How much to keep in current account

billyhead

Folks,

Just wondering how much would you usually recommend to be kept in a daily current account (not investment account or regular savings account to earn interest)? Just for quick access. I know its how long is a piece of string and everyones circumstances are different. Background is that I have no dependents i.e kids.

Henry Ford III

The bare minimum.

silent_spark

I keep enough in my current account to avoid bank charges, which usually means a minimum balance of around €3000, plus day to day spending money.

dennyk

I like to keep the minimum for fee-free plus a month's net salary as a buffer, personally.

Mrs OBumble

dennyk wrote: »

I like to keep the minimum for fee-free plus a month's net salary as a buffer, personally.

This, plus two more months living expenses in a savings account.

billyhead

What do you guys do with the rest of your earnings i.e in terms of saving, investing?

porsche boy

silent_spark wrote:

....which usually means a minimum balance of around €3000, plus day to day spending money.

dennyk wrote:

.... month's net salary as a buffer, personally.

Mrs OBumble wrote:

This, plus two more months living expenses in a savings account.

In contrast, I'm usually broke by Monday afternoon.

coylemj

silent_spark wrote: »

I keep enough in my current account to avoid bank charges, which usually means a minimum balance of around €3000, plus day to day spending money.

You have given the bank a permanent, interest-free loan of €3,000 of your money. Open an EBS Moneymanager a/c (no fees, no minimum balance) and you'll have that money as a windfall.

Bubbaclaus

silent_spark wrote: »

I keep enough in my current account to avoid bank charges, which usually means a minimum balance of around €3000, plus day to day spending money.

The interest you earn on that 3k in a savings account would pretty much offset the fees being saved having it in a current account.

Sarn

The interest after DIRT on €3k at the best instant access rate of 0.65% is €11.90. Better than nothing I suppose, but not a huge loss if you don't capitalise on it.

dennyk

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

This, plus two more months living expenses in a savings account.

I aim for six months myself; still rebuilding mine after moving a year ago, and it's kind of scattered between two different countries at the moment, but it's almost there again, finally.

billyhead wrote: »

What do you guys do with the rest of your earnings i.e in terms of saving, investing?

My savings here are in a KBC Extra Regular Savings account (3% AER). Got a chunk of money sitting in my old US checking account as well; I occasionally use it to pay for a few services that still bill my US credit cards, and eventually as my liquid savings here grows, I'll start moving some of it into my Vanguard mutual funds there. Already have a decent nest egg in a taxable mutual fund account as well as a good chunk in some Vanguard retirement accounts.

I also contribute 10% of my gross salary (plus 5% company matching) to an occupational pension here. Might bump that up to 15% + 5% after I'm done rebuilding my savings properly, or I may see if I qualify to contribute to my US Roth IRA this year instead; couldn't qualify last year due to some particular tax situations, but this year I might be able to swing it.

Once I've emptied my US checking account, I'm in a bit of a quandary; unfortunately being a US citizen makes investing in any non-US instruments a minefield of tax reporting and liability issues that could lead to six-figure fines if you get anything wrong. Any sort of non-US mutual fund is almost certainly a no-go. ETFs might be a possibility; I will have to do a lot of research and maybe get some professional advice. I may be stuck transferring money back to my US account and buying Vanguard fund shares there; bit of a convoluted process and it does carry some tax implications as well, depending on the exchange rates, but they're minor compared to the hell that is foreign investments.

silent_spark

Sarn wrote: »

The interest after DIRT on €3k at the best instant access rate of 0.65% is €11.90. Better than nothing I suppose, but not a huge loss if you don't capitalise on it.

Yes. Depending on how you use your account, the charges can be quite high if you don't keep a minimum balance (AIB). I'm fine not earning a paltry interest on it in return for access to (in my opinion) excellent online banking.

Other money goes to an instant access account (with currently two month's net salary, hoping to build it up to four), a relatively instant access account for medium-term savings (property related), some 10 year state bonds and a PRSA.

Mrs OBumble

porsche boy wrote: »

In contrast, I'm usually broke by Monday afternoon.

So if you get sick and cannot work for a week, you'll end up homeless and starving?

Ayuntamiento

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

So if you get sick and cannot work for a week, you'll end up homeless and starving?

If your job doesn't even cover one week of paid sick leave then you probably need a new job.

Bob24

Sarn wrote: »

The interest after DIRT on €3k at the best instant access rate of 0.65% is €11.90. Better than nothing I suppose, but not a huge loss if you don't capitalise on it.

Especially since if people only keep the bare minimum on a current account , they likely need a credit card which costs them more than that for those times when they need to make a large purchase and don't have access to online banking for a quick credit transfer, whereas if you always have buffer a debit card is fine. Or possibly overdraft facility for those cases when an unexpected direct debit comes in, which also costs money with most banks.

Sue Pa Key Pa

Money goes in each month and is sufficient to not incur bank charges. Whatever is left on payday is transferred to a savings account and I start the next month with the same amount & repeat

KilOit

Gives me peace of mind to have 3k in AIB current account, yes i could earn interest on that but i like their online service and i work right beside a branch so for the sake of a few quid i'll stick with it.
Can make decent interest on their online regular saver package (5 in total) if you put the time and effort into adjusting the money every month. Their online service allows me to do that in minutes

Mrs OBumble

Ayuntamiento wrote: »

If your job doesn't even cover one week of paid sick leave then you probably need a new job.

Ya cos paid sick leave is a really common thing in this country. Not. Outside the public sector, its rare enough.

Bubbaclaus

KilOit wrote: »

Gives me peace of mind to have 3k in AIB current account, yes i could earn interest on that but i like their online service and i work right beside a branch so for the sake of a few quid i'll stick with it.
Can make decent interest on their online regular saver package (5 in total) if you put the time and effort into adjusting the money every month. Their online service allows me to do that in minutes

Would you not be afraid of waking up in the morning to find the 3k gone from the account after your card details were skimmed or something?

Bob24

Bubbaclaus wrote: »

Would you not be afraid of waking up in the morning to find the 3k gone from the account after your card details were skimmed or something?

I personally am not. I am pretty sure in case of fraudulent activity on the card the bank has to provide refunds. And as well, someone who never keeps much money on their current account likely needs a credit card as an alternative for large purchases, and this could cause even larger unauthorised transactions for money you don't even have.

Bubbaclaus

Bob24 wrote: »

I personally am not. I am pretty sure in case of fraudulent activity on the card the bank has to provide refunds. And as well, someone who never keeps much money on their current account likely needs a credit card as an alternative for large purchases, and this could cause even larger unauthorised transactions for money you don't even have.

Could be waiting months for a refund of that 3k while the bank investigate.

No credit card needed. Any large purchases I just whip out the phone and instant transfer across from the deposit account, only takes 15 seconds of my time.

Bob24

Bubbaclaus wrote: »

Could be waiting months for a refund of that 3k while the bank investigate.

No credit card needed. Any large purchases I just whip out the phone and instant transfer across from the deposit account, only takes 15 seconds of my time.

I guess I prefer to take my chances (very small chance of it happening tbh and if it takes a few months to get a refund so be it), rather than risking being stuck with no data service and a large purchase to make or getting charged for an unexpectedly high direct debit getting bounced.

But really it's just down to personal preference and it's fine if people have different ways to manage their money.

Fiery mutant

Enough to cover my bills, rest goes to savings which regularly goes to paying chunks off my mortgage. That's the goal, pay that off, then work for my family.