Investing as an alternative to saving
Unfortunately, the days when savings would provide us with returns are far behind us. The ABN AMRO was the first big bank in the Netherlands that announced it would no longer pay interest on current saving accounts. The DNB bank even wrote that paying for a savings account would become more and more frequent in the years to come. Now, as stuffing loads of cash in your mattress isn't the safest way to save money, what other options are there?
Alternatives to a savings account
You guessed it: investing could make a fantastic alternative to saving. The Volkskrant even published an article about other options for saving, which happened to include two options that are in line with the world of BOTS: investing and cryptocurrencies.
But when is saving better than investing, and vice versa? Let us explain.
Saving to create a buffer
Everyone gets a financial setback from time to time — a car that needs fixing or a washing machine in need of replacing. There are countless examples of times when it would be helpful to access your buffer funds immediately. Having a savings account used to be the answer to all of these setbacks. You decide how big you want your buffer to be, set these funds aside for emergencies, and withdraw them whenever you need them. There are even tools available, such as the Nibud buffer calculator, to tell you exactly how much your emergency buffer should be.
Saving for a purpose
Besides having an emergency buffer, saving is also an ideal way to save for a purpose. A new car, a trip around the world or college for your six younglings. In this scenario, people would often use a deposit savings account: an account where you’d put your money aside for a more extended period at the time — for a higher interest rate. Once the deposit period has passed, you’d be able to withdraw your money and buy that car, go on that trip, pay for six fancy universities or maybe just retire.
Ah, the good old days. A few years from now, we’ll be looking back with a faint smile on our faces, remembering times of savings accounts and interest rates.
But unfortunately, those times have passed. Time to look at the future and, as promised, explore other options.
Investing instead of saving
Now, we could explain all sorts of things about different ways to save money, but there’s only one way that we feel for: investing. It’s an excellent option to replace the savings account in both of the above situations. And the actions to reach your goals are pretty much the same. You set a goal, achieve it, continue for a new purpose or withdraw your funds. Even though a savings account won’t make you any profits, investing just might.
Do note: just like you would with a deposit savings account, you don’t invest the money you might need. Just like depositing money in your long-term savings account, investing is an alternative to saving, that you’re in for the long run.
Save for bigger goals
So even though you can’t use investments as a short-term option to put some money aside (you can, but if you withdraw when the market is low, you might have lost part of your investment), it is a fantastic way to save for a purpose. With a good trading strategy, your return can increase considerably. You will see your funds grow much faster than you would in a savings account and will be able to reach your savings goal with the speed of light.
Instead of saving for a weekend in Paris, you might decide to up your goals and save for a three-month trip with the Orient Express instead. Or how about skipping that weekend in Paris and just buying a flat there?
Start investing with the BOTS app.
Even though investing is an excellent alternative to saving, many people still scare away with it. It seems like such a vast new world with all this knowledge and time expected of you. And that’s where we come in. We built an app that gives you access to the best trading strategies globally, previously available only to the wealthiest 1% of the world. Why? Because we think it’s unfair that only the rich can invest. Everyone should be able to!
Automated trading with algorithms
How do you ask? We built a platform on which the best developers offer their trading algorithms: algorithms based on artificial intelligence and machine learning, called ‘bots’. These bots are automated trading strategies and use all the above to buy, sell or hold your investment. They don’t feel emotions; they don’t sleep. All they do is make trades with your investment with one goal in mind: making the most significant return possible. In the meanwhile, you just sit back and relax with a glass of wine.
How to use the BOTS app
Investing with BOTS is easy. It takes you no more than two minutes to create an account. It takes you no more than three minutes to find a bot that suits your situation, and it takes you less than a minute to transfer funds to this bot and let him start trading for you.
You can start with as little as €5: the ideal way to see if investing suits you and if you’re happy with the returns you make.
There is no such thing as risk-free trading. It is possible to lose (part of) your stake.
