What was your best investment decision?
- Thread starter DeeKie
- Start date
SSIA
Selling all Eircom shares the day after
Tracker mortgage
UK state pension
Rental properties
Some luck / instinct (eircom), some good advice (UK pension / tracker mortgage) some just being in the right place at the right time.
Plenty of mistakes too - but you didn't ask about those
Selling all Eircom shares the day after
Tracker mortgage
UK state pension
Rental properties
Some luck / instinct (eircom), some good advice (UK pension / tracker mortgage) some just being in the right place at the right time.
Plenty of mistakes too - but you didn't ask about those
Buying a house in 2012 pure luck.
Started first pension at 21 but only payed in for 2 years. Before changging job. Due to costs and fund under preforming. only returned 150% in 23 years. But still not to bad.
Joining my work pension with 5% match from employer in 2007. Upping my AVC slowly after buy house to match to payrises been maxed out since 2017. Fund been taken off like rocket since . Most the costs are covered by the employer. Bar the AMC of .25% for the fund.
Started first pension at 21 but only payed in for 2 years. Before changging job. Due to costs and fund under preforming. only returned 150% in 23 years. But still not to bad.
Joining my work pension with 5% match from employer in 2007. Upping my AVC slowly after buy house to match to payrises been maxed out since 2017. Fund been taken off like rocket since . Most the costs are covered by the employer. Bar the AMC of .25% for the fund.
starting a Pension in late 20’s and maxing out in last 15 years or so.
Switching mortgage providers 4 times, when you do this, you really learn along the way, knocking off 2 years of term, each time we switched, eventually ending up on a Danske Bank ECB +0.50 tracker in 2007, (just at 50 % LTV), and clearing it, by paying off last year of payments, in 2021.
House upgrading - finding out about the SEAI, grants, studying it, getting advice, and doing a few upgrades since 2009.
Switching mortgage providers 4 times, when you do this, you really learn along the way, knocking off 2 years of term, each time we switched, eventually ending up on a Danske Bank ECB +0.50 tracker in 2007, (just at 50 % LTV), and clearing it, by paying off last year of payments, in 2021.
House upgrading - finding out about the SEAI, grants, studying it, getting advice, and doing a few upgrades since 2009.
The Horseman
Registered User
- Messages
- 690
Diversification of investments via property, AVC's, defined benefit pension, upgrade of home to be more energy efficient.
Qualifying as an accountant.
All above by design but not as quickly as I should have but am getting there. Better late than never as the saying goes.
Qualifying as an accountant.
All above by design but not as quickly as I should have but am getting there. Better late than never as the saying goes.
Like many others here...
* Opting for higher risk investment categories, within my pension - it's re only way to go, when your younger, and are looking at the long term.
* AVCs - help grow your pension pot, with decent tax relief to help.
* Tracker Mortgage - not an option for new borrowers, but it definitely helped offset "over paying" for our home.
* SSIA - surely it's time to introduce another similar scheme?
* Eircom shares (I borrowed to buy, sold the moment I got them, to repay the debt and made a turn)
* Various additional savings / investments - small or large, it all helps accumulate funds for larger expenditure, or to help pay back debt early.
* With regards to the above, diversification is vital - don't put all of your eggs in one basket (i.e.if you own a home in Ireland, don't Leo buying Irish Property, if you work for a PL and depend on it for your income, don't over invest in that company's shares, or even over invest in the same industry sector, or geographical location)
* SEAI Grants - Study them, look at your needs, then avail of what you need.
* Giving up smoking (helped save a fortune!)
* Stopped changing my car regularly - flash cars look nice, but are a massive waste of money.
* Opting for higher risk investment categories, within my pension - it's re only way to go, when your younger, and are looking at the long term.
* AVCs - help grow your pension pot, with decent tax relief to help.
* Tracker Mortgage - not an option for new borrowers, but it definitely helped offset "over paying" for our home.
