There is a commonplace, fortunately less and less used, which consists in choosing to Keep your savings under the mattressbelieving that a series of taxes are avoided, risks of loss of investments and other reasons. In reality, it is a simplistic consideration that it is not functional on the long term: Keeping the money stopped, in fact, exposes it to inflation and risks such as theft and it is better to invest them with long -term strategy and vision to protect and grow its value.
The risks of keeping the money under the mattress
Keep i own savings under the mattress In the practical sense of the term, it would bring with it Many more risks than safe, for example they could lose value Due to inflation: based on what is calculated byIstat, If in May 2005 we had put 1,000 euros under the mattress, today, to maintain the same value as that money, 1,425 euros would be needed, so our money would have lost much of its purchasing power. In other words, if once 1,000 euros were enough to buy a certain good, today they would need 1,425 for the same purchase. A second risk, always linked to the physical maintenance of money inside the house, is given by the possibility that they will come stolen From the bad guys, thus risking that even capital will disappear.
Finally, always assuming the concrete reserve of large quantities of cash kept at home, we would meet the possibility that using them in the purchase of good, it is subject to Tax controls: In Italy there are very precise rules, established by the budget law, on the maximum of the monthly sums that can be kept in cash, which in 2025 is 5,000 euros. These rules on limit of cash They are useful for avoiding tax evasion and limiting a part of illegality that is moved by cash.
What happens keeping the money stopped at home?
Obviously when you say “keep the money under the mattress”, we also mean, in a metaphorical sense, keep them stopped on bank current accounts instead of invest them In any form of bank investment (deposit accounts, shares, bonds, investment funds, government bonds, gold or other types of investment in financial instruments). This choice, for the sums exceeding those that serve for everyday life and the sudden expenses to which we must face, brings with them, beyond the risk of inflation that we have already spoken of, also the impossibility that this money can grow of value. In fact, if you choose to limit the liquid sums to what really necessary, by investing the rest in a diversified way with time horizons and pre -established objectives, it could happen that maturine also of interestsand therefore that from these sums you earn.
The importance of having an overall and long -term vision
In conclusion, keeping the money “under the mattress” means, in most cases, see them lose value without even realizing it. The reason? The nominal value remains the same (those 1000 euros always remain 1000), but with the passage of time you buy less and less.
When we talk about savings, it is essential to adopt an overall and above all long -term vision, otherwise you risk believing that, in order to avoid the oscillations of the markets, taxes or stamp duty on the current account, the best solution is to keep everything stopped, perhaps at home.
In reality, it is exactly the opposite: it is really the immobility that puts the value of our money at risk. The ideal would be to build a strategy based on precise objectives, ask yourself because he is saving himself, for what, for whenand rely on professionals in the sector to choose diversified solutions, suitable for your profile and level of risk.
Only in this way can be discovered that the “mattress”, however reassuring it may seem in the short term, on the long term is one of the least safe choices: because if today that money seem intact, tomorrow they may no longer be enough.
