We've given Investments the 'RaboDirect treatment' and you'll be glad to hear they're not half as scary as you might have first thought.

• We offer some of the lowest entry and exit fees in the Irish Market.
• Our minimum investment amount is just €100.
• We don't do lock-ins or early encashment penalties.
• You can buy and sell funds whenever you like.
• Choose from over 53 funds.

The regular investor plan is built on a model known as 'Euro cost averaging'. It's a simple idea designed to reduce exposure to the risks associated with making one-off large investments. Instead, you invest a fixed amount on a regular basis over a longer period of time to help smooth out the ups and downs of the stock market. The result? You buy more shares when prices are low and less when prices are high so you get a better average share price over time. It's a tried and tested theory that works much better than trying to time the market.

Our funds are independently rated by Morningstar and offered on an execution only basis, so we don't offer or charge investors for advice. Instead, we provide as much independent information as we can online to help you make informed decisions, stay in control and manage your costs.

You can use our questionnaires and calculators to help decide whether saving or investing is right for you and find out more about asset allocation. For example you can work out whether you're a Defensive investor who's portfolio should be up-weighted in fixed interest and cash, or a High Growth investor who should be focusing on European equity.

All our funds come with prospectuses and fact sheets providing information on the fund's objectives, past performance, pricing, geographical spread and lots more.

An investor will use a consistent, long-term strategy to build a more secure future while speculators and market timers are willing to change direction over night and gamble more. It's easy to turn speculator when the markets take a nosedive but regular investing can help avoid the pitfalls of market turbulence and give you a more secure long-term plan to achieve your financial goals.

Step 1:   Set up an account
If you don't have an account already, you'll need to open a RaboDirect Savings Account. It's pretty straight forward. Everything's explained here.

Existing Customers
If you have a savings account with us already - super, you're half way there! Log in to your account, click on the 'Investment' menu option, select 'Regular Investor' and 'Next'. Follow the simple instructions and your Investment Account will be opened immediately.

Step 2: Choose an account name
Choose your Rabo Regular Investor name e.g. Early Retirement, Dream holiday, New Sports Car.....you get the idea.

Step 3: Choose an account set-up date     
Set the date from which you'd like to start investing.

Step 4: Choose the investment frequency
Decide how often you'd like to invest e.g. weekly, fortnightly, monthly or quarterly.

Step 5: Choose the RaboDirect Savings Account to fund your Rabo Regular Investor Plan
Remember, you'll need a sufficient amount of money in your RaboDirect Savings Account to feed you Rabo Regular  Investor Plan as frequently as required.

Step 6: Choose your regular investment amount   
Decide how much you'd like to invest on a regular basis. You should try to invest the same amount each time to make the plan as effective as possible.

Step 7: And finally choose your investment funds
Select which funds you'd like to invest in from our list and decide how much you'd like to invest in each. For example it might be 100% in a single fund, or 50% in two different funds. You can split your amount anyway you like.