Medium-term money investment in Germany
"Due to the zero percent interest rate on the Euro right now you won't find any investment giving you 5% which isn't equivalent to gambling.  One of the few investment forms which still promises gains without unreasonable risks right now seems to be real estate, because real estate prices in German urban areas (not so in rural areas!) are growing a lot recently. One reason for that is in fact the low interest rate, because it makes it very cheap right now to take a loan and buy a home. This increased demand is driving up the prices. Note that you don't need to buy a property yourself to invest in real estate (20k in one of the larger cities of Germany will get you... maybe a cardboard box below a bridge?). You can invest your money in a real estate fund (""Immobilienfond""). You then don't own a specific property, you own a tiny fraction of a whole bunch of different properties. This spreads out the risk and allows you to invest exactly as much money as you want. However, most real estate funds do not allow you to sell in the first two years and require that you announce your sale one year in advance, so it's not a very liquid asset.  Also, it is still a risky investment. Raising real estate prices might hint to a bubble which might burst eventually. Financial analysts have different opinions about this. But fact is, when the European Central Bank starts to take interest again, then the demand for real estate property will drop and so will the prices. When you are not sure what to do, ask your bank for investment advise. German banks are usually trustworthy in this regard."
If you don't want to hassle with opening an account (and don't mind going without insurance) there are currency ETF's that basically invest in euro money market accounts. Here's an example of one Not sure if the return would be as much as you'd get if you opened your own account and went for longer term instruments like a 12 month CD  (I think the Euro MM rate is around 1.1%  compared to 0.1% for the US). But since it trades like a stock you can do it without having to establish an account with an overseas bank. "The question is asking for a European equivalent of the so-called ""Couch Potato"" portfolio. ""Couch Potato"" portfolio is defined by the two URLs provided in question as, Criteria for fund composition Fixed-income: Regardless of country or supra-national market, the fixed-income fund should have holdings throughout the entire length of the yield curve (most available maturities), as well as being a mix of government, municipal (general obligation), corporate and high-yield bonds.  Equity: The common equity position should be in one equity market index fund. It shouldn't be a DAX-30 or CAC-40 or DJIA type fund. Instead, you want a combination of growth and value companies. The fund should have as many holdings as possible, while avoiding too much expense due to transaction costs. You can determine how much is too much by comparing candidate funds with those that are only investing in highly liquid, large company stocks. Why it is easier for U.S. and Canadian couch potatoes It will be easier to find two good funds, at lower cost, if one is investing in a country with sizable markets and its own currency. That's why the Couch Potato strategy lends itself most naturally to the U.S.A, Canada, Japan and probably Australia, Brazil, South Korea and possibly Mexico too. In Europe, pre-EU, any of Germany, France, Spain, Italy or the Scandinavian countries would probably have worked well. The only concern would be (possibly) higher equity transactions costs and certainly larger fixed-income buy-sell spreads, due to smaller and less liquid markets other than Germany. These costs would be experienced by the portfolio manager, and passed on to you, as the investor. For the EU couch potato Remember the criteria, especially part 2, and the intent as described by the Couch Potato name, implying extremely passive investing. You want to choose two funds offered by very stable, reputable fund management companies. You will be re-balancing every six months or a year, only. That is four transactions per year, maximum. You don't need a lot of interaction with anyone, but you DO need to have the means to quickly exit both sides of the trade, should you decide, for any reason, that you need the money or that the strategy isn't right for you.  I would not choose an ETF from iShares just because it is easy to do online transactions. For many investors, that is important! Here, you don't need that convenience. Instead, you need stability and an index fund with a good reputation. You should try to choose an EU based fund manager, or one in your home country, as you'll be more likely to know who is good and who isn't. Don't use Vanguard's FTSE ETF or the equivalent, as there will probably be currency and foreign tax concerns, and possibly forex risk. The couch potato strategy requires an emphasis on low fees with high quality funds and brokers (if not buying directly from the fund). As for type of fund, it would be best to choose a fund that is invested in mostly or only EU or EEU (European Economic Union) stocks, and the same for bonds. That will help minimize your transaction costs and tax liability, while allowing for the sort of broad diversity that helps buy and hold index fund investors." It is interesting to consider the Netherlands which is part of the Euro zone. Germany uses 1 and 2 cent coins. Adjacent is the Netherlands where items remain priced to the cent but cash totals are rounded to the nearest 5c so 1 and 2c coins are out of circulation. "The number one difference is that bank savings accounts, or money market accounts (MMAs allow limited checking--six non-ATM withdrawals per month, max, else possible fees) have FDIC insurance up to $250,000.  However don't put that much in--allow some room for interest, so you never go over the $250,000.  Money Market Mutual Funds do not enjoy FDIC insurance.  There may be some SPIC insurance--generally against brokerage failure though, but its coverage is questionable--search out those details, and if they apply to anything besides actual cash held at the brokerage.  If the money market mutual fund is strictly invested in US Treasury securities (like T-Bills, or other short-term US Treasury instruments), it enjoys the full faith and credit of the US government, FWIW--but many MMMFs invest in corporate instruments.  