7

First of all, a bit of context. My wife and I earn roughly 4400€/month.

We are two years into a 15 year mortgage for a flat, at a very low interest rate (150k€ @ ~ 1%), we reimburse about 1000€/month.

After taxes, food, and so on we manage to spare about 1000€/month.

For the time being, the money sits in savings account, where the money is guaranteed by the French state, and any earnings are tax-free but the yield is very low (0.75% these days).

We have a kid on the way, and we would like to buy a house in a few years.

Finally the question:

As a French couple, saving 1000€/month, and planning to use it in the next two to five years, what would be a good investment?

Cheers,

Improve this question

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
2

I would suggest a PEL. Created for this kind of scenario. If you are sure to by a house, then it could be the support you need and without risk. Even it's 1%, it's better than 0,75% with Livret A, and it can have some other plus. But you will have your money for sure the moment you'll need it.

(Source in French)

But, carefull on some points :

  • If you don't want a house anymore, then, it's a waste of time. Same if you want to buy too fast (before 2/3 years).

  • You have a child. It can be expensive. Be sure to have some cash to handle every situation. So you can avoid to withdraw and destroy PEL before buying just because you're low on cash.

Improve this answer
-4

Look at the aristocrat dividend paying stocks (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%26P_500_Dividend_Aristocrats). These all pay dividends and have consistently outperformed the S&P 500 - 10.6% vs 7.4% the last ten years.

While stocks should not be generally considered for short-term investing, I personally think the market is showing a general up trend for the next few years. Also, the dividends add an additional buffer.

Because you would be making regular monthly investments, you should choose a fund that invests in aristocrat stocks so you can set up an automatic depost.

Improve this answer
2
  • 1
    The OP is in France. The S&P 500 may not be appropriate for them.
    – Eric
    Oct 1, 2017 at 20:16
  • 2
    Even pre the huge currency risk you would face buying dollar denominated assets in France, this is just terrible advice for someone needing the money within <5 years even if they were US based. Regardless of dividend past or any other factor, stocks are just far too risky for this time period/need for the capital at the end.
    – Philip
    Oct 2, 2017 at 8:47

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .