# Makeover.....



## Padraigin (7 Dec 2013)

Age: 45
Spouse’s/Partner's age: n/a

Annual gross income from employment or profession: €51080
Annual gross income of spouse:n/a

Monthly take-home pay €2932

Type of employment: middle manager-contracted to public service

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

Rough estimate of value of home €150k
Amount outstanding on your mortgage: nil
What interest rate are you paying? N/a

Other borrowings – car loans/personal loans etc Car €140 pm one year remaining

Do you pay off your full credit card balance each month? N/a
If not, what is the balance on your credit card?

Savings and investments:

Do you have a pension scheme? No

Do you own any investment or other property? no

Ages of children: adult

Life insurance: No

Hi everyone
What specific question do you have or what issues are of concern to you? 
I have €50k in savings bonds.
No pension concerns me greatly.
I save €200 monthly in regular saver at ebs
I can afford to save another €800 monthly but I'm not sure where to put it. I read the posts on aam, but honestly I get really bogged down in the detail people post and I feel then, incapable of making any decision, sometimes it goes over my head.
I'm a cancer survivor, who worries constantly about my financial security. Id love to know if I need to focus on sorting out a pension, or should I focus on getting the maximum from saving?
Thanks everyone for your inputs.
Padraigin


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## STEINER (7 Dec 2013)

Hi Padraigin,

unfortunately, the devil is in the detail. You really have to analyse and summarise how you spend the €2,932 nett pay.  Your mortgage is nil.  Even if you increase saving to €1,000 per month, you are still going through €1,800 per month!  For your level of income you are spending a lot.

Say for example you were to save €1,000 per month or 12k x 20 years = 240k you place on deposit (not including the interest) 

The money is accessible and there is DIRT 41% on the interest every year.

You could put €1,000 per month into a pension plan or 12k x 20 years = 240k in your fund ( not including growth)

Just simply looking at the marginal income tax rate, because of tax relief @ 41% the annual 12k you put into the pension gives you a tax credit/refund of €12k X 41% = €4,920 per annum ie there is 12k in your pension fund but it has cost you only €7,080 per year.  Because of the tax relief, it is an incentive.  The 240k in your pension fund has cost you 140k.  The 41% relief may be reduced by the Goverment at some stage in the future.

The pension money is generally inaccessible until your retirement age.



You don't need life insurance as you have no dependants.  I am of similar age and health experience to yourself.  I have a mortgage of 280k and much less income than you.  I had to learn not to worry about financial items.  You have been through the mill.  Get the most out of life with your adult children (and grandchildren).


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## Padraigin (8 Dec 2013)

Thanks for that Steiner. I have other costs that I haven't included such as travel, home maintenance (quite a lot lately, big job on heating system, for eg) my income means I don't have to worry excessively about where to find the cash for jobs like that. 
I don't smoke, enjoy wine, eat out occasionally. I don't follow fashion trends.
I've had substantial medical bills, not all covered by Laya. Some are ongoing and there's no way around that. 
My concern has been around my retirement, I have money sitting in my account doing nothing for me, so I want it to start earning! 
It looks like you've given me sound advice on pension option, I really appreciate it. Has anyone any idea who is the best to go with on this? 
Thank you in advance
Cheers!


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