36 recommended resources for Irish investors
We’ve compiled a list of online resources for Irish investors in a variety of investing areas. This includes looking at how to reduce investing expenses, improve returns, find the best investing calculators, obtain grants, and analyse property investing opportunities.
Here are 36 great resources for Irish investors
Understanding investment basics
Education: Learn investing principles, financial outlooks, tax efficiencies, how to identify undervalued shares, and lots more in our Investing Fundamentals course - September details to be announced shortly.
John Lowe: Aka “The Money Doctor” has an excellent A-to-Z list of financial terms here entitled, “The Jargon Buster.” From CFD to whole of life policy, he breaks terms down into clear English. He also writes a weekly column for The Star and hosts popular seminars.
David McWilliams: Ireland's favourite source for explaining all things financial. The economist has a gift for breaking down complex economic problems and challenges into layman's terms using unique anecdotes. Subscribe to his Patreon here.
Symmetry Financial Resources: The financial management firm provides free advice through online webinars about common personal finance matters and pensions. It’s a good resource for anyone who is thinking about their long-term financial wellbeing.
Slow and Steady Finance: This blog is full of advice for tackling everyday financial decisions including pensions, mortgages, investments, and taxes. The articles not only offer immediate help, but also explain how your financial decisions can impact you in the future.
Smart ways to save money
Mrs Smart Money (no relation or connection!) talks here about how you can cut expenses from your life including no-spend days, and how saving money doesn’t necessarily mean that you quality of life will suffer. In some cases, her family's quality of life seemed to improve.
Shareholder Freebies: Would you like a discount on Mulberry, members passes to the races, or a discount on the ferry when you take the horse to France? While I wouldn't recommend buying a company based on its perks, you might as well avail of them where applicable - here's a handy list of shareholder perks.
SEAI Grants: Invest in the efficiency of your home, cut your monthly bills, and have some extra money to invest. Through their wide range of grants, SEAI helps you, “upgrade your home, making it warmer and more energy efficient.” Meanwhile, you benefit from lower energy bills. Grants are available for a variety of projects from solar electricity grants to insulation. Apply at SEAI.ie.
I’m a big fan of De Giro: Their rates are the cheapest on the market by a country mile when buying stocks, ETF’s, etc. For example, if you are buying €1k worth of Bank of Ireland shares (just as an example), you would pay €2.50 commission through De Giro versus €25 through Goodbody. See comparisons across all providers here.
Taxback: Doing a tax return is about as fun as a trip to the dentist. However, there's a number of items people often omit to claim on their tax returns. Taxback.com does most of the hard for you on this. I haven't personally used them, but they claim their customers receive a €1076 tax refund on average. Not bad when you consider they don't charge a fee if there's no refund.
CurrencyFair: I really don't know why you'd give the banks any more than you have to, and with CurrencyFair you don't have to! If you were to transfer €10k into a British sterling bank account, you would save almost €250 on average compared to a typical bank.
Online calculators
Mortgage calculator: Banks frequently compete and change their rates, so it's best to keep tabs on these changes to get the best offer. The CCPC has an excellent calculator to compare all options for the best rates.
Personal loans: They also have a calculator to discover the best value personal loans based on your timeframe and needs.
Budget Planner: Use this CCPC resource to work out a spending plan that suits you and your household and keep control of your spending. They also have a spending calculator to figure out what you are spending every month, or every year, on items that you might not think about or budget for.
Funds return calculator: Should you invest in Zurich, Davy, New Ireland, or any of the other options for your pension? Rubicon Investment Consulting has an excellent calculator here to break down the returns offered by each provider.
Tax Calculator: While I assume this is a rough guide based on standard tax rates but not including exceptional's such as tax back on certain medical expenses, this Salary After Tax site is very useful to calculate your annual after-tax salary and monthly wage.
Networking and community groups for Irish investors
Investing networks: I run the Investing Ireland Facebook group which has a broad church of opinions and knowledge in terms of investing. People will often ask the question that everyone's wondering, but might be embarrassed to ask. You'll find people who look at opportunities from completely different perspectives and offer unique insights.
Ignite My Fire: This group focuses on finding ways to achieve financial independence to retire early and supporting others on their journeys. They host monthly meetups for group members around Ireland.
