Hi there,
Got good advice 5 years ago during boom when my only financial problem was picking the best savings account. See link - showthread.php?t=88456
5 years later after a period of unemployment - here is where I am -
Age: 37
Spouse’s/Partner's age: 39
Annual gross income from employment or profession: €30K (Private)
Annual gross income of spouse:None
In general are you spending more than you earn or are you saving? Spending more - chipping away at savings
Rough estimate of value of home €150K
Amount outstanding on your mortgage: €110K
What interest rate are you paying? PTSB Variable 4.34% (13 years left)
Other borrowings – car loans/personal loans etc - None
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:
€20K Savings
€13K Irish Life (formerly Quinn Life)
Do you have a pension scheme? Yes -
Me - PRSA BOI - have not contributed to it since 2009 - current value €20k
Spouse - PRSA PTSB - have not contributed to it since 2009 - current value €9k
Spouse - Irish Life Bond €13k
Do you own any investment or other property? No
Ages of children: 2 Children aged 7 and 1
Life insurance: Yes
What specific question do you have or what issues are of concern to you?
Finding is impossible to live within 30k income or 2300 per month (Incl Child Benefit). The cost of getting to work with petrol and parking alone is €300 per month with out adding in Tax and insurance and maintenance etc. (Rural Area to Town - no public transport alternative)
Groceries €600pm, Mortgage €800pm, Insurances (Medical, Home, Life) €200pm, Bills (ESB, GAS, Phone, Bins, TV) €300pm.
Of course the obvious solution is to earn more - hopefully my earnings will improve later this year however, in the meantime I want to see if there is some re-jigging I can do with the money we have.
While I need my savings cushion should redundancy strike again, I am wondering why I am keeping the PRSAs. Would I be better off cashing them in and putting the money against the mortgage.
Just bothered that it is five years of chipping at savings and not contributing to them. Also getting older and cant see a time when I could start contributing to a pension again.
Got good advice 5 years ago during boom when my only financial problem was picking the best savings account. See link - showthread.php?t=88456
5 years later after a period of unemployment - here is where I am -
Age: 37
Spouse’s/Partner's age: 39
Annual gross income from employment or profession: €30K (Private)
Annual gross income of spouse:None
In general are you spending more than you earn or are you saving? Spending more - chipping away at savings
Rough estimate of value of home €150K
Amount outstanding on your mortgage: €110K
What interest rate are you paying? PTSB Variable 4.34% (13 years left)
Other borrowings – car loans/personal loans etc - None
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:
€20K Savings
€13K Irish Life (formerly Quinn Life)
Do you have a pension scheme? Yes -
Me - PRSA BOI - have not contributed to it since 2009 - current value €20k
Spouse - PRSA PTSB - have not contributed to it since 2009 - current value €9k
Spouse - Irish Life Bond €13k
Do you own any investment or other property? No
Ages of children: 2 Children aged 7 and 1
Life insurance: Yes
What specific question do you have or what issues are of concern to you?
Finding is impossible to live within 30k income or 2300 per month (Incl Child Benefit). The cost of getting to work with petrol and parking alone is €300 per month with out adding in Tax and insurance and maintenance etc. (Rural Area to Town - no public transport alternative)
Groceries €600pm, Mortgage €800pm, Insurances (Medical, Home, Life) €200pm, Bills (ESB, GAS, Phone, Bins, TV) €300pm.
Of course the obvious solution is to earn more - hopefully my earnings will improve later this year however, in the meantime I want to see if there is some re-jigging I can do with the money we have.
While I need my savings cushion should redundancy strike again, I am wondering why I am keeping the PRSAs. Would I be better off cashing them in and putting the money against the mortgage.
Just bothered that it is five years of chipping at savings and not contributing to them. Also getting older and cant see a time when I could start contributing to a pension again.