# Good money situation now, but perhaps not for future?



## Guzzyhf (14 Feb 2008)

Age: 35
Spouse’s/Partner's age: 35

Annual gross income from employment or profession: 41k
Annual gross income spouse: 60k

Type of employment: both permanent in public sector
Expenditure pattern: In general are you spending more than you earn or are you saving? no

Rough estimate of value of home:  350k
Mortgage on home : 102k repayments incl. insurance 700 a month and paying off an extra 400 on top of repayment per month. 6000 in mortgage account reserved for "just in case" we won't be able to make repayments for about a year.
Mortgage provider EBS
Type of mortgage: Tracker
Interest rate 4.85%

Other borrowings – 0
Do you pay off your full credit card balance each month? yes
If not, what is the balance on your credit card? 0

Savings and investments: 35,000. Currently saving approx 1000 per month to high interest BOI account, and 450 to joint account for expenses and holidays etc.

Do you have a pension scheme? Yes  - both of us do with work.

Do you own any investment or other property? no

Ages of children: one due in April 2008!

Life insurance: I have none, husband has excellent policy.


*What specific question do you have or what issues are of concern to you?
We want to optimise our savings, insurance cover etc etc as we are about to have a child. We know we are in an excellent position financially re. no loans, good savings, low mortgage.
We have always been very careful as I have a long-term illness that may, or may not effect my employment - basically I have no way of knowing whether or not I can continue working fulltime in the years to come, so we have saved lots in order to cover for the worse case scenario. This may also effect me getting life insurance and I have avoided dealing with this situation. I would like to go back to work fulltime by Jan 2009 if my health is up to it, after my maternity leave. Creche will cost circa 700 (subsidised). Husband will need to replace current car this year (12 yrs old now) sometime, spend about 20k on replacement.
Thanks for any advice you can offer - as this is quite a complex question I appreciate we may just need to go to an independent financial advisor, and I'm looking into that. 
*


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## PGD1 (14 Feb 2008)

all I can say is you don't need to spend 20k on a car!
save money by not spending it in the first place!


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## ClubMan (14 Feb 2008)

Guzzyhf said:


> Life insurance: I have none, husband has excellent policy.


I have a great idea on how you can feather your future financial nest.


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## Guzzyhf (14 Feb 2008)

> all I can say is you don't need to spend 20k on a car!
> save money by not spending it in the first place!


PGD1 I would completely agree with you normally -  but in our case I should have stated husband needs the car for work and unlike comparable private sector jobs he is not supplied with a company car. It needs to be very reliable, large boot space for equipment, and we were hoping for high level of fuel efficiency. 



> I have a great idea on how you can feather your future financial nest.


Yes Clubman, I really need to take out life insurance for me, will tackle this immediately.


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## swordshead (14 Feb 2008)

Guzzyhf said:


> Yes Clubman, I really need to take out life insurance for me, will tackle this immediately.


I think he meant somethin not quite above board..or is it my corrupt mind?


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## ClubMan (14 Feb 2008)

Yeah - just joking. You can put the hammer away...


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## Guzzyhf (14 Feb 2008)

Sorry, sorry! a bit slow today hehe, yes Clubman I get you now!!!!! - poor oul hubbie!!


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## PGD1 (14 Feb 2008)

Guzzyhf said:


> PGD1 I would completely agree with you normally - but in our case I should have stated husband needs the car for work and unlike comparable private sector jobs he is not supplied with a company car. It needs to be very reliable, large boot space for equipment, and we were hoping for high level of fuel efficiency.
> 
> Yes Clubman, I really need to take out life insurance for me, will tackle this immediately.


 
didn't realise he needed it for work... but without labouring the point I still don't agree. There are many excellent reliable cars out there for far less than 20k.

I haven't had a car break down on me in over 3 years and I would spend about 5% per year of what you are proposing! FYI my current car is large and gets me over 45mpg. 

I suppose I'm labouring the point because you can scrimp and save all you want here and there but spending 5-10k on a car will instantly "save" you 10-15k!


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## Guzzyhf (15 Feb 2008)

I see what you mean PGD1. Trouble is trying to convince another person, if you know what I mean!!


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## Purple (15 Feb 2008)

Guzzyhf said:


> but in our case I should have stated husband needs the car for work and unlike comparable private sector jobs he is not supplied with a company car.


Unless he's doing very high mileage the BIK on a company car is prohibitive. Because of this there are far fewer company cars in Ireland than in say the UK. 
I agree that 20k is a lot to spend on a car if you are worried about money. If he is spending that sort of cash then he should buy a car that is at least two years old and is cheap to service and run. One of the big mass market brand such as Ford, Toyota, Nissan, Opel, etc rather than BMW, Honda, Audi etc which have very high service and parts costs.
Also remember that any insurance cover you buy will not cover existing ailments, i.e. loss of income etc due to your current health issues.


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## PGD1 (15 Feb 2008)

i recommend you change to an old Mondeo diesel estate, pick one up in the UK for peanuts even!

Don't worry I know what you mean about cars as I am on the wrong side.. being a car nut! I only have 5 at the moment!


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