The Irish are a reluctant bunch when it comes to stock market investing. Photograph: Chris Ratcliffe/BloombergThe Irish are a reluctant bunch when it comes to stock market investing. Irish households keep 38 per cent of their financial assets parked in cash and deposits, according to a Central Bank report, well above the EU average of 30 per cent. Europeans themselves are hardly a benchmark of boldness: in the equity-friendly US, households hold just 11 per cent in cash. Irish households do have equity exposure through pensions but, overall, there is a missing sense of the risk of doing nothing.

Source: The Irish Times December 06, 2025 15:01 UTC