If the fund has any pricing issues, there might be a delay in getting paid off.  (Extremely unlikely.)      Number two, and more importantly, bank savings accounts (or MMAs) pay way more!  You can get a bit over 1% APY now--many paying 0.90% APY, or higher.  No money market mutual funds are close to that, generally yielding a small fraction of that, almost zero for US Treasury MMM funds.  Sure 1.05% ain't too exciting, but you may as well get the most you can if holding ""cash,"" and fully insured to boot." "As many before me said but will say again for the sake of completeness of an answer:  First off provision to have an emergency fund of 6 months living expenses to cover loss of employment, unforeseen medical issues etc.  When that is done you re free to start investing. Do remember that putting all your eggs in one basket enable risks, so diversify your portfolio and diversify even within each investment vehicle. Stocks: I would personally stay away from stocks as it's for the most part a bear market right now (and I assume you re not interested day-trading to make any short term return) and most importantly you dont mention any trading experience which means you can get shafted. Mutual Funds: Long story short most of these work; mainly for the benefit for their management and people selling them. Bonds  Instead, I would go for corporate bonds where you essentially buy the seller(aka the issuing company) and unlike gambling on stocks of the same company, you dont rely on speculation and stock gains to make a profit. As long as the company is standing when the bond matures you get your payment. This allows you to invest with less effort spent on a daily basis to monitor your investments and much better returns(especially if you find opportunities where you can buy bonds from structurally sound companies that have for reasons you deem irrelevant, purchase prices in the secondary market for cents in the dollar) than your other long term ""stable options"" like German issued bonds  or saving accounts that are low in general and more so like in the current situation for German banks. Cryptocurrency I would also look into cryptocurrency for the long term as that seems to be past its childhood diseases and its also a good period of time to invest in as even the blue chips of that market are down party due to correction from all time highs and partly due to speculation. As Im more knowledgeable on this than German-locale bonds, a few coins I suggest you look into and decide for yourself would be the obvious ETH & BTC, then a slew of newer ones including but not limited to OmiseGO, Tenx(Pay), Augur and IOTA. Beware though, make sure to understand the basics of security and good practices on this field, as there's no central bank in this sector and if you leave funds in an exchange or your wallet's private key is compromised the money are as good as gone." Fundamental rule of investing money : Now come to the point, best money investment You could buy a money order with your cash, then mail the money order to Deutsche Bank Germany for deposit into your account. You could also buy a prepaid debit card (like a Visa/AMEX giftcard) with your cash. Then, open a new Paypal account and add this prepaid card. Finally, send money to yourself using the prepaid card as the funding source. You could use a money transfer service, like Western Union, to transfer the cash to a friend/family in Germany. Then ask them to deposit it for you at Deutsche Bank Germany. There are legitimate multi currency mutual funds/efts. But I don't think their rate of return will produce the extra money you're looking for any faster than any other kind of investment with comparable risks. To make money fast, you have to accept nontrivial risk of losing money fast, which isn't what you seem to have in mind. Most US banks allow to initiate wire transfers online. (I do it regularly with BoA and JPMorgan-Chase) Once you have your account details in Germany, you log on to your US account, set it up, and initiate the transfer; that should go through within one day. The exchange ratio is better than anything you would get buying/selling currency (paper cash money), no matter where you do it. Chase takes a fee of 40$ per online transaction; BoA 45$. The receiving bank might or might not take additional fees, they should be lower though (I have experienced between 0€ and 0.35%). Therefore, it is a good idea to bundle your transfers into one, if you can. Fisher Capital Management: Leading 10 Monetary Suggestions  Posted on 17/10/2011 by fcminvestment Even though resolutions boost financial condition a great idea to accomplish in any period for year is for numerous persons discover this less difficult from the starting of the New Year. Irrespective of any time one start, the fundamentals stay identical. Fisher Capital Management shares recommendations in order to be in advance monetarily.  1. Be Compensated How Much you are worth and Save Some Part of It  This appears easy; however countless individuals have difficulty having this specific initial fundamental principle. Be positive and understand exactly what your task is worth within the industry, through executing the assessment of your expertise, productiveness, career responsibilities, involvement to the firm, and the current fee, equally within and beyond the organization, regarding what you perform. Becoming under compensated actually a thousand bucks a year may possess a substantial collective result more than the actual process of one’s employment existence.  Irrespective of the amount or perhaps how small you are compensated, you will in no way obtain be advance in case one devote far more compared to a person gain. Frequently it is less difficult to invest much less compared to this will be to make much more, and the small efforts within the amount of places may outcome in large savings. This will not usually have that which includes producing large sacrifices.  2. Adhere to the Price Range  How many people understand when the funds will be heading when one never budget? How does a person can easily established investing and saving targets when one never understands in which the cash is actually heading? People require the budget whether or not a person creates thousands or perhaps hundreds of thousands of bucks a year.  3. Settle Credit Card Accounts  Credit card financial obligation is actually the number one hindrance to becoming ahead monetarily. These small items of plastic tend to be so convenient to utilize, it is therefore very easy to overlook that it is actual cash we are coping with whenever you whip these away to pay out for any transaction, big or even little. In spite of the great resolves in order to shell out balance away swiftly, the truth is that it usually will not, and wind up having to pay much more regarding issues compared to   make paid off when you made use of money.  