35 and only starting to think about saving now.

M

moore82

Registered User
Messages
21
Age:

35

Spouse’s/Partner's age:

35

Annual gross income from employment or profession:

35k

Annual gross income of spouse:

40k

Monthly take-home pay:

2400 (not yet accounting for pension contribution)

Type of employment:

Private sector

In general are you:
(a) spending more than you earn, or
(b) saving?

Saving in a sense that it's just sitting in my current account.

Rough estimate of value of home:

Renting.

Amount outstanding on your mortgage:

n/a

What interest rate are you paying?

n/a

Other borrowings – car loans/personal loans etc:

None.

Do you pay off your full credit card balance each month?

Only recently began doing this.

If not, what is the balance on your credit card?

Up to a few months ago it was maxed out at 1k.

Savings and investments:

None.

Do you have a pension scheme?

Just signing up to one now. Company will contribute 10% and I will put in 2.5%. Could increase this if I wanted to.

Do you own any investment or other property?

No.

Ages of children:

None.

Life insurance:

None.


What specific question do you have or what issues are of concern to you?

Firstly, I've never had a savings account and just got in to a habit of just letting it sit in my current account instead. I have 12k sitting in it at the moment but I don't know what to do with it. I'm thinking of leaving 4k in it permanently (as the account is with BOI, so I don't incur any charges) and put the other 8k in some savings.

The two options I'm looking at are KBC and PTSB. Benefits of the former is that I can put a lump sum in and go from there, and the interest rate of course. Benefit of the latter is that I can make ad-hoc lodgements and not have a standing order set up. Possibly a stupid question but could I just open the two savings accounts and keep my current account with BOI? Or does that make zero sense?

Secondly, am I foolish not to add another 2.5% to my pension fund?


Thanks guys!
 
Is the €2,400 take home for you or for you together with your spouse.

To my mind they big issue is how you feel about buying a home. Is that something you want, are planning ? Or do you expect to be a long tern renter.
 
Hey. The 2400 is take home just for myself. To be honest, buying a home is not something on my mind at the moment so I do see myself renting for another while yet. Part of me would be interested in leaving the country down the line so I that's influencing my decision.
 
After tax you will get much more for your money if you put it in a pension, however the money will be tied up long term.

As for deposits and investment products, well they are all terrible at the moment and have been for at least 10 years. 2% (which is more than you are likely to get risk free) on €12,000 is €240, pay tax on that and you haven't enough left for a night out.
 
Thanks. I don't mind having it tied up long term if it beats any of the savings accounts out there.

Am I wasting my time putting that 8k in any type of savings account, or should I be looking at something else?
 
Firstly you need to have 6 months of expenses in a emergency fund i.e. an instant access saver. It doesnt really matter about the interest rate, but you may as well have it in the highest one. Look at the savings "best buys" thread in this section. The main this is it must be instant access. The purpose of this is to ensure you don't immediately go into the red if you lost your job. You would be OK for 6 months, giving you time to get back on your feet. You should never spend this money. Your existing 12K would be sufficient for this.

I would move away from any bank that requires a minimum balance for free banking. EBS offers 100% no strings attached free banking. Only downside I note so far (I have this account) is that the ATM card is not contactless and their website is pretty basic compared with PTSB (current account best buys is here https://www.askaboutmoney.com/threads/personal-current-accounts.21774/).

For your pension contribution (10% employer is excellent), I would consider increasing your contribution fromm2.5% up to 5%, since you are late starting. You won't notice much difference in take home pay due to tax benefits, but your fund will be building up in background.

