Moneymakeover Invest to generate income?

[David2525]

Personal details

Your age: 39
Partners age: 35
Number and age of children: n/a


Income and expenditure
Annual gross income from employment or profession: 120,000 (contractor-director if umbrella comp)
Annual gross income of spouse/partner: 60,000
Monthly take-home pay: €7000 approx

Type of employment - e.g. Employee or self-employed. -> Contractor in pharma
Employer type: e.g. public servant, private company. -> Private

Expenses: Mortgage ~1350 (15 years left)

No other loans




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

As I am putting approx. 50% of my income into pension I am no longer saving much, but we do not spend more than we earn.

Summary of Assets and Liabilities
Family home value: 450k
Mortgage on family home: 200k
Net equity: 250k

Cash: 100k in Revolut at 1.75% AER
Emergency fund: 10k

Company shares : 6500 can be cashed out tax free in Apr 2026-will go to emergency fund


Other borrowings – car loans/personal loans etc
n/a

Do you pay off your full credit card balance each month? yes
If not, what is the balance on your credit card? 0

Pension information

Value of pension fund:
Defined Contribution pension fund: have 2, one has 54k with no monthly contributions, other has 100k with monthly contributions of about 4000 (max for tax purposes-however this is unlikely to be sustainable after another 12 months)
Partner has maxed out AVC contribs as well +7% company match

Buy to let properties
n/a


Other savings and investments:
n/a

Other information which might be relevant
Income protection up to 75,000, Life assurance and mortgage protection in place.



I Also qualify for full UK state pension and have paid all voluntary contributions to date. (I believe this is ~240 stg per week from age 65)


What specific question do you have or what issues are of concern to you?
Currently contracting the past 2 years and have a further 1 year contract but this is unsecure after. Could likely take an employee role at ~80k once this ends but this is high stress role, and I am burned out.

I know general advice may be to pay off mortgage-however I am interested in using the 100k I have currently to invest in something that could generate an income with the idea of semi-retiring early (5-10years).

I would be happy to work full time at this if its was generating enough income. Not having kids so I believe an income around 40-50k per year would be sufficient to get me to retirement.



I was Interested in rental property, but general advice seems to be against this these days. Is Commercial property worse?

Is it feasible to use 150k/200k as downpayments to purchase 3 or 4 units in the next few years and have a somewhat steady income? Based in the west so 3bed house in decent shape can be got for ~250k.

Interested in any other suggestions or advice?

 

[Greenbook]

Please take a look at the threads in the Property Investment and Tenants Rights section here. Rental properties especially with mortgages are a very high risk business for an ordinary person (with no experience in the area) to be getting into these days. Most of us on here who have been landlords for many years are getting out. I'd avoid family homes in particular. You are at risk of ending up in a situation where you have low rent and are on the hook for expensive repairs, maintenance and improvements ie. you have a liability and not an asset on your hands. Selling out may also be difficult. With 4 properties or tenancies, you can only sell to other landlords.

A basket of conservative shares may be better and many generate a decent income. AIB's current yield in 6.5% and they are a conversatively run bank these days. That type of share is what I am putting my money into.

 

[Greenbook]

The other point is that if your job is the problem, could you move to a less stressful job with lower pay as you say that €40k or €50k would be sufficient income. Alternatively, as you have €100k in savings, could you take time out to re-qualify in a less stressful area.

Being a landlord can be very stressful and is becoming more so as the rules tighten. There is a thread here on the experiences of a solicitor Terry Gorry - two years chasing via the RTB andthe Courts a non-paying tenant to get them out of the property.

 

[Blackrock1]

also i generally find employee roles are less stressful than contractor roles, as a contractor you are service to be used without much thought for your morale, well being as an employee etc, as an employee its a bit different so dont assume itll be the same stress wise.

 

[ClubMan]

My experience as an employee over many years and jobs is that few employers genuinely care about your overall wellbeing either no matter what lip service they pay to the contrary.

 

[Blackrock1]

My experience as an employee over many years and jobs is that few employers genuinely care about your overall wellbeing either no matter what lip service they pay to the contrary.

Oh I don't disagree, they just treat contractors even worse