Although the cost of living crisis rages on, data shows that Irish households have been able to put away savings in recent years, although the amounts vary considerably from household to household.
As of 2026, there is roughly €175 billion in deposits with Irish banks and credit unions, showing a strong trend for keeping money safely tucked away.
For many people this started in lockdown, which depending on your situation could have been a nightmare. Their employment on hold, COVID payments kept the home fires burning but lockdown drove them mad.
For others, it was a revelation. They could do their job at home – and in most cases, it was better – their incomes were maintained, but because of COVID, they couldn’t spend their money other than on household costs and online.
For many of the latter, more fortunate ones, they also built up a tidy sum in savings – much more than they could ever have normally.
Now, in the summer of 2026, these reluctant savers may still have those savings and are pondering what to do with them. John Lowe of MoneyDoctors.ie suggests five prudent uses for those hard-earned savings.
1. I have always recommended that you should have between three and six months’ net annual income in your Rainy Day Fund for three reasons:
Emergencies (your clutch goes)
Sudden loss of income (you are put on a 3-day week)
Investment opportunity (your first house deposit).
So this is a good time to check your RDF and ensure liquidity is maintained.
2. Short-term, high-interest debt kills your income – your number one asset. You should allow a maximum 35% of your net annual income to maintain your financial commitments (mortgage/rent, car loans, personal loans, family loans, etc), so if you do have short-term debt, make additional payments to pay it off more quickly or pay it if off altogether if you can.
For credit card debt, you could transfer it to An Post Money, which is the best in the market, as they give you 12 months to repay at 0% interest. Remember, home loans are the cheapest form of borrowing in Ireland, so I would wait until you have surplus funds in addition to planning for future expenses (college fees, extensions, changing your car) to fund any reductions in your home loan.
3. Look around for better saving options. Zurich’s LifeSave Special Savings Plus account, featuring their flagship fund Prisma (minimum €75 per month, maximum €2,500), is one to consider.
Also look into Irish Life’s Pinnacle regular stock market saver account (minimum €250 per month featuring their flagship fund Multi-Asset Portfolio fund, or MAPS, with their safety feature Dynamic Shares to Cash – a real comfort feature, automatic switching from aggressive funds to passive in times of economic turmoil). This is a minimum 5-year investment, as there are reducing penalties from 5% to 1% for withdrawals during this period. After 5 years, there are no withdrawal penalties.
4. Look into bolstering your pension: 57.6% of the working population have absolutely no provision for their retirement other than hoping the State Pension will still be there when they do retire. So if you do have some surplus funds, you could pay a lump sum into a pension fund to maximise your tax relief to start the ball rolling.
Aged 40 to 50? You could invest up to 25% of your net relevant annual earnings. If you’re 30 to 40, it is 20%. It is the best investment in Ireland bar none, because if you are a 40% tax payer, the government will refund 40% of your contribution, so you are up 40% before you even start.
From 1991 to 2020, the average annual growth of the stock market was 10.72%, meaning every year your investment is growing over 50%. I know of no other investment that gives this consistent type of return. The surplus funds would certainly help you achieve this as most employees cannot afford to pay anywhere near their eligible thresholds. Take professional advice here.
5. The Deposit Protection Scheme is still protecting, so your money is safe up to €100,000 per person per institution, and all NTMA State Savings, including prize bonds are guaranteed by the government. Alternative investment strategies include art, philately, numismatics, rock ‘n roll memorabilia, wine investment, scripophily, first editions and precious metals (gold has doubled in value over the last 5 years), so whatever you’re interested in, now you can pursue and profit from that interest.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
For more information, click on John Lowe’s profile above or on his website.