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I've done a bit of research and it seems that Ireland doesn't have a huge amount of firms that handle investment portfolios.

I found: Zurich, Davy, Irish life, Aviva, and anything that offers insurance basically. The Zurich Prisma 4 Fund seems to be performing well.

Firms like Cantor Fitzgerald & Davy seem to cater towards big investors 250K+ and have a lot of fees.

The alternatives are my own bank (AIB) with fees of 1.8% for a portfolio and some smaller firms like MoneyCube 1.5%.

The cheapest alternatives are online-only brokerages like eToro and DeGiro. They have very low fees and it's completely do-it-yourself.

I have about 1-5K to invest as well as 100/month going forward. I value flexibility as well - I may want to take a break from it or pull out after 5 years.

Are eToro and DeGiro legit? If they go under can I get my money back?

Would you bother with the bank or traditional firms in my situation?

Bob Baerker
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user1261710
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I have about 1-5K to invest as well as 100/month going forward.

That is more than enough to get started. For perspective, my foray into investing started with me collecting cans for their 5 cent deposits. I would wake up early collect the cans in my town, turn them in and make between $8 or $10. When it got to be $250 I started investing.

So what you have is more than enough money to start.

I may want to take a break from it or pull out after 5 years.

This to me indicates, that you are not ready. Investing is for the long term, pulling in and out of the market destroys profits. I would advise to wait until you are ready for a lifetime of investing.

Being US based, I cannot comment about the products offered in Ireland. However, your research seems well thought out and I feel that you are in a good place to make a wise decision and gather further information.

Pete B.
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The most important thing to do is open a tax-free retirement account. That way your capital gains are not taxed until retirement. https://www.pensionsauthority.ie/en/lifecycle/private_pensions/

My advice is to go with one of the top firms, eToro is fine. Don’t worry about them going bankrupt. They won’t go bankrupt. If a top brokerage firm ever goes bankrupt, then the world as we know it would come to an end.

Start out by buying shares in the top stock index fund ETF. In the USA, that is either SPY or QQQ. There is nothing better than buying a tax-free stock index fund at a young age and just holding onto it until retirement, adding to it periodically when the market dips. Do not ever sell, but always add regularly when the market dips.

Keith Knauber
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