4. Chip in towards the Pension Program  When the company has a 401(k) plan and a person do not contribute to this, you are running away through one of the finest discounts right there. Request the boss if they have the 401(k) plan (or even comparable program), and sign up right now. In the event that you happen to be contributing, attempt to increase the contribution. In case the company will not provide the pension program, think about the Individual retirement account.  5. Make Financial Savings Program  You might have discovered this before: Pay for yourself first! If perhaps a person delay till you have satisfied most ones monetary commitments prior to finding what is remaining around for saving, probabilities tend to be you will in no way possess a wholesome financial savings accounts or perhaps opportunities. Deal with it in order to fix apart the minimal for 5% to 10% of the income to get savings prior to shelling out the expenses. More desirable however, get cash instantly taken off through the income and deposit straight into a distinct account.  6. Make Investments!  Should you are contributing  the pension program and the savings account as well as one may also handle to set a number of funds in to some other ventures, all the  far better.           7. Improve Ones Career Rewards  Work benefits such as the 401(k) program, flexible expenditure consideration, healthcare as well as dental care coverage, and so on. are usually valued at huge money. Try to make certain you will be making the most of your own and also getting benefit of these kinds which can easily help save cash through lowering taxation or perhaps out-of-pocket expenditures.  8. Evaluate Ones Coverage Protections  Overly numerous individuals tend to be though in to spending  a lot regarding life and impairment coverage, no matter if it is through incorporating all these protections to automobile mortgages, purchasing whole-life insurance  if term-life creates a lot more feeling, or perhaps purchasing life insurance any time one possess absolutely no dependents. In the different side, it really is essential to an individual get sufficient insurance coverage to be able to safeguard the loved ones and also the earnings in the event of fatality or possibly impairment.  9. Revise Your Current Will  70% of American citizens do not possess a will. In case a person have dependents, irrespective of just how small or what amount a person own, an individual need a will. When the predicament is not very difficult a person may actually carry out the personal plan just like WillMaker through Nolo Press. Safeguard your own cherished family members. Create your will.  10. Maintain Suitable Data  When a person do not maintain useful data, you are most likely in no way proclaiming all the allowable revenue taxes deductions as well as credits. Established a method today and utilize this each of the year. It is a lot simpler compared to rushing in order to discover all the things from taxes period, just to skip things which may have rescued a person capital. I think it really depends on how much you take out of your Nationwide account each month. At a certain point, it will become cheaper just to transfer your monthly rent + living allowance via an international bank transfer or using one of the currency transfer services like xe.com or Hifx. You will have to pay fees either way and/or you'll end up with a forex spread. If you have got enough money in your UK account to cover several months' worth of expenses in Germany, I would be tempted to make one big transfer every few months instead of a a monthly one; anything more than once a month is probably going to be too costly either way. It might also be worth comparing the transfer fees charged by the various banks, when I lived in the UK and had to regularly send money to Germany I found there was a massive difference between different banks for essentially the same service. "If you are going to keep your US bank account for any period of time, the very best option I know of is to withdraw Euros from an atm using your US card once you are in Germany.    I draw on my US account regularly (I'm in Munich) and always get the going ""mid market"" exchange rate, which is better than what you get from a currency conversion service, transfer agency, or bank transfer, and there are no fees from the atm or my bank for the currency conversion or withdrawal.   Of course you should check with your bank to verify their rules and fees for atm use internationally.  It would also be wise to put a travel advisory on your account to be sure your transaction is not denied because you are out of country." "The €100'000 limit is per bank, where ""bank"" is defined as a financial institution with a banking license from one of the ECB members. ""WeltSparen"", is operated by the MHB-Bank which is a German bank, recognized by the Bundesbank.  That means your money is initially guaranteed by the Bundesbank. When it's moved to the final saving account, you'll be saving at other banks, which are identified in the individual offerings. This can be an effective technique to split capitals in excess of €100.000. You should obviously look for banks that are backed by ECB member banks, but keep in mind what happened to Iceland: the national banks can also fail. In particular, the Bank of Italy at the moment is looking a bit shaky because Monte dei Paschi di Siena is currently failing and will require a bail-out. There's no official back-up for failing national banks within the ECB system." Banks in certain countries are offering such facility. However I am not aware of any Bank in Hungary offering this. So apart from maintaining a higher amount in HUF, there by reducing the costs [and taking the volatility risks]; there aren't many options. Surely there's more to the picture than this.  Breaking the borrowing limit by going to 3.5% multiple times is surely no where near as bad as going to 18% once.  On top of this there was a fundamental difference in the use of capital.  Borrowing to invest (as Germany did) has been ridiculously beneficial for them.