# Your Thoughts?



## ATJG (28 Feb 2008)

Age: 27
Spouse’s/Partner's age: n/a

Annual gross income from employment or profession: 34k
Annual gross income spouse: n/a

Type of employment: Employee

Expenditure pattern: In general are you spending more than you earn? No 
Are you saving? Yes I have €100 going into my regular savings account every month and I have been putting €500 into the credit union monthly.

Rough estimate of value of home: None
Mortgage on home: None
Mortgage provider: None
Type of mortgage: None
Interest rate: None

Other borrowings: €1500 remaining on Credit Union Loan paying €185 monthly.

Do you pay off your full credit card balance each month? Yes
If not, what is the balance on your credit card? None

Savings and investments: €10000 in Credit Union and €3500 in my regular savings account online with AIB.

Do you have a pension scheme? No

Do you own any investment or other property? No

Ages of children: None

Life insurance: None


*What specific question do you have or what issues are of concern to you? *The first thing I will do is pay off the Credit Union Loan using the savings I have with them. That will allow an extra €185 per month I can save. Should I move the bulk of my Credit Union savings to a lump sum deposit? maybe the deposit 7 account online with AIB?

One other thing is, I want to set up a PRSA pension because I might not always be in the construction industry and therefore don't feel I should start the CIF pension. Can anyone offer advice on this, our my current state or my plans?

Thanks for reading!


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## ClubMan (28 Feb 2008)

What are your short, medium and long  term goals? Are you aiming to buy a home for example? What your plans are should dictate your savings/investment/debt management strategies.


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## ATJG (28 Feb 2008)

Ok

Short term goal would be to travel for around 12 months in a years time. Medium term I would like to go about building a house when I get back and my car will need upgrading in 2 or three years time. 
Long term I want to set up a PRSA.


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## ClubMan (28 Feb 2008)

So, as I see it, your priorities should be (a) clearing any existing debts (b) saving towards the trip (c) saving towards the house/car and (d) saving for retirement - in that order? Since you can't do all of these in one go start at the beginning. In relation to (b) the _Financial Best Buys _lists of best deposit accounts on offer and the many existing threads about mixing and matching these to maximise deposit interest returns might be worth checking.


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## z105 (28 Feb 2008)

> Your Thoughts?



2. Please make the heading of your question relevant    	Don't post a general heading such as "help !" or "Mortgage query". If you post a heading such as "Mortgage for separated couple", it will get a better response and will be much easier to find if you need to go back to look for it.


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## ClubMan (28 Feb 2008)

I agree but... almost everybody in the _Money Makeover _is guilty of breaching this posting guideline. Just look at the meaningless titles of many (most?) threads. I mentioned this issue to the other moderators a while ago but the burden of flagging and dealing with all such incidents here in this forum is simply too much so I personally ignore it just in this forum.


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## z105 (28 Feb 2008)

Yes, it's a regular occurence and in fairness yis have enough to be doing.

I just noticed that the OP had 2 posts so thought as the OP is relatively new to AAM it's better to tell them now rather than 20 posts later. Hopefully they learn from it, or rather hopefully they read the posting guidelines


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## ATJG (28 Feb 2008)

Noted. Sorry!


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## ATJG (28 Feb 2008)

ClubMan said:


> So, as I see it, your priorities should be (a) clearing any existing debts (b) saving towards the trip (c) saving towards the house/car and (d) saving for retirement - in that order? Since you can't do all of these in one go start at the beginning. In relation to (b) the _Financial Best Buys _lists of best deposit accounts on offer and the many existing threads about mixing and matching these to maximise deposit interest returns might be worth checking.


 
Thanks Clubman...are you suggesting I should put my plans for pension on hold for a few years until I have looked at the other goals first?


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## ClubMan (28 Feb 2008)

ATJG said:


> Thanks Clubman...are you suggesting I should put my plans for pension on hold for a few years until I have looked at the other goals first?


In my personal and non professional opinion that would seem to make most sense. If you want to travel and then buy a house then these should take priority over pension. Others may differ.


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## DavyJones (28 Feb 2008)

I agree, go out and live your life, you'll be long enough paying into a pension.


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## Raskolnikov (29 Feb 2008)

What sort of rate of interest are you paying on the credit union loan? If it's particularily high, then you should pay it off ASAP. 

Make sure that you sign up to the new AIB Regular Savings rate of 7.3% as you will not be moved over to the rate by default ([broken link removed]).

Doesn't make sense to start a PRSA if you're travelling, but I would definitely consider starting one after you return from your travels. Even starting with a nominal amount will get you in the habit and there's nothing stopping you from increasing or reducing payments at anytime.


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