Q. I recently inherited € 29,000 from an aunt. Aged 31, I don’t want to buy property – my parents are leaving the family home to me, have money saved but I want a decent return on this sum and am prepared to wait a few years. Jim – Ballina Co Mayo
A. Your windfall Jim is tax free too ( threshold for an aunt to her nephew is now € 40,000 since last October ) and you seem to have you finances sorted. So assuming no debt, the BEST return of any asset class is the stock market – between 1991 and 2020 the average annual growth rate in the stock market was 10.72% and in my opinion the safest way to access the stock market is through managed funds. Deposits ? Best on demand account is 0.75% ( net 0.5025% after DIRT tax ) from An Post Money…the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA), a government body who manage all government monies including An Post and available online or at post offices, have the best guaranteed returns.. the National Solidarity Bond at 22% tax free after 10 years – equivalent to a gross rate 3% per annum is the best deposit product on the market.. With your youth and time on your side, I really would consider investing in managed funds like Irish Life’s MAPS funds, Zurich’s Prisma funds or Standard Life’s MyFolio funds to name but three. The stock market is a mechanism for transferring wealth from the impatient to the patient, at least that’s what the world’s richest man, Warren Buffett, said ! Any of these investments should be for a minimum of 5 years. Email me for details.