Irène De Muur

25th May 2021

How to grow your savings rather than spend them

Do you have some savings tucked away? Or have you inherited some money? Sure, you could organise an awesome trip halfway around the world, make some luxury shopping, or simply put the money away in your savings account, however you do have other options to put your savings to work for you by carefully investing it. For beginners investors: in this article we present three approaches for you to flawlessly invest your savings.

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Let’s go over a few basics

You are advised to only invest the money you don’t need in the short term and to always keep a cash reserve in a savings account to handle any unforeseen events. After all, any sensible investment should be made over the medium to long term.

It’s also a good idea not to put all your eggs in one basket. Diversification helps reduce risks, because there’s no such thing as a risk-free investment. Finally, ask yourself what the purpose of your investment is, in other words why you are investing.

Investing: a very good alternative to saving

Over the medium to long term, investing is a very good alternative to saving. You’re probably already aware that inflation is much higher than the very low to near-zero interest rates currently paid on savings accounts. These two factors practically force you to rethink your savings strategy.

Investing is not just for millionaires

You can get started with just EUR 500 (minimum amount for Speedinvest), but the amount can be higher and how much you invest is strictly up to you. You should think about keeping some money set aside in your savings account for emergencies, i.e. any unforeseen events such as unexpected house repairs or any other expenses that might pop up.

Now let’s look at a few options available to you as a novice investor, to get your first portfolio started with EUR 15.000.

Three ways to invest EUR 15.000

Retirement

Plan head

Market trends

Invest in stocks and bonds

Security

Buy gold

1. Plan head for retirement

It may be a cliché to say so, but no one knows what tomorrow holds, so if you want to plan ahead now is the time! A very easy and also interesting way to save for retirement is to sign up for an S‑Pension private pension plan.

The minimum term of the plan is 10 years. You are free to set the amount you want to invest every month, quarter, six months or year.

Once you reach your 60th birthday, you will start receiving the capital you have accumulated. That way, in addition to your legal pension, you will have additional income at your disposal for a more comfortable retirement.

Of course, S-Pension offers another big plus. Each year during the accumulation phase, you are eligible for tax deductions totalling a maximum of EUR 3.200.

In other words, with S-Pension you’re a winner twice over. Today, the government is supporting your effort to plan for retirement by offering tax measures, and tomorrow when you retire you’ll receive additional income from your pension savings each month.

How can you prepare for a better retirement?

1. Download/Open the S-Net Mobile app*.

2. Sign up for an S-Pension private pension plan by selecting “S-Pension” in the store.

3. Simulate your investment.

4. Schedule your standing order and that’s all there is to it.

Download S-Net Mobile

Find out more about S-Pension

2. Market trends: invest in stocks and bonds

Do you ever get starry-eyed thinking about share prices for companies like Tesla, Apple, etc., taking off into the stratosphere? That’s perfectly understandable, but be careful, because investing directly in specific shares is not recommended when you’re first getting started.

It’s better to invest in the markets by way of investment funds. That way you can benefit from professional management and diversification of your investment – even when modest sums are involved – while also generally reducing risks incurred.

If you would also like to enjoy the “average price” effect, you’re advised to opt for a SICAV (open‑ended investment fund) savings plan, with regular investments, rather than going for a “one‑shot” investment.

Within the last few years, a new more innovative alternative to get started in investing has appeared: robo-advisors.

Robo-advisors are digital tools that use a simple questionnaire to determine your investor profile and, on that basis, recommend a combined allocation of stocks and bonds, or even funds, that match your risk profile. You can choose between one-off or regular investments, and the robo-advisor manages your investments for you.

By investing your initial amount of EUR 15.000 over five years, the track record for an aggressive investment strategy is EUR 20.000, and EUR 17.000 for a conservative strategy.

Speedinvest simulator result at 6 May 2021 available here.

(The past performance of an investment product is not an indication of future results.)

How do you invest?

Are you a beginner? If so, Speedinvest was designed just for you!

1. Download/Open the S-Net Mobile app*.

2. Go to the store to open Speedinvest.

3. Answer a few quick questions and your personal investment strategy will be recommended.

4. Deposit at least EUR 500 and top up your investment based on your resources. You can set up a standing order of at least EUR 50.

5. And you can keep track of your portfolio at any time.

Do a Speedinvest simulation

Watch our video to learn more about Speedinvest

You have some basic knowledge: The lux|funds range is available to you with S-Invest

You build up your portfolio regularly and at your own pace, thus taking part in financial market trends.

1. Open S-Net.

2. Go to “Financial Instruments”, then “Funds”.

3. Select the fund or funds in which you wish to invest.

4. Schedule your standing order with a minimum of EUR 40 per month.

5. Let your money grow over the medium to long term.

Learn more about S-Invest

3. Security: buy gold

Anyone can invest in precious metals. Gold is often viewed as a safe-haven investment, frequently used to guard against inflation.

It is important to bear in mind, however, that gold prices fluctuate and gold does not pay dividends.

So, many investors end up using it to diversify their portfolio, but without making it a dominant position.

When you want to buy gold, you can choose between physical gold (bars and coins) and non‑physical gold (digital gold) held in a securities account.

What you should know about non-physical gold:

it is theft-proof
it can be bought or sold in just a few clicks and in any fractional units, via S Net
it is not subject to discount risk
it can be converted into physical gold on request

What you should know about physical gold:

it is only available in specific unit sizes (bars of 1 kg, 500 g, 250 g, 100 g, 50 g, … and coins)
once the bars or coins are scratched or otherwise damaged, they are discounted
the process of buying physical gold takes longer because its quality has to be assessed in order to set the price; as a result, physical gold is less liquid

Click here for current gold prices

How do you buy gold?

1. Open a securities account with Spuerkeess at one of its branches.

2. Once your account has been set up, open the S-Net Mobile* app and you’ll see your securities account appear on the list of your accounts. Click on the securities account.

3. Click “+” to begin a market search. Select “PRECIOUS METALS”, the list of all metals will be displayed and you can buy the metal of your choice.

Find a branch

Download S-Net Mobile

If you’d like to set up a gold-based savings plan, you can opt for S-Invest Gold. That way, you build up a reserve in fine gold grams through regular investments and you benefit from the “average price effect”.

Learn more about S-Invest Gold

What you should know when investing

Investing is an alternative to saving over the medium to long term.
Inflation makes the money in your savings account lose value.
Money invested over the long term helps shape trends on the financial markets.
By making regular investments, you benefit from the “average price effect”.

Want to learn more and get some advice? Contact your advisor or get in touch with us by completing the form below.

This article is provided for information purposes only and has no contractual value. The content of this article shall not, under any circumstances, constitute or be equated to an investment recommendation, within the meaning provided under the regulations on market abuse, investment advice or an offer of purchase or sale. Said article may not, under any circumstances, be used or construed as a commitment from Spuerkeess.

Readers must form their own opinion about the information contained in this article and, to help them do so, they are free to contact their usual advisers if they have any investment-related questions.

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