Personal details
Age: 44
Spouse’s/Partner's age: 48
Number and age of children: 3 children - 15, 12 & 4
Income and expenditure:
Annual gross income from employment or profession: €56k
Annual gross income of spouse: €80k
Childcare: €270 p/m (ECCE + additional 10 hours p/w)
Type of employment:
Me: Self Employed (3 days p/w)
Wife: Private Sector (4 days p/w)
We both work part time for work/life balance and avoid childcare costs - this is not something we are looking to change in the near term
In general we save some each month - nothing formal
Summary of Assets and Liabilities
Home: ~€900k - A2 rated house, no plans to move
Cash: €210k
Pension:
Me: none
Wife: private pension with work - 10% of salary and employer pays 6%
Family home mortgage information
Lender: Avant Money
Balance: -€366k
Interest rate 1.95%
Monthly repayments: €2325.88
5 years remaining
Other borrowings – car loans/personal loans etc - None
Do you pay off your full credit card balance each month? Yes
Buy to let properties – N/A
Other savings and investments:
Do you own any investment or other property? No
Other information which might be relevant:
Life insurance: Mortgage Protection & €275K Dual Life Cash Cover (Block) till 2028 with option to extend by 10 years
Health Insurance: VHI through my wife's work
Main queries:
Should we use savings to:
- save €200k (raisin or similar €100k each)
- reduce our mortgage (5 years remaining on fixed but breakage is probably 0)
- start a pension (me)
- invest
The best mortgage rate I can see atm (granted only looking on bonkers) is 3.65% 4 year fixed, to me it doesn't make sense to break our current fixed term even though the interest we are currently paying is more than we can get on deposit (€7656 last year, €~5150 in 2028) @1.95%
We have never invested before, I have a very low risk tolerance and can get anxious easily
My instinct is just to put it on deposit for a year and then see again
Thank you for your time and I appreciate any and all input
S
Age: 44
Spouse’s/Partner's age: 48
Number and age of children: 3 children - 15, 12 & 4
Income and expenditure:
Annual gross income from employment or profession: €56k
Annual gross income of spouse: €80k
Childcare: €270 p/m (ECCE + additional 10 hours p/w)
Type of employment:
Me: Self Employed (3 days p/w)
Wife: Private Sector (4 days p/w)
We both work part time for work/life balance and avoid childcare costs - this is not something we are looking to change in the near term
In general we save some each month - nothing formal
Summary of Assets and Liabilities
Home: ~€900k - A2 rated house, no plans to move
Cash: €210k
Pension:
Me: none
Wife: private pension with work - 10% of salary and employer pays 6%
Family home mortgage information
Lender: Avant Money
Balance: -€366k
Interest rate 1.95%
Monthly repayments: €2325.88
5 years remaining
Other borrowings – car loans/personal loans etc - None
Do you pay off your full credit card balance each month? Yes
Buy to let properties – N/A
Other savings and investments:
Do you own any investment or other property? No
Other information which might be relevant:
Life insurance: Mortgage Protection & €275K Dual Life Cash Cover (Block) till 2028 with option to extend by 10 years
Health Insurance: VHI through my wife's work
Main queries:
Should we use savings to:
- save €200k (raisin or similar €100k each)
- reduce our mortgage (5 years remaining on fixed but breakage is probably 0)
- start a pension (me)
- invest
The best mortgage rate I can see atm (granted only looking on bonkers) is 3.65% 4 year fixed, to me it doesn't make sense to break our current fixed term even though the interest we are currently paying is more than we can get on deposit (€7656 last year, €~5150 in 2028) @1.95%
We have never invested before, I have a very low risk tolerance and can get anxious easily
My instinct is just to put it on deposit for a year and then see again
Thank you for your time and I appreciate any and all input
S
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