Saving vs investing. How much to keep in cash and how much to invest? How do you get the balance right? This can be a difficult question to answer for a lot of people – cash feels safe but the interest you earn is taxed and what about inflation? Perhaps you don’t understand or know much about investments and would rather stick to what you know. A financial adviser from Borealis Financial Planning can guide you on how to make the most of your money by working with you to create a financial strategy, tailor-made just for you and your circumstances.

Saving: Build your safety net first

Saving is keeping assets in easily accessible cash accounts. We recommend keeping an emergency fund in cash which can cover about six months of your expenses. This gives you peace of mind in case anything unexpected happens.

However, there is a danger of holding too much cash. With interest rates often lower than inflation, your money could actually lose value in real terms over time. That’s why, once your emergency fund is in place, it’s wise to start looking at how investing can grow your wealth.

Investing: Grow your money for your future

Investing can give you greater returns over the long term. Investing is about putting money aside for your future. Investing is better suited for the medium to long term – ideally five years or more. The longer you can leave your money invested, the better chance it has to grow.

Investing is flexible and you can choose to invest a lump sum or invest smaller amounts monthly – you can adjust the amount at any time.

The value of an investment with St. James's Place will be directly linked to the performance of the funds selected and may go down as well as up. You may get back less than you invested.

Equities do not provide the security of capital which is characteristic of a deposit with a bank or building society.