# Suggestions on What to Do



## Sodium (12 Jun 2018)

Age: 42
Spouse’s/Partner's age: 43

Annual gross income from employment or profession: Eur 144,000 (Tax Free in Middle East)
Annual gross income of spouse: Nil

Monthly take-home pay: Eur 12,000

Type of employment: e.g. Civil Servant, self-employed: Employed in Private Sector

In general are you:
(b) saving? Saving Eur 5~6k Per Month

Rough estimate of value of home: Eur 320,000 (Ireland - Rented at Eur 1,400 Per Month)
Amount outstanding on your mortgage: Eur 145,000
*What interest rate are you paying? ECB + 1.05% = 1.05%*

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: Eur 550K Sitting in Current Account Earning "Zero"

Do you have a pension scheme? No

Do you own any investment or other property? Apartment in Spain Worth ~ Eur 150k (No Mortgage and Not Rented)

Ages of children: 7 and 2

Life insurance: Yes - Approximately Eur 400K


*What specific question do you have or what issues are of concern to you? *

Hi Folks,

Basically I am in a dilemma as to what I should do. I have a large sum of money sitting in a current account earning me nothing. I had been holding the money in my current account as I was planning on buying a new family home however it seems as the time is not right so this has been put on hold for a few years. As we are currently living in Middle East renting is a better option as you never know when you have to leave here at short notice due to losing job etc. I want to make the lump sum work for me and earn the maximum I can from it but I don't know how. I've also tried to contact a few financial advisers both here at home for some advice but no one seems interested in responding. I'm planning on probably paying off the Eur 145K mortgage in Ireland which would reduce my lump sum to ~ 400K. Any suggestions on possible options, particularly bearing in mind that I don't have any pension.


----------



## luckystar (12 Jun 2018)

Be very interested to read the replies. Apart from guaranteed state savings I'm not sure where would be best for such a sizeable chunk of money without risking the capital. 
Can't see it being a good option paying off the investment property though as at least you're getting some tax relief against the rental income. Though perhaps I'm wrong. 
Would imagine a pension scheme would be a good plan, no harm planning for the future!


----------



## Steven Barrett (12 Jun 2018)

If you invest the money, you pay tax on the gains in the country you are resident in, which in your case would mean tax free gains. It's not difficult to do and you can invest in dollars as well as euro. 

Be careful about using "financial advisors" out there though, the products they sell are loaded with up front commissions and you can't get your money out without penalty during the term of the savings plan (usually 20 years so the salesperson can maximise their commission). 


Steven
www.bluewaterfp.ie


----------



## moneymakeover (2 Jul 2018)

Why not buy up another investment property?
Economy of scale


----------



## griswold (4 Jul 2018)

You wont get the income tax relief on pension contributions if you're not paying income tax.


----------

