Is now a good time to invest? We hear this question often. The simple answer: with an ETF savings plan on our global portfolio, the best time is “always now”. Here’s why that’s the case and what makes our savings plan special.
Around 4,000 years ago, people in ancient Babylon promised the gods at their New Year festival to tackle things they had put off – such as paying debts or returning borrowed items. Making good resolutions for the new year: the custom has a long tradition. For 2026, according to a survey by Statista, people in Germany have resolved, among other things, to eat more healthily (50 percent) and to do more exercise (48 percent). The top resolution, however, with 52 percent of mentions, is “to save more money”.
Of course, the impulse to do a little more for your own well-being isn’t tied to the turn of the year – whether it’s for your physical fitness or your finances. It’s never too early to start. In both cases, the same holds true: those who approach the matter for the long term and systematically have better prospects of success.
What helps when it comes to saving
Albert Einstein is said to have called compound interest the eighth wonder of the world. Regardless of whether the quote actually comes from him: the effect really can achieve astonishing things. And it can make saving – that is, building wealth – considerably easier.
The compound-interest effect isn’t just about interest, but about returns on your investments in general. The principle: if earnings are immediately reinvested, they in turn generate earnings. The longer you invest, the greater the effect. A purely theoretical calculation illustrates this: assuming a savings instalment of €150 a month and a return of seven percent per year, after five years you reach a sum of around €10,740. About 16 percent comes from the return, 84 percent from the contributions. Over a savings period of 30 years, the wealth has multiplied and stands at around €176,480. Of that, nearly 70 percent is attributable to the return and thus to the compound-interest effect.
Investing with a plan
The equity markets have shown in the past that returns of seven percent per year appear entirely realistic over the long term and on average – even if there’s no guarantee of it. But return opportunities simply aren’t available without a certain amount of risk. That makes it all the more important to keep the risk as small as possible. For example, with a long investment horizon. Because over time, price fluctuations even out.
A long investment horizon alone, however, isn’t enough. You also need a strategy that is sustainable over the long term – based on science, for example. From capital-market research, we know that the balance between return opportunities and risks in a portfolio can be optimised through diversification. The background: individual companies can fail, and individual sectors and regions can fall into lengthy crises. Diversification in a global portfolio can cushion such risks.
We use this insight for our global portfolio. In our investment strategy, we rely on scientifically grounded diversification. And we avoid all kinds of forecasts and speculation. The global ETF portfolio contains around 8,000 stocks from companies in over 70 countries. Depending on your personal risk profile as an investor, we also add bonds to the mix. These can cushion fluctuations further.
A savings plan with extras
Our global portfolio is also available as a savings plan, with savings instalments starting from just €25 a month. The ETF portfolio is invested as part of an asset-management service. This includes, among other things, continuous monitoring of the portfolio and what is known as rebalancing. That’s important so that the portfolio permanently stays on the intended course.
Humans are creatures of habit: that’s not just a saying, it’s confirmed by cognitive research. Our brain saves energy through automatic routines. A savings plan is one such automatic routine. Once it’s set up, you stay on track with your investment goals. So if you’ve resolved to save more or invest better: with our ETF savings plan, you can take care of all of that cheaply and efficiently, without having to do much yourself.
More about our ETF savings plan you can find out here.
