Not used to having money, need advise

My wife and I both recently cashed in our ssia's and i also recieved a bit of redundancy. ( I am back working thank God and am now paying into the jobs pension fund, HSE funded employment, and am aged 45 and have never been in a pension fund previously) My wife does not work, she is on long term disability benefit
At present we have paid of the mortage and have lodged €25,000 each into a 21day notice investment account with IL&p at 4.5% interest and have started one of those 21 day saving accounts each paying in €200 each every month. we also have another €11,000 which at present is sitting in my current account IL&P as we reckon that will be spent on work at home sometime this year if everything goes to plan.
We are both very cautious people and would be a bit wary of stocks and shares etc,
bearing that in Mind does anyone think we have put our money in the right place or could we get a better deal elsewhere.

Re: Not use to having money, need advise

hi hoopman,

a) congrats on paying off your mortgage...
b) congrats on your new job
c) it looks like you need to MAX out any pension with AVCs to take advantage of the beneficial tax allowances.

With what's left...
d) keep looking for high interest earning accounts in the best buys...

e) Start reading up on long-term investment strategies for anything over and above what you can put in your pension.

I guess drip feeding money into several Quinn Life funds might be an idea, but we have had a bull run of 4 years and many economists are concerned that we may be at a turning point and recession may be on the way stateside.

I'm cautious myself and most of my money is in Northern Rock for now.

Just my humble opinion.

Good luck.

Hi Hoopman,
(1) I wasn't aware IL&P had a 21 day lump sum deposit account @ 4.50%. You did well. Could you give more details. Cannot find this rate on their website. Could you look at terms and conditions?
(2) What interest are you getting on the €200 monthly account?
(3) What interest are you getting on the €11,000 in the current account? I would say very small so would want to move that.
As you do not want to get involved in stocks and shares you are looking at best deposit rates with easy access for withdrawal. Would you have a problem moving to on line banks e.g. Rabodirect or Northern Rock? Would have a clearer picture re recommendations if you can answer (1), (2) and (3) first.

Gearoid
I'm just under the 42% tax rate at present so I would not get much tax break on the pension fund. Besides I feel that we should both be able to survive comfortable enough on the state pension plus the very little i will get from my jobs one, and also hope to be able to work part time at least in my OAP years, as i can't ever see myself been happy just to watch daytime tv.
The one in the bank is trying to pressure me into investing in property stocks but I dont like taking risks with what was hard got.


Oldtimer
sorry about confusion I ment to say permanent tsb

1. 21 day notice investment deposit Iment to type 4% interest on amounts €1000 up to €25000. 1.5% on anything over that

2. 21 day notice regular saver max €1000 a month pays 5% interest on savings up to €25000. only 1.5% on anything over that

3. 4% on first €1500 in the current account ony

Not too sure about the online banking on if
(a) can I trust them
(B) I can see myself spending that €11,000 sometime this year for deffo if I pull me leg out and start getting on with finishing work around the house I have been meaning to do for years.
(c) I like to be able to go into a branch now and then. and put a face to the bank

hoopman said:

Gearoid

(a) can I trust them

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I get my salary paid straight into Rabo, no problems so far! Their security is pretty bullet proof, although there's a bit more hassle to to transfer money inand out - Rabo supply you with a digipass (small calculator like device) that you have to use to access your accounts.

You are showing good loyalty to PTSB, perhaps for convenience and the ability to meet a face. No harm in that, many people feel more secure that way, but its loyalty which could be costing you money and I do not believe in loyalty to financial institutions. Re online banks, Northern Rock and RaboDirect - I certainly think they can be trusted as much as any Irish financial institution.
(1) Re PTSB lump sum in 21 day account @ 4%, Anglo Irish Bank offer 4.25% for their 21 day account. Northern Rock on demand is 4.30%. Rabodirect is 5% for the first 10K but comes down to 3.75% after 10K. So there are 3 options worth considering.
(2) Re PTSB regular saver account @ 5%, you can save the same amount, €2000 per month with Anglo Irish Bank @ 7% (joint account). You could do the same with Halifax opening three accounts yourself, spouse and joint,€750 each @ 7%. However both these have strict terms and conditions which may not suit you. You could consider Bank of Ireland with the €2000 per month @ 6.5%. AIB have the best interest rate @ 7.10% but you are limited to €300 per month per person. The terms and conditions with Bank of Ireland are quite flexible and may suit you best. AIB are also quite flexible but you must have a current account. If you haven't, no big deal - just open one. The important thing with all above, especially with regular saver accounts, read the terms and conditions.
(3) You should certainly get that money out of the current account and consider (1) above. Remember the on line banks are on demand - no waiting for 21 days - can be withdrawn straight away.
If I were you I would spread your money around to your best advantage, after all, you have worked hard for it. Hope above of help and good luck

I think you should reconsider AVC as you will only have a 50% HSE pension given that you will work only 20 years ... get professional advice regarding this .............

Cheers for all the advice everybody.
Oldtimer - you are right about the loyalty bit, I should really stop giving it so easy. have looked at the regular savers at anglo and boi and might enquire about lodging a lump sum into the boi one and do the regular monthly saving there.
Smurf - deep down I know I should probally put more into my pension, But ???
Another question if I may. ? Are the credit unions doing any special deals for lump sums

At the moment Credit Unions are very poor value for lump sums. They fix their interest (dividend) at their AGM's in December and last December most Credit Unions were around 2.25% which after DIRT equals 1.8% into your hand - really out of line with to-days rates. Doubtful if they will catch up next December and by then it will be too late. By their very nature Credit Unions are not into lump sums. However it is disappointing to note they did go into the SSIA competition five years ago vigoriously encouraging their members to save their SSIA's with them and now, with SSIA's maturing, are showing little interest in looking after their members lump sums. To answer your question, I am not aware of Credit Unions dong any special deals for lump sums. If anybody knows of any attractive rates from any Credit Union let me know.

oldtimer said:

They fix their interest (dividend) at their AGM's in December and last December most Credit Unions were around 2.25% which after DIRT equals 1.8% into your handp

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Bear in mind that dividends may be assessable for income tax. See [broken link removed] for more on the tax treatment of different CU accounts.