# How bad are we at managing our money?



## MrsCC (24 Jun 2008)

New to AAM  but really appreciate the opportunity to get other people's perspective on our financial situation...

Age: 35
Spouse’s/Partner's age: 35

Annual gross income from employment or profession: 45k
Annual gross income of spouse:70k

Type of employment: Private Sector

In general are you spending more than you earn or are you saving? saving

Rough estimate of value of home: just moved back to ireland so keen to buy but unsure in current market   current rent is 1350pm


Other borrowings : none

Do you pay off your full credit card balance each month? Yes

Savings and investments:savings of 40k 

Do you have a pension scheme? no

Do you own any investment or other property? no

Ages of children: n/a

Life insurance: no


*What specific question do you have or what issues are of concern to you? *Would love some guidance about what best to do with our savings while waiting to buy a house...   and any other info you think might be worthwhile...   thanks!


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## anon473 (24 Jun 2008)

*Re: How crap are we at managing our money?*

http://www.askaboutmoney.com//showthread.php?t=36883 and the related pages are the place to look for the financial best buys. It does kind of depend on _when _you want to buy a house. The term of your saving and your attitude to risk will determine where exactly you put your money.

as for the title of the post. (It is generally more useful to use relevant titles.) It is not easy to tell given how little information you have posted. Given your healthy income and moderate rent, you should be able to save a considerable amount each month. 

Since you are high income taxpayers there could be a significant tax advantage to using a pension scheme. there are plenty of threads on http://www.askaboutmoney.com//forumdisplay.php?f=10


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## marksa (24 Jun 2008)

*Re: How crap are we at managing our money?*

why are you not making pension contributions? the most tax efficient form of saving - esp. as combined income is well over the marginal rate, so for every 100 euro you put in, it costs you only 52 euro in your pay packet.


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## eileen alana (24 Jun 2008)

*Re: How crap are we at managing our money?*

Save as much as you can for the next year and then go purchase a decent sized house when the bottom has fallen out of the market. Have a look at the financial best buy thread for details of the best savings accounts.  Northern Rock one of the best banks at the moment as deposits are fully protected by her majesty herself.


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## kaiser1 (24 Jun 2008)

*Re: How crap are we at managing our money?*



eileen alana said:


> Save as much as you can for the next year and then go purchase a decent sized house when the bottom has fallen out of the market. Have a look at the financial best buy thread for details of the best savings accounts.  Northern Rock one of the best banks at the moment as deposits are fully protected by her majesty herself.





+1
Keep on saving, Cash is King at this time.
Only maybe buy if you get a really great bargain


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