What to do with spare monthly cash??

I'll keep this as brief as possible! I'm married with 3 young kids, mortgage but no pension yet. I have just come off a 5 year fixed term so am now on a variable rate €150 a month less than before. Between myself and my wife we are saving about €100 a week with the potential of the extra €150 a month from the mortgage. I don't plan on fixing again anytime soon so i have a few queries for everyone here. With about €550 a month over what is the best way to use it? Should i overpay the mortgage, start a pension, put in to savings or a mix of them all? I know there are a lot of variables in the situation but i am just looking for opinions. Thanks.

You have kept it too brief.

At the least, what age are you, and are you a higher rate taxpayer?

53 posts on here and you start a thread with practically no details ! Do the money makeover thread please. We need the variables to give opinions !

I always paid extra funds in to my mortgage. If your mortgage rate is 4% then this is as good as getting a 4% savings rate. Having said that. Life is not about mortgages or repaying mortgages. Take the 3 kids to Disneyland or whatever and enjoy your life. I did a combination of both. No regrets.

Age: 36
Spouse’s/Partner's age: 31

Annual gross income from employment or profession: 51000 +2000 bonus
Annual gross income of spouse: 7300 approx.

Monthly take-home pay 3870

Type of employment: Private Sector

In general are you:
Saving approximately 500 a month


Rough estimate of value of home 200,000
Amount outstanding on your mortgage: 160,000 Approximately (10 years in to a 35 year mortgage)
What interest rate are you paying? 3.7% Variable

Other borrowings – car loans/personal loans etc: No loans

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

Savings and investments: Approximately 15000 between savings and prize bonds

Do you have a pension scheme? No

Do you own any investment or other property? No

Ages of children: 10, 6, 4

Life insurance: Included in mortgage


What specific question do you have or what issues are of concern to you?
My concern is that we are saving every month but i am sure there is a use for this either in overpaying our mortgage, setting up a pension or maybe a mixture of a few things. All i am looking for is opinions from people who know more about finances than i do, and that is very little!!

You will probably get more detailed responses but in short starting a pension now should be your No 1 priority. You also should consider putting aside a set amount each month towards 3rd level education. You have plenty of time to amass a reasonable fund given the ages of the children.