Saving and investing for retirement

Sorry if this has been covered before, but I can't find anything really helpful by searching...

I am in need of urgent advice about where best ( and safe) to invest my life savings for my intended retirement in 4 years time, when I'll be 60. I live permanently in Germany and will probably stay here after retiring, and I have a general mistrust for financial advisers.

At present all my savings are invested with Nat West e-savings in the UK. The interest rate currently is 4.3 (AER) on which I pay no savings tax as I'm no longer rersident in the UK. I'm quite pleased with this rate especially as the interest is paid monthly. I also consider this home for my money to be relatively 'safe'.

The question is, could I do better? And I wonder about the logistics of accessing the monthly income when I retire. Help/advice would be very much appreciated...

I think you are correct to mistrust the advisors. They only wanna jam you into something that makes them money.

UK interest rates are expected to rise to base rate of 5% today.

You can get better rates for your money probably - maybe another 0.5% before even the rate increase. e.g. http://www.cahoot.com/ is 4.8%

Anything outside money in the bank, if you want a higher return = RISK. No two ways about it. Above 5% and you are into the RISK game.

That means property, stock market etc etc.

Referring specifically to savings accounts, you can certainly do better than 4.3%. Nationwide offer 4.8% on their internet account, and there are a handful over 5%. Have a look through Moneyfacts to see who has the best rates.

is it better to have your savings over in the UK or over here?
generally, i mean

BTW - the interest rate increase in the UK just came through, according to CNN

Interest rates on savings accounts are substantially higher in the UK, thanks to all the people wallowing in credit card and mortgage debt.

Don't talk soft. It is because of the different base rates as set by the Bank of England or the European Central Bank for Euros. Got jack all to do with the level of debt anywhere.

I prefer to keep bangers in sterling 'cos the interest rate is higher. In theory if you think all your spending in future will be in Euros then of course you are running a foreign exchange rate risk, which could wipe out your 3% per annum increased rate.

But likewise you might actually get a foreign exchange rate win if sterling strengthens against the Euro. So I would prefer to take my chances and at least start the game 3% better off.

So where do banks get the cash they need to lend money? Pick it off a tree? They offer high interest rates to attract investments which they can then use for lending. The profit they make is basically the difference between their credit and debit interest rates.

I have a similar problem…

Right now I’m earning more than I’m spending and am looking for a good place to stash my Euros to protect them from inflation. I have some high interest accounts in the UK but feel the pound is somewhat overvalued against the Euro and don’t want to take on the currency risk. I don’t expect to return to the UK.

Can anyone suggest any high interest bank accounts or low risk investments that I can take up for the next 2-3 years? What do other people do with their savings?

Depends on how long-term you want to invest. There are various options for tax-efficient pension insurance, or if you want to keep your cash ready, you could look at Ing-Diba or Cortal Consors accounts, which are among the higher-interest instant access accounts in Germany.

In the UK I recommend ING Direct. Their interest rate is currently 4.75%
I've been using them for years in Australia (Currently 6%) and Opened a UK account as soon as they entered that market (since I was living there at the time). The German version seems to have a fairly low interest rate so there isn't much point holding money in this country.

From my experience ING in both UK and OZ has been simple, reliable, always a great interest rate, added monthly, and excellent and fast customer service.

No. You are buggered. €uro base rate is only 2% so there is no magic answer to your question. To get a higher return (i.e. switch into Sterling) then you of course increase your risk.

stick it in various funds

My advice is that if you can read any German at all, go to the library and curl up with a magazine called Finanz Test. Like other consumer guides, it evaluates various things like insurance, and private pensions, but in the back is an easy-to-understand set of lists comparing and rating money markets (Tagesgeld) and different kinds of funds. They maintain several sample portfolios also. Online, they offer a "Warnlist" for investments that give them a creepy feeling. Have fun!