If I come across another 'Best Investments For 2019' or 'Best place to invest €100,000' article I will lose the plot. Reason being that, just like the title of this blog, these articles really are just another form of click-bait. As we all will know, even if we didn't, click-bait is merely a hook with which to drag you into a website, and ultimately to sell you whatever they have in their warehouse, maybe the 'worlds most powerful torch', or the amazing 'world's quickest can-opener'......things designed to solve problems that you don't really have!

Likewise, you may not have the problem of needing to know where to invest €500,000 right now, yet you still find yourself reading this! I am not sure what that says about you, or indeed about me who is writing the blessed thing! Yet there is a proliferation of 'best way to invest such & such' and 'best investments in such & such' on the web here in Ireland. The web is great, I really do love it, but my god it's also so full of dross. I have read 5 such articles this morning in the hope of finding something which represents some sort of sense......but alas I have drawn a blank! One article suggests investing it all in a certain investment product, which on closer inspection has a really rubbish performance record and carries 2.7% fees per year, and another suggests investing the entirety in gold in the interests of 'accessing the world's greatest commodity'!

If we really were reliant on the information at hand then mistakes could be our hobby of choice for years to come! I understand that media need to create content, it is what generates traffic and subsequently advertising revenue, but as we all will accept, let's not take what we read or hear on the internet as gospel (including what you read or hear right now). Having said that some sources might be more well-intentioned than others!

Paddy Delaney

Podcast130: Best Way To Invest €500,000....Kinda!