# Not the usual I know



## Midlife (26 Feb 2008)

Age: 35
Spouse’s/Partner's age: N/A

Annual gross income from employment or profession: €90k
Annual gross income spouse:N/A

Type of employment: Employee

Expenditure pattern: In general are you spending more than you earn or are you saving? Saving a little

Rough estimate of value of home €275k (this month!)
Mortgage on home: €7k
Mortgage provider:NIB
Type of mortgage: Tracker
Interest rate: €4.79

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: c€25k some in Credit Union, bulk in NIB at 4.5% 

Do you have a pension scheme? c. €65k in private pension contributing 20% of my income

Do you own any investment or other property? No

Ages of children: N/A

Life insurance: c. €150k - declining mortgage protection will probably stop paying when mortgage clear.


What specific question do you have or what issues are of concern to you?
Ok, no dependents, good job, have been hitting the mortgage and pension pretty hard for the last few years. Mortgage is nearly clear so what to do with c. € 3k per month? Job is a little iffy at the moment but I could probably get another job at short notice. Might require a modest pay cut. Doing minor home renovations - say >€10k. Future outgoings - possible car required if job goes, maybe upgrade house if housing market continues with current "soft landing". Might require money in next 3-5 years to start up own business. Want to be able to enjoy my retirement, happy enough working at the moment. 10 years ago I'd probably have bought a house with the money, not so sure nowadays.


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## eileen alana (26 Feb 2008)

Have a look through the Financial Best Buys Forum to get the best interest rates on the various savings accounts. Also be aware you may not be getting a great interest rate from your credit union a/c.  Overall you are doing great, well done!


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## ClubMan (28 Feb 2008)

Off topic posts removed. Please deal with the original poster's query.


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## redstar (28 Feb 2008)

Clear the 7k mortgage first.


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## Raskolnikov (29 Feb 2008)

I would definitely consider putting a small amount (€10k maybe) of your savings into a riskier, but possibly more rewarding investment.

You could consider investing in the stock market through one of the Quinn Freeway Funds (generally regarded as a low-cost option) or maybe look at an ETF (basically, a diversified basket of shares) such as the Irish Stock Exchange ETF (http://www.ise.ie/index.asp?locID=417&docID=-1).

These are of course long-term investments.


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