# €60,000 left to me, what to do?



## pinkfloyd34 (29 Nov 2013)

Age: *37
*Spouse’s/Partner's age: 

Annual gross income from employment or profession: *€38,740* 
Annual gross income of spouse:

Monthly take-home pay *€2,340*

Type of employment: e.g. Civil Servant, self-employed *Civil Servant*

In general are you:
(a) spending more than you earn, or
(b) saving?_ *Breaking even*

_Rough estimate of value of home €90,000
Amount outstanding on your mortgage: €176,000 
*What interest rate are you paying? €3,50%*

Other borrowings – car loans/personal loans etc *None
*
Do you pay off your full credit card balance each month? No
If not, what is the balance on your credit card? €1,000

Savings and investments:

Do you have a pension scheme? *Yes*

Do you own any investment or other property? 

Ages of children: *6 and 9
*
Life insurance: *Yes
*

*What specific question do you have or what issues are of concern to you? *
*I was left €60,000 recently and never had that type of money, I was wondering wheather to put it off the mortgage to reduce monthly payments or reduce the life time of it or invest it in the national solidarity scheme? I wouldnt be a risk taker and dont know much about shares to invest in them. I know if I leave the money in my current account it will just whittle away on unneccessary spending*


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## callybags (29 Nov 2013)

Without a doubt, pay off the credit card first.

As you won't get anything close to 3.5% on deposit after taxes etc. it would seem a no-brainer to pay it off your mortgage.

However, if it was me I would:

Pay the 1k off the credit card.

Put 30k off your mortgage.

Put 20k into the best 1 year account you can find (see the Best Buy Thread here). 

Put 5k into a demand deposit account to have as an emergency fund.

Take the last 4k and bring yourself and your kids on a nice holiday, as it's a windfall and you may never get the opportunity again.


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## dogfish (29 Nov 2013)

Pay off credit card. €1000

Then decide how much you want for a rainy day fund.  €5000-€10000  Look at best buys on where to put. 

Have a holiday. €3-5000. 

Put everything else off the mortgage. Keep the duration of the mortgage. You are on a good rate.  With the reduced payments it gives you a little breathing space. Try and save up lumps sums and you can decide what you want to do with them.


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## Tired Paul (29 Nov 2013)

+1 with most of the comments above.
Clear C/Card - and then cut it up.
Rainy day fund - only you can decide that but putting too muh away could make it tempting to dive into it a few times.
Hoilday or nice treat for the family.
Then have a think about the kids - part deposit for house in years to come? / college fund? / wedding??
Just a few thoughts.


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## pinkfloyd34 (2 Dec 2013)

thanks for the replies, I will definitley take this advice on board.


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## pinkfloyd34 (13 Dec 2013)

oh god, i was actually thinking of doing exactly that, but you have a good quality car for that amount with no repayments, car should last you at least 10 years before you think of even changing it


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## Ryan (16 Dec 2013)

Pay off the credit card first and then pay an amount off your mortgage but I think its wise to keep some savings or if you really want to change your car or something. If you do maybe pay half cash and half loan or something.


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## Purple (16 Dec 2013)

pinkfloyd34 said:


> oh god, i was actually thinking of doing exactly that, but you have a good quality car for that amount with no repayments, car should last you at least 10 years before you think of even changing it



Then buy a good car that's 4 years older and change it again in 6 years.


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## PaddyW (18 Dec 2013)

MrDerp said:


> This. There's no quicker way to turn cash into smoke than buying a new or newer car, I'm speaking from experience
> 
> Spending 15k on a car will cost you up to 5k in depreciation over 2 years, all spent on feel-good factor. You should always calculate your overall cost of motoring to include what asset depreciation is costing you.
> 
> ...



Great advice


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## Bronte (18 Dec 2013)

If you do pay off part of the mortgage, because of the NE it would be a good idea to continue making the current repayments.  

You've no savings, which is corrected with this windfall.  Ideally you should save an amount every month, it's a good habit and for things in the future, like a car, then you won't have to borrow etc.  

Have a look at your bills, such as house insurance,car insurance tax, etc.  If you're paying these monthly, there is an extra cost, so maybe now is the time to pay them annually, but use the money saved to increase your savings.  Let's say you save 100 Euro by doing it this way, then you up your weekly savings amount by about 2 Euro.  

I agree that you shouldn't waste money on a car, you now know you have the money if you need a car, so just run the one you have into the ground or wait until repairing it is more silly than replacing it.


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## br1an (4 Feb 2014)

If you own your home and are planning on remaining in it, you may consider investing some of your inheritance in making it more energy efficient. 
If done correctly, you can earn your investment back in energy savings and may also be able to top up the investment with a Greener Homes grant.


Just a thought.


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