* SSIA - surely it's time to introduce another similar scheme?
* Eircom shares (I borrowed to buy, sold the moment I got them, to repay the debt and made a turn)
* Various additional savings / investments - small or large, it all helps accumulate funds for larger expenditure, or to help pay back debt early.
* With regards to the above, diversification is vital - don't put all of your eggs in one basket (i.e.if you own a home in Ireland, don't Leo buying Irish Property, if you work for a PL and depend on it for your income, don't over invest in that company's shares, or even over invest in the same industry sector, or geographical location)
* SEAI Grants - Study them, look at your needs, then avail of what you need.
* Giving up smoking (helped save a fortune!)
* Stopped changing my car regularly - flash cars look nice, but are a massive waste of money.
Last edited:
Dabbling in the stock market in my early twenties. It fostered an interest and understanding in owning businesses and risk management, which ultimately lead me to start a couple of my own. This forum and in particular posts by @Brendan Burgess and @ClubMan in the early days played a big part, maybe finding AAM should be my sickly sweet answer
in other words avoiding bonds which have performed terribly since 2020, so called high risk investments like stocks have outperformed inflation. Funds with high proportion of bonds should be barred from classifying them as "low risk", alot of people were misled by this classification and were unaware what happens bonds when inflation and interest rates rise
niceoneted
Registered User
- Messages
- 2,051
Same
Steven Barrett
Registered User
- Messages
- 5,200
The best investment decision anyone can have is earning a good income. Without a good income, your choices are limited. Even if you make the decision to start a pension at 18, if you are only putting a small amount in because that's all you can afford, you will only have a relatively small amount at the end.
After that, invest in quality equities and let them do their thing over the long term.
After that, invest in quality equities and let them do their thing over the long term.
@Steven Barrett yes if you earn a high income in a relatively low demanding job. Lots of people earn high incomes but in very demanding high stress jobs, I don't think it's a good decision in that case especially if it starts affecting your health. Nobody is going to pay you a high income unless you are delivering results and that usually comes with high demands
Great point. Finding the sweet spot of maximum compensation for minimum intrusion on your life. Although I do concede that for many their job is their life - have at it!
The public sector be a good fit
I left a public sector role to work in a multinational. That was the right fit for me vis a vis compensation & work/life balance. Everyone should try to find their own best fit.
- borrowing to buy Eircom shares using my siblings and selling them immediately
Hard to believe now that everybody was borrowing from the banks to buy those shares, and it was so easy, it was like a collective mania at the time, never understood those who complained afterwards and spurred on by Shane Ross/RTE etc for years
Hard to believe now that everybody was borrowing from the banks to buy those shares, and it was so easy, it was like a collective mania at the time, never understood those who complained afterwards and spurred on by Shane Ross/RTE etc for years
euroDilbert
Registered User
- Messages
- 303
SSIA (Obvious)
Tracker mortgage (Read articles + got a low rate)
UK state pension (AAM)
Working for companies with good benefits (e.g. DB Pension) (Partly Luck, partly good decisions)
Long-term drip investment in FCIT (slowish, but steady) (Read about it somewhere)
Taking advantage of the various privatisations when I lived in the UK (80/90s) (Obvious)
(Biggest disaster - not selling my BOI shares in time !) (My fault)
Tracker mortgage (Read articles + got a low rate)
UK state pension (AAM)
Working for companies with good benefits (e.g. DB Pension) (Partly Luck, partly good decisions)
Long-term drip investment in FCIT (slowish, but steady) (Read about it somewhere)
Taking advantage of the various privatisations when I lived in the UK (80/90s) (Obvious)
(Biggest disaster - not selling my BOI shares in time !) (My fault)
Last edited:
Howth Head
Registered User
- Messages
- 12
Not so much active "decisions" as the way things have turned out...
