2026-08-21 07:00:00
INVESTMENT
Keeping Your Savings in a Bank Account? An Expert Explains Why This Decision Could Cost You Dearly
With inflation in Lithuania once again exceeding the 5% mark, we feel its impact not only when shopping and paying bills. Rising prices also affect our accumulated savings – even if the amount in a bank account does not decrease at all, over time we can buy less and less with it.
The latest data from the State Data Agency show that in July 2026, annual inflation in Lithuania reached 5.4%, while average annual inflation stood at 4.5%. By comparison, according to Eurostat’s preliminary estimate, annual inflation in the euro area was 2.9% in July. This means that prices in Lithuania are currently rising significantly faster than the euro area average.
Miglė Grybinienė, Head of Marketing at the PROFITUS investment platform, points out that when assessing the impact of inflation, it is important to look beyond rising everyday expenses. Over time, inflation also directly affects the value of accumulated savings – even if the nominal amount of money in an account remains unchanged, its purchasing power decreases.
“For example, if a person has €10,000 and keeps it in an account or in cash, with average annual inflation of 3%, after 10 years the purchasing power of that money would be roughly equivalent to what around €7,400 can buy today. The account would still show the same €10,000, but in real terms, we would be able to buy significantly less with it,” explains M. Grybinienė.
That is precisely why, according to her, long-term savings should be considered not only from the perspective of security but also in terms of preserving their value. While it is important to keep some funds easily accessible, keeping all savings in an account that generates no return also comes at a cost in the long term.
How Does an Investor Earn Money from Crowdfunding?
One way to put part of your savings to work is crowdfunding, where the amount of financing required by a business or project is raised from a number of individual investors. On the PROFITUS platform, such investments are secured by real estate collateral.
M. Grybinienė gives a simple example: if a real estate developer needs €500,000 to carry out a project, the entire amount does not necessarily have to be provided by a single financier or bank.
“It can be raised by several hundred or even more individual investors – one may invest €100, another €500, while a third may invest several hundred thousand euros,” she explains.
In this process, the crowdfunding platform selects and evaluates projects seeking financing, provides investors with information about them, and administers the investment process. Investors, in turn, can choose a specific project and the amount they wish to invest, while the project owner who receives the financing undertakes to pay interest and repay the borrowed capital according to the agreed terms.
The interest paid by the project owner is the source of the investor’s potential return. According to M. Grybinienė, interest is usually paid quarterly, while the amount lent is repaid at the end of the agreed term, which is most commonly 12 months.
However, she emphasises that crowdfunding, like other forms of investment, involves risk, meaning that the stated interest rate does not represent guaranteed earnings. The project owner may be late in fulfilling their obligations or encounter financial difficulties. In such cases, increased interest may be charged for overdue payment days, and if repayment of the loan is delayed, debt recovery proceedings may be initiated.
Not Alternatives, but Different Investment Instruments
M. Grybinienė stresses that when deciding where to invest accumulated funds, people should not limit themselves to a single investment instrument. Depending on a person’s financial goals and risk tolerance, a portfolio may consist of different asset classes – deposits, bonds, shares, investment funds or crowdfunding. Allocating funds in this way helps diversify investments and reduces dependence on the performance of any single chosen instrument.
According to M. Grybinienė, these investment methods should not be viewed as competing alternatives – each has different characteristics and levels of risk and can play its own role within an overall investment portfolio.
“For example, when a person keeps money in a term deposit, they are essentially lending it to the bank and receiving a predetermined interest rate, while deposits up to a specified limit are covered by a deposit guarantee scheme. When investing in shares, a person becomes a co-owner of a company, meaning that the value of the investment is influenced both by the company’s performance and by market expectations. Funds provide an opportunity to invest in a larger number of different securities with a single purchase, while by purchasing bonds, an investor lends money to the government or company that issued them,” explains M. Grybinienė.
In the case of crowdfunding, investors can select a specific project and see in advance what their funds will be used for, how long they will be lent for, the expected interest rate, and what risk mitigation measures are in place.
“One of the advantages, in my opinion, is precisely this clarity and tangibility. For someone who is just starting to invest, it can sometimes be easier to understand a specific real estate project than, for example, to assess a portfolio consisting of shares in hundreds of companies,” says M. Grybinienė.
Another feature of this investment instrument is the
relatively low initial investment amount. On the PROFITUS platform, investments
can be made starting from €100, meaning that a large amount of initial capital
is not required to get started or to spread funds across different projects.
When Assessing Returns, Don’t Forget to Consider Risk
It is natural for investors to seek the highest possible return. However, when evaluating different investment opportunities, Grybinienė encourages people to focus first not on how much they could earn, but on the level of risk they are taking and whether they properly understand it.
“In financial markets, the general principle is that higher potential returns are associated with higher risk. If one investment offers a significantly higher return than another, the first thing to understand is what additional risk the investor is being compensated for,” says M. Grybinienė.
In crowdfunding, risk assessment begins before a project is even presented to investors. The project owner’s financial position, previous activities and track record of completed projects are analysed, along with the project’s economic viability, asset value, financing structure, proportion of equity, and ability to repay the loan.
One important indicator when assessing a loan secured by
real estate is LTV (loan-to-value) – the ratio between the loan amount and the
value of the pledged property. Put simply, it shows what proportion of the
value of the pledged property is represented by the loan.
Investors Can Also Manage Risk Themselves
M. Grybinienė emphasises that one of the key principles investors can use to reduce the risk they assume is diversification of crowdfunding investments.
Investments can be diversified not only across different projects, but also across different developers, locations, loan terms and risk categories. “The essence of diversification is not to try to choose one ‘best’ project, but to spread investments in such a way that the performance of a single project does not have a significant impact on the overall investment portfolio. For example, if a person plans to invest €1,000, one possible approach would be to divide this amount into ten different projects, investing €100 in each, and to diversify even further as the investment portfolio grows,” explains M. Grybinienė.
Where Should Someone Who Has Only Saved Until Now Begin?
For people who have so far focused solely on saving but are beginning to consider investing, Grybinienė first recommends distinguishing between saving and investing. According to her, an emergency fund is not part of an investment portfolio – it is a reserve for unexpected circumstances, which means that this money should be easily and quickly accessible.
It is generally recommended to build an emergency fund covering at least 3–6 months of essential expenses, although the exact amount depends on individual circumstances. A person with a stable income and few financial obligations may need a smaller reserve, while someone with more financial commitments would be better advised to build a larger emergency fund – approximately equivalent to six months of expenses.
Once the necessary reserve has been accumulated, M. Grybinienė says investing can begin with relatively small amounts. At the start, the amount invested is less important than the opportunity to become familiar with the chosen investment instrument, understand how it works and the risks involved, and gradually develop an investing habit.
“The goal of your first investment does not necessarily have to be to maximise your earnings. Its purpose can simply be to learn how to invest and develop the habit. It is better to start with €50 or €100, consciously diversify your investments and understand the process than to spend ten years waiting for the moment when you feel you have ‘enough money’ to start,” says Miglė Grybinienė, Head of Marketing at the PROFITUS investment platform.
