31.03.2025
Consume less, save more. That’s a good plan. If interest is low, savings accounts are not very attractive. Those who want to build up their assets over the long term should examine the alternatives. One possibility is an investment in the financial markets.
Sara has always found saving easy. She avoids spontaneous purchases and plans her expenditure in advance. But when she checks her savings account, she notices her credit is hardly growing. Interest is low – too low to build up assets in the long term. Sara therefore asks herself what alternatives are available in times when interest is low in order to get more from her money.
There are generally three popular ways to save money – each with its advantages and disadvantages:
Advantage
Ideal for saving money easily, flexibly and over the long term.
Disadvantage
Hardly any or no interest at all.
Advantage
By buying securities, participating in the capital market can also be an effective means of building up assets in the long term with the yield opportunities.
Disadvantage
The assets are subject to market fluctuations and the performance can also take on negative values. In order to counteract market fluctuations, the investment time horizon should, if possible, be long-term.
Advantage
Primarily serves private retirement provision (3rd pillar). The savings contributions made can be deducted from taxable income.
Disadvantage
3a assets can only be accessed under certain conditions.
The performance of assets in savings accounts and in the pillar 3a retirement account is negatively affected by low interest rates. One way of getting more out of your money is to invest or save in securities with retirement funds. Those who invest their money in capital markets do not receive a guaranteed return, but they can benefit from the return opportunities on the financial markets in the longer term.
What’s more, investing in the financial markets is no longer that difficult. Today, there are various options – including digital ones – that facilitate access to the financial markets and make investing your money easier. Those who do not have time to deal with the financial markets and investing can nowadays delegate the task – for example via e-asset management from PostFinance.
However, investing is not without risk, and you have to accept market fluctuations. People should therefore only invest in accordance with their own risk capacity, risk tolerance and desired investment horizon, and consistently pursue the chosen investment strategy over the long term.
Investment decisions require some time and financial knowledge. If you do not want the hassle of making investment decisions, you can delegate to an expert. The expert keeps an eye on the financial markets for their customers.
Such delegating is made possible by PostFinance’s e-asset management, for example. In this approach, first the investor profile is determined and the individual investment strategy defined. PostFinance’s investment experts then take care of the rest. However, if you know your investment strategy and can keep an eye on the financial markets yourself, suitable investment solutions from PostFinance will help you achieve your personal investment goals.
You can invest in the various asset classes either directly, e.g. by buying shares, or indirectly via a fund, ETF or retirement fund. The advantage of indirect investing is that you only need to buy one fund unit or ETF in order to invest in many different financial assets. This usually significantly reduces the risk compared to investing in individual securities owing to the diversification effect.
Returns depend on many factors, such as company performance, interest rates, inflation or market sentiment. An example: 2024 was a good year for many asset categories. The Swiss Market Index (SMI), which includes the 20 largest shares listed on the Swiss stock exchange, gained around 4.16 percent. On the other hand, the Brazilian stock market index (MSCI Brazil) performed negatively due to external factors and the weak currency. The return in 2024 was almost minus 30 percent. But it’s not possible to draw conclusions about the future based on the returns of the past year.
Fees are charged for depositing money. These are usually custody fees, transaction fees and management fees. The latter are charged on indirect investments such as ETFs or funds. Many new providers from Switzerland and abroad have entered the market in recent years. This has put pressure on fees. Some online platforms, for instance, no longer charge any custody fees at all or only very low transaction fees (brokerage fees).
What does investing have to do with pizza? Learn more in our article “What type of investor are you?” and find out what type of investor you are.
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