# 45yo - what to do with money, house and career?



## Peddidunk (14 Jun 2016)

Hello,

Long time reader, first time poster.  AAM has been an informative resource for me and I would welcome users' thoughts on my position.  My aim is to motivate myself to pro-actively manage my finances and put an actual plan in place for the future.

Age: *45*
Spouse’s/Partner's age: *N/A*

Annual gross income from employment or profession: *€105,000*
Annual gross income of spouse: *N/A*

Monthly take-home pay *€5,243.18*

Type of employment: e.g. Civil Servant, self-employed; *private sector, project manager 9years+ in current company*

In general are you:
(a) spending more than you earn, or
(b) saving? *Saving €500 pm EBS family saver; €1,000 pm KBC access account; €1,200 pm EBS current account. Total €2,700 pm.*

Rough estimate of value of home; *€250,000 'gritty' city centre neighbourhood, considering moving before it becomes ghettoised.*
Amount outstanding on your mortgage: *0*
What interest rate are you paying?* 0*

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? *Monthly bill of between €400-€1,000 always cleared.*

Savings and investments: *Credit Union €1,000 - keeping this live in case I need to borrow small amount without going through bank.  Not sure this is even required for me.
Current Account €7,500 approx., salary in, direct debits, credit card come out of this.
EBS family saver €12,000 approx.- monthly dd's for regular saving habit.
EBS current account €44,000 approx. - have been saving into this for years and not actually doing anything with it.  House requires some capital investment but am unsure as to whether to purchase new house and rent current (€1,200 pm possible for a 2 bed in this location) sell or refurb for more comfortable living.
KBC €130,000 approx. in 3 accounts.  Again, head in the sand stuff from me here... Previous saving bonds and maturing accounts just deposited into these.
An Post €12,000 - 5 year savings account due July 2017.
Royal Liver saving bond type product €6,500 - matures 2018 I think, taken out some 15 years ago.  Total €213k approx.*

Do you have a pension scheme? *No, had one in an earlier employment circa 12 years ago but investigations, including writing to the Ombudsman to find out who controlled it post economic crash, yielded no information.  Had 9 years contributions.*

Do you own any investment or other property? *No*

Ages of children: *None*

Life insurance: *None, I feel it is not required for me, no dependants, no mortgage.*


What specific question do you have or what issues are of concern to you?
Where to start, literally.  I have been concerned to be debt free and financially secure my entire adult life having experienced poverty and the insecurity of rented accommodation as a child.  I am completely risk adverse, all attempts to motivate myself to research investment come to nothing.
I have always worked in the property industry but even in the 'good' times never purchased an investment property, my concern was to clear my own mortgage and be debt free.  I drive a 131 car, my job is reasonably secure, albeit I do not enjoy it nor do I have a good relationship with my manager.  I persevere because of the salary.  There is no possibility of pension contributions from my employer.
I have no life plan, no end goals for financial security and living comfortably and am seeking comments on this forum to give me inspiration or direction to get motivated to actively manage my resources.
I have always worked hard, part time jobs to fund college, additional post-work education and professional qualifications, investing in myself.  No inheritance in the long term to consider.

Thank you in advance for reading, please feel free to ask questions on anything I have may omitted required to be considered.

PD.


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## aristotle (14 Jun 2016)

You really need to chase up on your existing pension again and get info on it and where it is. Then, you should think about starting a pension and maxing out your contributions.

If I was you I would simple max your pension contributions and keep cash\deposits. With maxing your pension contributions you will be plenty exposed to equity markets and don't need to do something yourself particularly as you are risk averse.


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## thedaddyman (14 Jun 2016)

firstly, sort out your pension as a previous poster mentioned

secondly, given your considerable assets, if you have any close family or a charity you feel could benefit, you could do worse then putting a will in place. I know it may sound morbid but it's something everyone should do

thirdly, sort out the house. it sounds as if you want to and need to get out of the area. With a budget of around €400k-€450k, potentially you could live in a much nicer area mortgage free. 

next, start thinking about work. Nothing wrong with working to live and lots of us are motivated by the salary but there is more to life then work. You have the money to go to college part time for example and study something you always wanted to do. It doesn't have to have work related, just something completely differerent

Lastly, think about how you treat yourself. Is there something you always wanted in a new house, a painting, a jacuzi, a harley davidson, a big holiday whatever. You're in a position where you can afford to have a reasonable mid-life crisis so go and enjoy some  of it


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## 44brendan (14 Jun 2016)

thedaddyman said:


> next, start thinking about work. Nothing wrong with working to live and lots of us are motivated by the salary but there is more to life then work. You have the money to go to college part time for example and study something you always wanted to do. It doesn't have to have work related, just something completely differerent


+1 on this issue. Appreciate that you are risk averse and are conscious about financial security. However you are 45 and currently extremely financially secure. having spent some time earlier in my career in a job which give me zero satisfaction I took the risk of putting job satisfaction ahead of job security and have never regretted it.
You don't needs a 450k property for your own needs but should certainly look towards moving to a more desirable neighborhood!


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## AlbacoreA (15 Jun 2016)

Bit left of centre, and perhaps its something you're not interested in. But I would consider a "fixer upper" in a better location. Which would be cheaper to buy. Then you could take on DIY projects to increase the value, comfort of the property. The DIY work would be as a change of scene and pace from the day job. I find doing something like lets me think out of the box and I often find I find solutions to work issues, while doing DIY like tasks.


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## amtc (26 Jun 2016)

Fancy a wife?


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## Brendan Burgess (26 Jun 2016)

Your finances and housing are sorted out - apart from the pension issue. 

But the most important thing is to get a job you enjoy doing. Forget everything else for the moment. 

If you are happy with your chosen career, but just don't like the company or the boss, then switch employers. 

If you are not happy with your career, then go talk to a career counselor who might come up with some good ideas for you. 

But don't drift. As you approach 50, it will be much harder to move.  An unsatisfactory job might trigger a mid-life crisis. 

Sort it out now. 

Brendan


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## johnny1234 (26 Jun 2016)

The pension issue must be sorted out. If you want to do a concise job, ask an independent adviser who should be able to help you with setting up your final wages in life. Keep your options open as I rish pension providers have a knack of creaming off the top where the growth gets swallowed up in fees.


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