1. Getting married relatively young (compared to most people today) and having two daughters who are now well grown up and taking care of themselves. (I have friends who started families much later and are raising school and college going kids well into their 60s. We've been "empty-nesters" for quite a few years while both working full time, with no school or college expenses. Hard to overstate how much that is worth. And I don't miss being an unpaid taxi--driver/chauffer either!)
2. Buying a three-bedroom house in a nice part of coastal South Dublin in May 1995 for £94k! (Having thought £86k was way too expensive a year earlier.) Added a sizeable extension for £20k - sold for £300k four years later and bought a bigger detached house in a similar area.
3. Having just one family car for most of that time.
4. Not smoking.
5. Not owning a dog/dogs - ever! (Can't believe how much neighbors spend on them - including kennel fees vets expenses.)
6. Generally being "low-maintenance" and a cheap date. Give me decent pub grub over expensive restaurants any day!
7. That Yamaha acoustic guitar - bought in Danfay, Aungier Street when I was 21 - still play it regularly!
Some of it was down to luck and timing. For example in early 1992 had just moved back from the UK after three years there. Still had a UK joint account with about Stg £25k. Rumors were circulating that Bertie was considering devaluing the punt, so held off on bringing the cash back to an Irish bank (I think they give you about three months before it becomes a non-resident account.) Sure enough, the punt was devalued by 10% which, added to the exchange rate was worth a few extra thousand. Interest rates were high here at the time so a good time to save for a house deposit. (Rents were still low - a two bedroom apartment with balcony in Blackrock could be had for £450 pm.
Finally, I think not making bad or catastrophic financial decisions are as important as making good ones. (Such as a relative who bought Bulgarian property in the 1990s because it was a "no brainer". Nearly broke her - both financially and mentally.)
We all know people who are risk-averse and live seemingly boring lives spending little or nothing. Part of me wishes I was little more like that when younger. Have never had a high salary and don't have a very good pension compared to many - but with no mortgage/loans and low outgoings - it's enough.
1. Getting married relatively young (compared to most people today) and having two daughters who are now well grown up and taking care of themselves. (I have friends who started families much later and are raising school and college going kids well into their 60s. We've been "empty-nesters" for quite a few years while both working full time, with no school or college expenses. Hard to overstate how much that is worth. And I don't miss being an unpaid taxi--driver/chauffer either!)
2. Buying a three-bedroom house in a nice part of coastal South Dublin in May 1995 for £94k! (Having thought £86k was way too expensive a year earlier.) Added a sizeable extension for £20k - sold for £300k four years later and bought a bigger detached house in a similar area.
3. Having just one family car for most of that time.
4. Not smoking.
5. Not owning a dog/dogs - ever! (Can't believe how much neighbors spend on them - including kennel fees vets expenses.)
6. Generally being "low-maintenance" and a cheap date. Give me decent pub grub over expensive restaurants any day!
7. That Yamaha acoustic guitar - bought in Danfay, Aungier Street when I was 21 - still play it regularly!
Some of it was down to luck and timing. For example in early 1992 had just moved back from the UK after three years there. Still had a UK joint account with about Stg £25k. Rumors were circulating that Bertie was considering devaluing the punt, so held off on bringing the cash back to an Irish bank (I think they give you about three months before it becomes a non-resident account.) Sure enough, the punt was devalued by 10% which, added to the exchange rate was worth a few extra thousand. Interest rates were high here at the time so a good time to save for a house deposit. (Rents were still low - a two bedroom apartment with balcony in Blackrock could be had for £450 pm.
Finally, I think not making bad or catastrophic financial decisions are as important as making good ones. (Such as a relative who bought Bulgarian property in the 1990s because it was a "no brainer". Nearly broke her - both financially and mentally.)
We all know people who are risk-averse and live seemingly boring lives spending little or nothing. Part of me wishes I was little more like that when younger. Have never had a high salary and don't have a very good pension compared to many - but with no mortgage/loans and low outgoings - it's enough.