Once pension is rolling along each month, I would set up a standing order for the day after you get paid to transfer say E500 from your salary into the highest interest regular saver account you can find. This currently is KBC (again see saving best buys). This way, you pay yourself first, and you wont be tempted to spend the money. You dont say how much you spend on rent, so I am just throwing out E500 per month as a possible target. This will basically be the beginning of a house deposit, for if/when ye do decide to buy. If you decide to emigrate, it will serve similar purpose, unless you plan on renting for life. Also, it is good to get into habit of regular savings, as banks will look for this if you do go for mortgage, or even a car loan etc. (PS never get a loan to buy a car)

At same time, I would set up another standing order for E25 per week to go into small holiday fund. This way, you don't feel like its all doom and gloom saving for nothing. This will amount to E1200 in a years time, and you wont even notice it. This will be a very nice trip then as a reward, and you will feel like its for free, as its not coming out of your current account.

That should be a good start.

Finally, my only non-financial advice to have a very honest and frank conversation with your partner to ensure ye are both on the same page about savings/mortgage deposits/general financial approach etc. I guarantee you that nothing will annoy you more than you saving E500 a month and doing your best to get finances in order if your partner is blowing E500 per month on clothes/shoes/whatever etc.

Best of luck.
 
username123 said:
Firstly you need to have 6 months of expenses in a emergency fund i.e. an instant access saver. It doesnt really matter about the interest rate, but you may as well have it in the highest one. Look at the savings "best buys" thread in this section. The main this is it must be instant access. The purpose of this is to ensure you don't immediately go into the red if you lost your job. You would be OK for 6 months, giving you time to get back on your feet. You should never spend this money. Your existing 12K would be sufficient for this.

I would move away from any bank that requires a minimum balance for free banking. EBS offers 100% no strings attached free banking. Only downside I note so far (I have this account) is that the ATM card is not contactless and their website is pretty basic compared with PTSB (current account best buys is here https://www.askaboutmoney.com/threads/personal-current-accounts.21774/).

For your pension contribution (10% employer is excellent), I would consider increasing your contribution fromm2.5% up to 5%, since you are late starting. You won't notice much difference in take home pay due to tax benefits, but your fund will be building up in background.

Once pension is rolling along each month, I would set up a standing order for the day after you get paid to transfer say E500 from your salary into the highest interest regular saver account you can find. This currently is KBC (again see saving best buys). This way, you pay yourself first, and you wont be tempted to spend the money. You dont say how much you spend on rent, so I am just throwing out E500 per month as a possible target. This will basically be the beginning of a house deposit, for if/when ye do decide to buy. If you decide to emigrate, it will serve similar purpose, unless you plan on renting for life. Also, it is good to get into habit of regular savings, as banks will look for this if you do go for mortgage, or even a car loan etc. (PS never get a loan to buy a car)

At same time, I would set up another standing order for E25 per week to go into small holiday fund. This way, you don't feel like its all doom and gloom saving for nothing. This will amount to E1200 in a years time, and you wont even notice it. This will be a very nice trip then as a reward, and you will feel like its for free, as its not coming out of your current account.

That should be a good start.

Finally, my only non-financial advice to have a very honest and frank conversation with your partner to ensure ye are both on the same page about savings/mortgage deposits/general financial approach etc. I guarantee you that nothing will annoy you more than you saving E500 a month and doing your best to get finances in order if your partner is blowing E500 per month on clothes/shoes/whatever etc.

Best of luck.
Click to expand...

Excellent advice for young people starting their first job.
 
Great post username123, lots for me to take on board there!

Plan is to put 6 months of expenses (roughly 6k) in KBC: Online Savings Accounts: Smart Move Online Demand Account.

I'm going to go with KBC for my current acccount (not minimum balance but minimum deposit). Contactless is pretty big for me so that put me off EBS to be honest.

Noted re increasing my pension contribution. Might even look to bumping it up past the 5% mark if I can make it work.

Not sure how much I'll put in to the KBC: Extra Regular Saver but I'll set up a standing order for sure. For what it's worth, rent is 650 p/m. And good point about setting up another standing order - I plan to have this going in to the instant access account (Smart Move Online) as well. I'll just divvy it up in a spreadsheet and have it allocated to holidays/gifts/etc.

Thanks for all the info again and sorry for the delay in responding!
 
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