Buy or Invest

Hi,

I would need some advice on whether to buy a house in dublin or invest a lumpsum. I'm currently living in south dublin and paying a rent of 1050 for a studio. I'm looking at buying a 2bed in the price range of 250-300k (preferably south dublin). I've saved up for a down payment of 30k (net monthly income is 3600, with all the expenses I will be saving 1500 monthly). I usually transfer my savings back to India and do a deposit/invest in stocks. There is an investment option with post office in India, it is a term deposit account (interest paid quarterly) + recurring deposit (if you invest 1000, at the end of 5yrs the maturity amount is 1580). My question is should I choose the investment option or buy a house so I don't have to pay the rent. In the long term (say 25yrs, assuming i will get similar investment returns), am I better of saving?

Thanks
M

That's a great return on money in your country but how safe is it, how long will that rate of return last for? What tax would you have to pay in both countries, etc?
Might be of interest to some people if you put up some data on the Post Office investment you're talking about. That is if it's allowed. 58% interest over 5 yrs would be licked off the table by Irish people if they were allowed to invest.

please visit "Post Office Savings Bank" section on indiapost.gov.in (cannot post the link here). The scheme I am looking at is the RD + TD scheme for 5years. It is 100% safe since it is a government's scheme.

noproblem said:

58% interest over 5 yrs would be licked off the table by Irish people if they were allowed to invest.

Click to expand...

And carry all the FX risk? No thanks.

OP, if your plans are to stay in Ireland long term, and buy property here, you probably shouldn't be transferring money back to INR. You're exposed to the Euro value of your savings falling, and you might also be liable for Irish tax on the investment returns particularly if you bring the money back to Ireland.

Risky? Of course. But Paddy would still jump at it, doesn't understand money.