/r/irishpersonalfinance on Reddit: There’s truly a place for everyone on Reddit, including Irish investors. The Irish Personal Finance thread is full of insightful personal finance discussions, and the community is always willing to help answer a question.
Finance and investment experts
Contrarian Thinking: Codie Sanchez discusses a mix of ideas and insights from the opportunities of investing in cannabis companies to making money from dirt (there's actually a logical and a very profitable one at that!).
The Entrepreneur Experiment: I heard about her from a good friend of mine, Gary Fox, who runs the excellent Entrepreneur Experiment podcast and YouTube channel. He breaks down business ideas from selling unique trainers to flights to nowhere. I find his pod excellent for helping me come up with new ideas and business concepts. Who knows, you might get a new business idea after listening.
MrsMoneyHacker’s site has some really excellent Irish investing analysis. Here she compares ETFs versus stocks. Personally, I'm a big fan of ETFs over individual stocks as I’m fairly cautious when it comes to investments. For anyone weighing the two options, this is a useful article that also highlights some of the downsides, such as the inability to carry over losses like with CGT for ETFs, and the somewhat onerous tax obligations with them.
Baggot: Peter Brown and his colleagues at Baggot Investments weigh in on investment opportunities, challenges in the market, and other investment insights. Subscribe to their newsletter .
Charlie Weston, writer for The Independent, is excellent at calling out banks and insurance companies for excessive fees and charges. In this article he examines bank fees and determines that German fintech bank N26, which has a license to operate in Ireland aside from expensive ATM charges, is one of the best options in the market. N26 has no monthly charge, free transactions and foreign exchange fees if you are using a non-Euro currency.
The Currency: This business subscription site produces excellent pieces analyzing investing, the economy and specific companies. Here writer Sean Keyes explores the broker commission structure and why it may not always be a bad thing.
Fiona Reddan, Irish Times journalist, writes extensively on timely personal finance topics such as the rise of buy now, pay later shopping incentives and how your age could affect how much you pay in taxes.
Conor Pope, another Irish Times journalist, provides valuable insight on consumer affairs affecting people in Ireland. This article examines the new trend of conscience consumerism during the pandemic, and this article gives a list of Ireland’s best vacation destinations for people looking for a vacation close to home.
The Wolf of Harcourt Street: Anyone can become more financially literate with this email newsletter written for the average person who wants to get better with money. The Wolf of Harcourt Street gives clear investment advice on specific companies and publishes monthly portfolio reviews. Check out this deep dive on the company Square.
Frugal Person Finance: This “frugal Irish guy” blogs about his journey to financial freedom through a minimalist lifestyle, DIY renovations, and strategic property investments.
Plain English Finance: Although geared toward U.K readers, this site offers great advice that Irish investors can learn from as well. Check out this article about what to do if you win the lottery - finger’s crossed!
Nerdie Investing in Ireland: Get a dose of good, practical advice on various types of investments and personal finance topics. The blog dives into often overlooked areas of finance such as how to track your net worth and choosing an investment strategy based on risk and returns.
Collaborative Fund: This investment firm shares some great advice for the modern Irish investor on its blog. Writer Morgan Housel creates interesting posts that focus on forming a well-rounded mindset when it comes to managing money.
Property investment insights
CBRE Research and Reports: The property giant CBRE produces regular reports on property in Ireland that are free to download here. What sectors are facing significant challenges? Will there be a bounce once social distancing is relaxed? CBRE reports are very useful resources for anyone thinking about purchasing property or investing in listed property companies.
Daft Reports: The quarterly daft reports are useful guides for rents, which combined with their properties on site, can help an investor determine the best ROI based on property type and area.
The Smart Money Series on Property Investing: This post goes in depth to address a common question many Irish investors have - how should you invest a large sum of money to get the best return? We explain that purchasing a fixer upper in an urban area secured with a long-term council lease would be a practical way to see a very good ROI.
The Smart Money Series on Property Investing, Part 2: And this post gives another strategy for investing, focusing on the potential of multi-unit properties.
As always, I’m not a professional advisor or investor. Please do your own research before making any decisions! If you are interested in sharing insights and discussing investment ideas with other Irish investors, you can join my Facebook group here.