Age: 33 / Spouse’s age: 33
Combined monthly take-home pay: 7650 per month (after Health Insurance / BIK)
Type of employment: Private sector
In general are you: (b) saving
Rough estimate of value of home: 430k
Amount outstanding on your mortgage: 280k (0.65 LTV)
What interest rate are you paying? 3.79%
Other borrowings – car loans/personal loans etc None
Do you pay off your full credit card balance each month? Yes
Savings and investments: €50k ETFs / Shares
From time spent in the US: $30k cash (getting no return) and $60k in a 401k
Do you have a pension scheme? Yes / spouse No
Do you own any investment or other property? No
Ages of children: A new born
Life insurance: through work / spouse No
What specific question do you have or what issues are of concern to you?
After recent promotions on both our parts, we should be in a position to save €3.5-4k a month for the rest of the year, falling to €2.5-3k a month once childcare costs kick in January. Our aspirations over the next 2-5 years are to have a second child, plan for educational costs, and potentially move or extend our house. In the meantime, we have a few ideas...
Overpay mortgage or more ETFs?: would like to split 50:50 between overpaying and investing. Spouse would prefer the certainty of a mortgage only approach, the downside I see is the liquidity of the funds. Perhaps I'm deluded to also expect ETFs to give better returns over the long term?
Spouse pension: assuming retirement in 33 years' time, and given she only has a very small pot so far, she plans to put the full 20% in, are there any other considerations?
401k: is there any way to transfer the balance into an Irish pension fund without incurring exit penalties? / Should I just leave it there until retirement?
USD: we want to keep this amount as emergency/rainy day fund with fast access and so not expecting big returns. The option is to transfer to a EUR a/c now, or hold off and see how the exchange rate fares during the year.
Other suggestions? We're in fortunate position for a couple in their early 30s, and want to make the most of this opportunity and use this money as wisely as possible. Are there any other choices we mightn't have considered?
Combined monthly take-home pay: 7650 per month (after Health Insurance / BIK)
Type of employment: Private sector
In general are you: (b) saving
Rough estimate of value of home: 430k
Amount outstanding on your mortgage: 280k (0.65 LTV)
What interest rate are you paying? 3.79%
Other borrowings – car loans/personal loans etc None
Do you pay off your full credit card balance each month? Yes
Savings and investments: €50k ETFs / Shares
From time spent in the US: $30k cash (getting no return) and $60k in a 401k
Do you have a pension scheme? Yes / spouse No
Do you own any investment or other property? No
Ages of children: A new born
Life insurance: through work / spouse No
What specific question do you have or what issues are of concern to you?
After recent promotions on both our parts, we should be in a position to save €3.5-4k a month for the rest of the year, falling to €2.5-3k a month once childcare costs kick in January. Our aspirations over the next 2-5 years are to have a second child, plan for educational costs, and potentially move or extend our house. In the meantime, we have a few ideas...
Overpay mortgage or more ETFs?: would like to split 50:50 between overpaying and investing. Spouse would prefer the certainty of a mortgage only approach, the downside I see is the liquidity of the funds. Perhaps I'm deluded to also expect ETFs to give better returns over the long term?
Spouse pension: assuming retirement in 33 years' time, and given she only has a very small pot so far, she plans to put the full 20% in, are there any other considerations?
401k: is there any way to transfer the balance into an Irish pension fund without incurring exit penalties? / Should I just leave it there until retirement?
USD: we want to keep this amount as emergency/rainy day fund with fast access and so not expecting big returns. The option is to transfer to a EUR a/c now, or hold off and see how the exchange rate fares during the year.
Other suggestions? We're in fortunate position for a couple in their early 30s, and want to make the most of this opportunity and use this money as wisely as possible. Are there any other choices we mightn't have considered?
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