Editorial Invest in Slovakia
The COVID-19 pandemic has been part of our lives for over two months now. Each of us is doing our best to protect the health of ourselves and our loved ones.
But are you also protecting your financial health? Here are some practical tips on how not to lose control of your finances during this unusual period.
As always, money decisions need to be approached soberly and with a cool head during a crisis. Family finances are made up of several pillars ️ which, if taken care of sufficiently, we believe you have nothing to worry about, even in the event of unexpected expenses or job loss.
The alpha and omega of family finances is the so-called a reserve fund placed in a highly liquid, i.e. quickly accessible savings account. Its amount should never fall below a base value of €1,000, but most finance experts agree that a full reserve fund should be in the amount of 3-6 months of your household expenses.
For faster filling of the reserve fund, you can currently also use extraordinary deferment of loan repayments, up to 9 months. This benefit can be used without a negative entry in the credit register.
The uncertain economic situation in almost every Slovak household should be reflected in a change in the management of your family finances. In case you have recently focused on paying off your loans and credit cards faster, whether in bank or non-bank entities, we strongly recommend a temporary suspension of extra loan repayments.‼️
Rather, divert the excess funds into a reserve fund that can then be used to make one-off larger repayments on existing loans after the pandemic is over.
"If you can even a little bit, don't go further into debt. Going into debt is one of the worst things you can do right now. One consequence of the current uncertainty may be that banks will gradually raise their interest rates. This could make your whole financial situation more fragile and potentially unsustainable," said Peter Margetiny, a specialist from the asset management company VÚB Asset Management.
An excellent model for your monthly family budget is 50/30/20 rule. According to this rule, half of your family income should be spent on things you need to survive, such as food, rent, utilities, telephone and internet. The other 30% of your family budget should go on things that make your life more enjoyable. This includes food delivery, travel, clothes shopping, new electronics, various memberships, and so on.
The remaining 20% of the budget should be allocated to savings or repayment of current debts. If you have a fully-subsidized family reserve fund and no debts, you should redirect the money to purchase investments that will bring new money into your budget.
As they say, everything bad is good for something. And that good is currently the opportunity to shop in the so-called sales. In the case of investing, you have a chance that hasn't been seen since 2008.
Financial markets are at multi-year lows. If you have been hesitant to start investing in individual stocks, index funds or ETFs, now is the time.⏳ There are, of course, many investment instruments on the market, and a professional should be able to advise you on which ones to choose. The initial investment amount is somewhere around €2,000.
In case you do not have larger sums of money available for investment, the right way of investing for you could be the so-called participation in real estate investment projects. Already for a low investment From you can become an investor and get a share of the profit from the project, which is most often aimed at the appreciation of the property and its subsequent sale.
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