Hi Everyone,
I have been doing a bit of reading of the forum over the past few days but this is my first post. Hoping to get some thoughts/ opinions based on the details below. Any reaction would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks
Tom
Personal details
Age: 35
Spouse’s/Partner's age: 35
Number and age of children: Two children (3 & 1) and 1 on the way (due Dec 2022)
Income and expenditure
Annual gross income from employment or profession: €98k
Annual gross income of spouse: €58k ish
Monthly take-home pay: €4,822 (or €7796 when both in full pay)
Type of employment: e.g. Civil Servant, self-employed: Full Time employee & Spuse: Teacher Primary School Teacher (currently on unpaid maternity, full pay due back Sep '22 to Aug '23)
In general are you:
(a) spending more than you earn, or
(b) saving?
When both working, mostly saving but at the moment on one and a partial income we are relatively balanced. However the savings we are making are for specific goals i.e. holiday fund/ car insurance rather than a long term/ rainy day fund.
Summary of Assets and Liabilities
Family home worth €420k with a €330k mortgage
Cash of €5k child allowance saved / €16k emergency fund (4 months expenses) / €120k from the sale of our first home.
Defined Contribution pension fund: Assume none for me as I have worked as a consultant and on a contractual basis for most of my employment post-college. Only 2 years of permanent pensionable role in that time. Have recently moved into a full time role however employer contribution is only 2%. My wife would have 10 years or so of a Teacher's pension scheme but value is unknown.
Family home mortgage information
Lender: Haven
Interest rate 2.85%
If fixed, what is the term remaining of the fixed rate? 3 Yr fixed ceases March 2023. Having spoken to them recently, have the option to break now and re-fix (5yr 2.55% 7yr 2.65% and 10yr 2.85%) - Need to make a decision on this.
Monthly repayments are €1270 and term left is 32.5 years.
Other borrowings – car loans/personal loans etc
No other debt.
We have a credit card which we use but pay off regularly throughout the month or next pay day.
Other information which might be relevant
Approximate monthly expenses (mortgage, food, fuel, disposable income, amounts below) = €5415 4 week month or €5883 5 week month
Life insurance: We have dual life insurance over 10 year term, pay out €500k per individual €48 p/m
Mortgage Protection: As required €32 p/m
Income Protection: Policies for both of us. Total €165 p/m
Family Health Insurance: €147 p/m
Car Insurance: €137 p/m
Car Tax: €69 p/m
Additional Savings: €100 Christmas €250 holiday fund
What specific question do you have or what issues are of concern to you?
Qs. What are our options to make best use of our lump sum of €120k which is currently sitting in an AIB savings account?
Life Context...
We will hopefully be a 3 child family at the end of this year
My wife will take a 2 year unpaid career break from Aug 2023 to August 2025 at which point she will likely be back in full time pay.
We are thinking of extending the house in 5 years time, we are in a 3 bed semi d and envisage it being a big job (2 storey extension). Not sure whether we would try to remortgage some and pay off some with partial lump sum or use lump sum as main repayment.
Recommendation to date
We have been recommended the Zurich Dynamic fund to auto-invest the lump sum over the next 6 months. 1.25% AMC and in addition, setting up a Savings plus account with Zurich for €500p/m contributions (101% allocation 1.25% AMC) using child allowance and topping up ourselves.
Are there better options for investment locations or better options for making use of the lump sum i.e. use some to pay down the mortgage now and keep some to invest long term? Or use all to invest in the shorter term should we need towards the house extension? Or any other recommended options e.g. pension etc
Any direction would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks
Tom
I have been doing a bit of reading of the forum over the past few days but this is my first post. Hoping to get some thoughts/ opinions based on the details below. Any reaction would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks
Tom
Personal details
Age: 35
Spouse’s/Partner's age: 35
Number and age of children: Two children (3 & 1) and 1 on the way (due Dec 2022)
Income and expenditure
Annual gross income from employment or profession: €98k
Annual gross income of spouse: €58k ish
Monthly take-home pay: €4,822 (or €7796 when both in full pay)
Type of employment: e.g. Civil Servant, self-employed: Full Time employee & Spuse: Teacher Primary School Teacher (currently on unpaid maternity, full pay due back Sep '22 to Aug '23)
In general are you:
(a) spending more than you earn, or
(b) saving?
When both working, mostly saving but at the moment on one and a partial income we are relatively balanced. However the savings we are making are for specific goals i.e. holiday fund/ car insurance rather than a long term/ rainy day fund.
Summary of Assets and Liabilities
Family home worth €420k with a €330k mortgage
Cash of €5k child allowance saved / €16k emergency fund (4 months expenses) / €120k from the sale of our first home.
Defined Contribution pension fund: Assume none for me as I have worked as a consultant and on a contractual basis for most of my employment post-college. Only 2 years of permanent pensionable role in that time. Have recently moved into a full time role however employer contribution is only 2%. My wife would have 10 years or so of a Teacher's pension scheme but value is unknown.
Family home mortgage information
Lender: Haven
Interest rate 2.85%
If fixed, what is the term remaining of the fixed rate? 3 Yr fixed ceases March 2023. Having spoken to them recently, have the option to break now and re-fix (5yr 2.55% 7yr 2.65% and 10yr 2.85%) - Need to make a decision on this.
Monthly repayments are €1270 and term left is 32.5 years.
Other borrowings – car loans/personal loans etc
No other debt.
We have a credit card which we use but pay off regularly throughout the month or next pay day.
Other information which might be relevant
Approximate monthly expenses (mortgage, food, fuel, disposable income, amounts below) = €5415 4 week month or €5883 5 week month
Life insurance: We have dual life insurance over 10 year term, pay out €500k per individual €48 p/m
Mortgage Protection: As required €32 p/m
Income Protection: Policies for both of us. Total €165 p/m
Family Health Insurance: €147 p/m
Car Insurance: €137 p/m
Car Tax: €69 p/m
Additional Savings: €100 Christmas €250 holiday fund
What specific question do you have or what issues are of concern to you?
Qs. What are our options to make best use of our lump sum of €120k which is currently sitting in an AIB savings account?
Life Context...
We will hopefully be a 3 child family at the end of this year
My wife will take a 2 year unpaid career break from Aug 2023 to August 2025 at which point she will likely be back in full time pay.
We are thinking of extending the house in 5 years time, we are in a 3 bed semi d and envisage it being a big job (2 storey extension). Not sure whether we would try to remortgage some and pay off some with partial lump sum or use lump sum as main repayment.
Recommendation to date
We have been recommended the Zurich Dynamic fund to auto-invest the lump sum over the next 6 months. 1.25% AMC and in addition, setting up a Savings plus account with Zurich for €500p/m contributions (101% allocation 1.25% AMC) using child allowance and topping up ourselves.
Are there better options for investment locations or better options for making use of the lump sum i.e. use some to pay down the mortgage now and keep some to invest long term? Or use all to invest in the shorter term should we need towards the house extension? Or any other recommended options e.g. pension etc
Any direction would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks
Tom