# 5 Years On - Money Makeover post Recession and Redundancy



## YoYo (9 Feb 2013)

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.


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## leroy67 (9 Feb 2013)

YoYo

you won't be able to cash in your PRSA until age 60 (possibility of doing so at 50) if you are an employee and retire or get made redundant.

Allowing for €200 per month for tax, insurance and maintenance you are still within your income.

As tough as you are finding it you are a lot better off than most !!! Keep your chin up and hopefully income will improve later in the year.


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## SarahMc (10 Feb 2013)

Have you applied for family income supplement (FIS)? From the figures posted I think you might be eligible.


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## YoYo (10 Feb 2013)

leroy67 - the contributions to our PRSAs were entirely our own - no Employer contribution.  I thought that was significant along with the fact that our contributions ceased 4 years ago.  I thought then that they could be cashed in. Of course a phone call to our providers tomorrow will answer that question.

SarahMc - We have not applied for FIS - never occurred to us.  Looking at Citizens Advice it seems we qualify on income.  Would our savings not make us ineligible?


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## SarahMc (10 Feb 2013)

No, capital/savings are not assessed as means for FIS. There is a mammoth backlog in processing applications, but you will get back payment.

Also apply for a medical card, its likely you will get at least a GP visit card, whereupon you can maybe reassess the health insurance outlay. 

Ensure your partner is signing for credits. There is likely to be a lot of labour market activation measures coming down the line, and if you are not on the live register in some way you are locked out of return to work/employment/enterprise/education incentives.


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## Dermot (10 Feb 2013)

How long does it take at the moment to process a FIS claim. I know a friend of mine married with 3 children who lost his job and after 6 months got another job on minimum wages who is taking home less than 320 euro a week which is the only income going into the house and is less than what he was getting on his stamp money. He applied for FIS last September and it has not be granted yet. I think this terrible and should have been dealt with a lot earlier. He is also paying rent for a house. He could not accept the boredom of not working. Not a great reward for trying to work.


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## Macstuff (3 Mar 2013)

I believe it can take up to six months - a friend recently got it after waiting for 6 months. However she had to call them several times in order to get her claim processed.


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