C
curlygirl
Guest
This is my first post - any feeback or advice greatly appreciated!
Age: 26
Spouse’s/Partner's age: 27
Annual gross income from employment or profession: €40,000 plus €3,000 (o/t & bonuses & travel)
Annual gross income of partner: €25,000
(We have only recently been on these salaries for 1 month - previously we made € 30,000.00 between us)
Type of employment: Both employed in private sector
In general are you:
(a) spending more than you earn, or
(b) saving? - spending roughly what we earn each month
Rough estimate of value of home- do not own a house
Amount outstanding on your mortgage: n/a
What interest rate are you paying? n/a
Other borrowings – car loans/personal loans: €23,000 of a student loan. I pay €248.00 a month on this. I have a student rate on the loan.
My partner is pretty much debt free!
Do you pay off your full credit card balance each month? Partner has credit card, does not pay it off in full each month
If not, what is the balance on your credit card? Partner's card - €1,300.00
Savings and investments: None
Do you have a pension scheme? No, neither of us.
Do you own any investment or other property? No.
Ages of children: None
Life insurance: None
Additional Info: My boyfriend's salary will stay around the €25k to 30k mark. Mine should increase substanially over the next few years.
Neither of our jobs have paid maternity leave, health care or pensions.
What specific question do you have or what issues are of concern to you?
- I was recently given a pay rise from €19,000 to €40,000 and my partner got a pay rise in the same month from €16,000.00 to €25,000.00. We have gone from only earning a bare living between us, to actually have disposable income - a first as have been training for years!
- We currently live rent free in a property owned by boyfriend's parents.
- We want to get ourselves into a strong financial situation as soon as possible. We would hope to buy our own home in the next two years, get married, update cars etc. We do not want to get used to having this extra money and wasting it so to speak.
- My boyfriend feels that I am paying a lot of tax and wants me to start a pension. I also agree with starting a pension, but feel that there is no point in starting a pension when we have no house, very old cars, no savings for now or the immediate future.
- What would be the most sensible thing to do with our pay rises? We realise that we are lucky in the current market and want to prepare wisely for the future.
- Should we start to save for a Mortgage? (I am a professional and used to qualify for 100% Mortgage, don't know if this is still the case) Or would it look better in the Mortgage application if we had smaller savings, but more of my loan paid off?
- If we should start saving, what type of account? Would need access to money in 1.5 / 2 years for deposit for house?
- If I started a pension would I be able to stop paying it if I went on Maternity Leave? Or reduce it, if we have children and things get tight? Is it worth starting a pension now tax wise?
I'm sorry for the general nature of this post - but have been on a trainee's salary for the past 5 years. Used to trying to live off €14,000.00 a year - a bit overwhelmed as to what to do with my current wage, but want to make the right financial decisions. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!
Age: 26
Spouse’s/Partner's age: 27
Annual gross income from employment or profession: €40,000 plus €3,000 (o/t & bonuses & travel)
Annual gross income of partner: €25,000
(We have only recently been on these salaries for 1 month - previously we made € 30,000.00 between us)
Type of employment: Both employed in private sector
In general are you:
(a) spending more than you earn, or
(b) saving? - spending roughly what we earn each month
Rough estimate of value of home- do not own a house
Amount outstanding on your mortgage: n/a
What interest rate are you paying? n/a
Other borrowings – car loans/personal loans: €23,000 of a student loan. I pay €248.00 a month on this. I have a student rate on the loan.
My partner is pretty much debt free!
Do you pay off your full credit card balance each month? Partner has credit card, does not pay it off in full each month
If not, what is the balance on your credit card? Partner's card - €1,300.00
Savings and investments: None
Do you have a pension scheme? No, neither of us.
Do you own any investment or other property? No.
Ages of children: None
Life insurance: None
Additional Info: My boyfriend's salary will stay around the €25k to 30k mark. Mine should increase substanially over the next few years.
Neither of our jobs have paid maternity leave, health care or pensions.
What specific question do you have or what issues are of concern to you?
- I was recently given a pay rise from €19,000 to €40,000 and my partner got a pay rise in the same month from €16,000.00 to €25,000.00. We have gone from only earning a bare living between us, to actually have disposable income - a first as have been training for years!
- We currently live rent free in a property owned by boyfriend's parents.
- We want to get ourselves into a strong financial situation as soon as possible. We would hope to buy our own home in the next two years, get married, update cars etc. We do not want to get used to having this extra money and wasting it so to speak.
- My boyfriend feels that I am paying a lot of tax and wants me to start a pension. I also agree with starting a pension, but feel that there is no point in starting a pension when we have no house, very old cars, no savings for now or the immediate future.
- What would be the most sensible thing to do with our pay rises? We realise that we are lucky in the current market and want to prepare wisely for the future.
- Should we start to save for a Mortgage? (I am a professional and used to qualify for 100% Mortgage, don't know if this is still the case) Or would it look better in the Mortgage application if we had smaller savings, but more of my loan paid off?
- If we should start saving, what type of account? Would need access to money in 1.5 / 2 years for deposit for house?
- If I started a pension would I be able to stop paying it if I went on Maternity Leave? Or reduce it, if we have children and things get tight? Is it worth starting a pension now tax wise?
I'm sorry for the general nature of this post - but have been on a trainee's salary for the past 5 years. Used to trying to live off €14,000.00 a year - a bit overwhelmed as to what to do with my current wage, but want to make the right financial decisions. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!