horseshoe20
Registered User
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I'm 50, work part-time, 20% tax band. No pension set up because couldn't really afford it at the start with child-care etc and then never got around to it really.
Spouse will have a teacher's pension, maybe 34/80 as he's hoping to stop at 61/62 and missed a few years earlier. We always figured that would be enough, why bother with one for me. To tell the truth it was only relatively recently we realised that if he died that I'd only get half his pension. When he's 61 I'll only be 58 so no way I'll stop work then, I imagine I'm in it for the long haul.
Now I'm thinking should I start a small pension even? We're starting to try to pay down the mortgage, 11 years left, have lots of college years coming up fast so most I could really afford would be 200 or 300 per month for 15 years. Is it worth it? By the time I've paid admin etc on a pension would I get much more than simply the tax benefits? Will it just be a glorified savings account? Maybe I'd be better off putting that money into the mortgage also and just get rid of it quicker. Himself is very keen to pay it off asap whereas I'm thinking of a pension...
(In case it's not already obvious we're both fairly ignorant on these matters!)
Thanks for any input
ETA - to give all the details as per Brendan's post below.
Age: 50
Spouse’s/Partner's age: 53
Annual gross income from employment or profession: 20k
Annual gross income of spouse: 70k
Monthly take-home pay 5.5k
Type of employment: e.g. Civil Servant, self-employed
Me - private sector, Spouse - teacher
In general are you:
(a) spending more than you earn, or
(b) saving? Saving
Rough estimate of value of home 330k
Amount outstanding on your mortgage: 156k
What interest rate are you paying? 3.7, in process of changing to AIB 2.45
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:
Do you have a pension scheme? Me no, spouse has public service pension plan
Do you own any investment or other property? No
Ages of children: 3 teens, 6th to 3rd years
Life insurance: Mortgage protection and salary protection for spouse
Spouse will have a teacher's pension, maybe 34/80 as he's hoping to stop at 61/62 and missed a few years earlier. We always figured that would be enough, why bother with one for me. To tell the truth it was only relatively recently we realised that if he died that I'd only get half his pension. When he's 61 I'll only be 58 so no way I'll stop work then, I imagine I'm in it for the long haul.
Now I'm thinking should I start a small pension even? We're starting to try to pay down the mortgage, 11 years left, have lots of college years coming up fast so most I could really afford would be 200 or 300 per month for 15 years. Is it worth it? By the time I've paid admin etc on a pension would I get much more than simply the tax benefits? Will it just be a glorified savings account? Maybe I'd be better off putting that money into the mortgage also and just get rid of it quicker. Himself is very keen to pay it off asap whereas I'm thinking of a pension...
(In case it's not already obvious we're both fairly ignorant on these matters!)
Thanks for any input
ETA - to give all the details as per Brendan's post below.
Age: 50
Spouse’s/Partner's age: 53
Annual gross income from employment or profession: 20k
Annual gross income of spouse: 70k
Monthly take-home pay 5.5k
Type of employment: e.g. Civil Servant, self-employed
Me - private sector, Spouse - teacher
In general are you:
(a) spending more than you earn, or
(b) saving? Saving
Rough estimate of value of home 330k
Amount outstanding on your mortgage: 156k
What interest rate are you paying? 3.7, in process of changing to AIB 2.45
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:
Do you have a pension scheme? Me no, spouse has public service pension plan
Do you own any investment or other property? No
Ages of children: 3 teens, 6th to 3rd years
Life insurance: Mortgage protection and salary protection for spouse
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