*

And nor is mine-there are many, many existing threads that will throw up more suggestions.


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## polly_wolly (15 Feb 2007)

*Re: where to invest*



ClubMan said:


> How much and what term are outstanding and what is the rate (and type - variable, tracker or fixed)?
> Details? Amount, rate, rate type, term for each.


€200,000 outstanding, in region of €900 a month payments. 30yr. variable, i pay .75% above ECB rates.




ClubMan said:


> You mean you earn more than €40K? Does "f/t" mean full time?


f/t is full time yes. 




ClubMan said:


> You mean you have no existing savings/investments to speak of?
> Clear your non mortgage debts first perhaps?


non mortgage debts are not so easy to just clear. €8,000 is a lump sum to someone, the rest credit card and car/credit union. i was thinkin top up from the bank, pay the debts off and put all payments into one (mortgage). i make an extra €200 per week in different ways, so have money to put away


ClubMan said:


> Not necessarily. For example there are regular contribution deposit and unit linked fund options out there as well as lump sum options.
> 
> For details of the best deposit rates on offer see the _Financial Best Buys _forum. This is just for short term savings. For longer term savings/investments you might want to consider options such as low charges unit linked funds. But your debts might merit attention first.






i have a pension


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## CCOVICH (15 Feb 2007)

*Re: where to invest*



polly_wolly said:


> non mortgage debts are not so easy to just clear. €8,000 is a lump sum to someone, the rest credit card and car/credit union. i was thinkin top up from the bank, pay the debts off and put all payments into one (mortgage).


 
Please explain

How much you owe in total?
To whom?

You are mad to consider 'investing' if you have credit card debt outstanding.

Credit Unions are generally flexible in what they allow you to repay, so I don't see the issue with paying them extra each week.




> i make an extra €200 per week in different ways, so have money to put away


How?


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## ClubMan (15 Feb 2007)

Yeah - you should be concentrating on getting your unsecured debts cleared and your mortgage down in my opinion. And addressing any spending/budgeting (bad) habits that might be landing you in debt. See the key topics in the _Banking/Borrowing/Budgeting _forum for some useful tips and resources on debt management and budgeting.


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## polly_wolly (16 Feb 2007)

*Re: where to invest*



CCOVICH said:


> Please explain
> 
> How much you owe in total?
> To whom?
> ...


credit card is €4000
loan from family €8000
cradit union €12000



currently pay ma credit union €150 a week which is a killer. what am saying is, would it make sense to get a top up of €20000-€25000 on ma mortgage, pay off all the above and add the extra to my mortgage. with credit union roughly €600 per month and credit card around €2-300, would €20 odd thousand onto ma mortgage be more on ma monthly outgoings


i deliver chinese 2, sometimes more, nights a week which is an almost guaranteed €100-€130 a night


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## CCOVICH (16 Feb 2007)

If you are going to remortgage to raise money to pay off your debts, make sure that you do it over a short period (less than 5 years I would suggest).

Forget about investing for now.


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## ClubMan (16 Feb 2007)

Once gain I agree. If you are consolidating unsecured short term loans onto the mortgage then (a) make sure that you address the spending/budgeting habits that got you into debt so you don't find yourself tempted to rack up more and go for another mortgage consolidation in the short/medium term and (b) if at all possible pay back the topup over a similar term to the original unsecured loans otherwise you will be paying them back over decades rather than years and while the total monthly repayments may be lower the evential total cost will most likely be significantly higher.


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## MfS (16 Feb 2007)

As Polly wolly is under the influence of "Rich Dad Poor Dad" I would suggest you go back to the book which as far as i remember states that it is better to acquire assets (investments) than Liabilitites. 

As you are loaded with liabilities I would suggest you get rid of them first which is just the other side of the coin to acquiring assets or investments.

On the same book the writer considers owning your own home and having a mortgage on it as a liability !! which I would disagree with.

I also thought the rest of the book had very little to offer in the line of sound finacial advice.


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## ClubMan (16 Feb 2007)

MfS said:


> As Polly wolly is under the influence of "Rich Dad Poor Dad"


To be fair she just said that she was reading it at the moment. There's no evidence that she has been brainwashed just yet!


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## MfS (16 Feb 2007)

Clubman, 

 agreed "under the influence" was probably the incorrect phrase to use.

I would suggest that polly wolly take a look at this though
www.johntreed.com/Kiyosaki.html


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## paddyodoors (16 Feb 2007)

MfS said:


> I would suggest that polly wolly take a look at this though
> www.johntreed.com/Kiyosaki.html


 
Wow - Rich Dad - Poor Dad, really hit some sort of nerve with that dude!!


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## technotastic (20 Feb 2007)

Hi Polly wolly,

I'd agree with what the others are suggesting (i.e. clear your debts first).  

I'd recommend doing the following:

1. Assess your spending (work out where you're money is going and try and eliminate unnecessary spending i.e. cut out starbucks if you have free coffee at work etc - it seems trivial but you'd be amazed where you're money goes and how much spending you can cut out).  You could keep a spending diary of all purchases you make over a week or two to help with this excercise.

2. Analyse your debts ordered by most expensive first and start killing off the most expensive debts you have first (The interest rate is the "price of money", so if you're credit card is charging 15%, your car loan is 9% and your mortgage is 5% then you tackle the credit card first until it's paid by paying what you can afford each month as well as fulfilling your other debt obligations, then the car loan - details on mortgage below).

I would really recommend against remortgaging over a long term in order to pay off short term debt (if you work out how much you actually end up paying back you'll see why) - some mortgage providers (such as first active) offer split term loans (i.e. you can have a 5 year loan for your short term debts such as car loan etc and then a 30 year loan for your house).  This may be a better option but it really will depend on your circumstances.

3. Once you have cleared all bad debt (unsecured debt - credit cards, car loans, personal loans) you now may be in a position to invest.  
The reason you need to tackle the unsecured debt first is because you'll struggle to get the same rate of return on an investment as you would be paying on your credit card for example.
What to invest in then depends on your risk profile, your timeframe, your preferences (how much time you will spend researching, what type of asset classes interest you the most (property, shares etc).....etc).


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