Personal details
Age: 59
Spouse’s/Partner's age: 58
Number and age of children: 2, ages 32 and 30. Neither married, our son has a girlfriend.
Income and expenditure
Annual gross income from employment or profession: 180,000
Annual gross income of spouse: 110,000
Monthly take-home pay 12 500 pcm
Type of employment: Both civil servants with DB pensions.
In general are you:
Saving a few thousand per month. We have worked hard (like so many) and life hasn't always been easy for us so we believe in enjoying our life at this stage and are not trying to save too hard. We take nice holidays etc.
Summary of Assets and Liabilities
Family home worth €950k with a €170k mortgage
Cash of €150k (recent inheritance). Equity funds 100k.
Defined Benefit pension fund: Will have a combined pension of 100K with a lump sum of approx 250k. We have gotten advice about the pension threshold and will retire just before exceeding it.
Buy to Let Property worth €250k with no mortgage.
Holiday home; worth €350k, no mortgage.
Family home mortgage information
Lender; EBS
Interest rate; Tracker; 0.8% above base rate
Other borrowings – car loans/personal loans etc; None.
Do you pay off your full credit card balance each month? Yes
Buy to let properties
Value: €250k
Rental income per year:€14K
Rough annual expenses other than mortgage interest : Old house that needs a lot of maintenance....approx €5k
Do you have a pension scheme? Yes, DB pension.
Do you own any investment or other property? Holiday home. No mortgage. Worth €350
What specific question do you have or what issues are of concern to you?
My wife and I have worked hard and have been through many tough financial times but are now comfortable and thankfully are healthy. We are very grateful for this.
As we approach retirement we want to keep our life as simple as possible without having too much to mind. We enjoy nice meals out and nice holidays but we don't need or want a 5* lifestyle. We are happy to remain living in the family home for now as it is easy enough to manage but we are not inclined to stay as a landlord because of the hassle and we are using our holiday home less and less.
Our children are both educated to masters levels and have reasonable but modestly paying jobs. They are both renting in Dublin and trying to save for a house deposit but without some help from us they will struggle to buy anything. Its madness but thats for another day.
We are sorted for a pension so think will have enough income in retirement. We are inclined to look after our children at this stage...sell the BTL and holiday home , pay off our mortgage and give them substantial deposits. I know the inheritance threshold issues etc but think this would be the best time for them to inherit as it will help them to achieve housing security. Friends say we are mad and shouldn't be cashing in our financial chips at this stage. I am not looking for legal advice pertinent to possible plans as I have a great Solicitor. I would just be very grateful for guidance and advice from the very wise contributors to this forum.
Age: 59
Spouse’s/Partner's age: 58
Number and age of children: 2, ages 32 and 30. Neither married, our son has a girlfriend.
Income and expenditure
Annual gross income from employment or profession: 180,000
Annual gross income of spouse: 110,000
Monthly take-home pay 12 500 pcm
Type of employment: Both civil servants with DB pensions.
In general are you:
Saving a few thousand per month. We have worked hard (like so many) and life hasn't always been easy for us so we believe in enjoying our life at this stage and are not trying to save too hard. We take nice holidays etc.
Summary of Assets and Liabilities
Family home worth €950k with a €170k mortgage
Cash of €150k (recent inheritance). Equity funds 100k.
Defined Benefit pension fund: Will have a combined pension of 100K with a lump sum of approx 250k. We have gotten advice about the pension threshold and will retire just before exceeding it.
Buy to Let Property worth €250k with no mortgage.
Holiday home; worth €350k, no mortgage.
Family home mortgage information
Lender; EBS
Interest rate; Tracker; 0.8% above base rate
Other borrowings – car loans/personal loans etc; None.
Do you pay off your full credit card balance each month? Yes
Buy to let properties
Value: €250k
Rental income per year:€14K
Rough annual expenses other than mortgage interest : Old house that needs a lot of maintenance....approx €5k
Do you have a pension scheme? Yes, DB pension.
Do you own any investment or other property? Holiday home. No mortgage. Worth €350
What specific question do you have or what issues are of concern to you?
My wife and I have worked hard and have been through many tough financial times but are now comfortable and thankfully are healthy. We are very grateful for this.
As we approach retirement we want to keep our life as simple as possible without having too much to mind. We enjoy nice meals out and nice holidays but we don't need or want a 5* lifestyle. We are happy to remain living in the family home for now as it is easy enough to manage but we are not inclined to stay as a landlord because of the hassle and we are using our holiday home less and less.
Our children are both educated to masters levels and have reasonable but modestly paying jobs. They are both renting in Dublin and trying to save for a house deposit but without some help from us they will struggle to buy anything. Its madness but thats for another day.
We are sorted for a pension so think will have enough income in retirement. We are inclined to look after our children at this stage...sell the BTL and holiday home , pay off our mortgage and give them substantial deposits. I know the inheritance threshold issues etc but think this would be the best time for them to inherit as it will help them to achieve housing security. Friends say we are mad and shouldn't be cashing in our financial chips at this stage. I am not looking for legal advice pertinent to possible plans as I have a great Solicitor. I would just be very grateful for guidance and advice from the very wise contributors to this forum.