70y/o & wife, no mortgage, cash lump sum

J

jtk

Registered User
Messages
65
I would deeply appreciate if anyone can give us some advice on what to do in our situation :

Personal details
Age: 71
Spouse's age: 63

Number and age of children: 0

Income and expenditure
Annual gross income from pension(s): see further down
Annual gross income of spouse/partner: n/a

Monthly take-home pay:

Type of employment:
Retired
Spouse not working due to mental health & physical disabilities


In general are you:
(a) spending more than you earn, or
(b) saving? Saving about €150-€200pm

Summary of Assets and Liabilities
Family home value: 430k
Mortgage on family home: 0
Net equity: ?

Cash: 2k
Defined Contribution pension fund: n/a
Company shares : 0
Buy to Let Property value: 0
Buy to let Mortgage: 0

Total net assets: ?

Family home mortgage information - N/A

Other borrowings – car loans/personal loans etc
Credit Union Car loan - €25,500 outstanding; paying €550pm; 4.5y to go

Do you pay off your full credit card balance each month? Usually yes
If not, what is the balance on your credit card? <€300 (very rarely more)

Pension information
I get 2 x UK Pensions = circa €2,000pm
I get 1 x Irish Non-Contributory pension approx. €660pm

Buy to let properties - none

Other savings and investments:
1) Credit Union a/c - €2,200 (car loan is against this so I can’t use it)
2) Credit Union a/c in Spouse’s name - €5,000 (we put in approx. €100-€150pm)

Other information which might be relevant
I am selling a property belonging to my Mother & will complete the sale 28/6/24, once everything is paid I will have a total of €160,000.
I plan to pay off the Credit Union Car Loan immediately, unless anyone thinks this is a bad idea?
My wife hasn’t worked for about 12 years, my Irish pension was calculated to include her not working or having any other income & she hasn’t got enough stamps for a full pension.
  • I’m looking for advice on what to do with the balance of the money from the sale of the property, circa €135,000?
  • We know that we can only have €50,000 in each CU a/c, would it be a good idea to open a joint a/c & put the balance in it then use that for any major purchases in the future?
  • Currently we’re both on full MC’s, I’ve been told I will retain mine due to being over 70, but my wife will lose Her’s I believe?
Any help & advice is very much appreciated, thanks in advance
 
How can you get a non contributory pension ? Do you mean contributory? Or maybe wife gets disability?

On your death what would be your wife’s income?

Why not use the 150 a month to over pay expensive car loan?

Is your wife entitled to some state allowance for a car suitable to disabilities.
 
Last edited:
Bronte said:
How can you get a non contributory pension ? Do you mean contributory? Or maybe wife gets disability?
Click to expand...
Neither of us worked here long enough to get enough stamps for the full pension so we were jointly assessed as being entitled to the non-contributory pension, €165pw for both of us (not each)

Bronte said:
On your death what would be your wife’s income?
Click to expand...
She would get half the 2 uk pensions, not sure but think she would possibly get an Irish Widow's pension?

Bronte said:
Why not use the 150 a month to over pay expensive car loan?
Click to expand...
Yes this has crossed my mind, we've done this in the past & paid of the previous loan in 3 yrs instead of 5

Bronte said:
Is your wove entitled to some state allowance for a car suitable to disabilities
Click to expand...
We've looked into this & she was refused anything
 
Is your mother gifting you the €160k? It’s below the relevant CAT threshold but it will eat into your lifetime allowance.

I don’t see how the €160k would have any impact on your wife’s entitlement to an MC - it’s not her money.

I’m not sure about the non-contributory pension - I’ve never heard of a jointly assessed pension.

It definitely makes sense to pay off the car loans.

Beyond that? Is there any room to make your home more comfortable/energy efficient?
 
The non contributory pension payment still makes no sense to me. Is it by any chance a contributory pension based on you working in Ireland and calculation reduced to the amount that qualifies you to part of the state contributory pension.

State NC is 266+spouse of 175= 441or €1911 monthly, and your already on €2K monthly?

Put the €160K into a good savings account. I see BofI does 3% so you’d get €4800 with no DIRT tax. 160-25 = 135 is about 4k.

But clarify on state pension is badly needed as this affects decisions due to means testing.

How much is the CU interest annually?
 
Last edited:
Sarenco said:
Is your mother gifting you the €160k? It’s below the relevant CAT threshold but it will eat into your lifetime allowance.
Click to expand...
no, I'm selling her property after her death & when everything is paid (HSE Fair Deal scheme; Solicitor & Auctioneer) I will be left with €160k
 
Sarenco said:
I’m not sure about the non-contributory pension - I’ve never heard of a jointly assessed pension.
Click to expand...
We had run a business for 7 years, ceased trading in 2012, when we informed the SW they sent a man to the house in 2012/2013 & he went through all our finances, said we would be jointly assessed from then onwards
 
Sarenco said:
It definitely makes sense to pay off the car loans.
Click to expand...
That's what we were thinking, we're currently getting €660pm in SW which (as said previously) we will most likely lose, so if we pay off the CU car loan we won't be making the €550pm payment so we're only €110pm down, hope that makes sense?
 
Sarenco said:
Beyond that? Is there any room to make your home more comfortable/energy efficient?
Click to expand...
No, it's currently got a BER rating of C2 & it wouldn't really be financially cost effective, we did look into it

We are considering selling our home for approx. €430k & moving further down country, we've seen some very nice properties for about €300-€350k that would suit us
 
jtk said:
We had run a business for 7 years, ceased trading in 2012, when we informed the SW they sent a man to the house in 2012/2013 & he went through all our finances, said we would be jointly assessed from then onwards
Click to expand...
What was the calculations in that assessment? If your financial circumstances have changed then the assessment needs to be done again. You should go into citizens advice with full details and see what they say. It’s free confidential advice.
 
Bronte said:
The non contributory pension payment still makes no sense to me. Is it by any chance a contributory pension based on you working in Ireland and calculation reduced to the amount that qualifies you to part of the state contributory pension.

State NC is 266+spouse of 175= 441or €1911 monthly, and your already on €2K monthly?

Put the €160K into a good savings account. I see BofI does 3% so you’d get €4800 with no DIRT tax. 160-25 = 135 is about 4k.

But clarify on state pension is badly needed as this affects decisions due to means testing.

How much is the CU interest annually?
Click to expand...

You could be right about the calculations, it was done a while ago & I'm trying to find the paperwork, lol

BOFI sounds good

I think the CU interest is 4%pa but I could be wrong, I know the car loan is 6%pa
 
Bronte said:
What was the calculations in that assessment? If your financial circumstances have changed then the assessment needs to be done again. You should go into citizens advice with full details and see what they say. It’s free confidential advice.
Click to expand...
our general circumstances haven't changed much over the years but I will go into the CAB & see what advice they can give us, thanks
 
Do you means MABs? I said citizens advice, I went in there myself and they were very helpful and knowledgable.

Yes do find the paperwork. I had a look at social welfare and CA’s website.

Be careful about downsizing. You really need to get to grips with how the means testing works, a poster like @gipimann normally offers great advice on here.
 
Brendan Burgess said:
Surely with an income of €2,000 per month, you should not be getting any non-contributory pension?
Click to expand...
I've found the relevant paperwork, we had a SW inspector call to the house twice 4 years apart, 2012 & 2016. The €660pm is actually my wife's unemployment payment as she's not worked from 2012
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top