kilamangiro
Registered User
- Messages
- 13
Age: 33
Spouse’s age: 33
My Income: 64,000
Spouse's income: 18,000
Take-home pay: Approx €5k between us
Type of employment – Both private sector, spouse is part-time and doesn’t work summers.
Spending or Saving?
We are saving, having been just breaking even for years.
Our current budget for 2019 (I track what we spend and account for every penny) shows us saving €15K this year if we stick to the plan.
Value of home: €270,000
Amount outstanding on your mortgage: €108,000
What interest rate are you paying? 3.37 (EBS). 31 years left on mortgage.
Other borrowings – PCP at 0% interest – paying €290 per month, with 2.5 years remaining. €9k is the settlement figure at the end of the term.
Do you pay off your full credit card balance each month? Yes
Savings and investments:
€5,000 in credit union savings
Do you have a pension scheme?
No.
Do you own any investment or other property?
No.
Ages of children:
2 and 0
Life insurance:
€115,000 dual-life policy with Irish life (against the mortgage)
Work pay for an income protection scheme (2/3 of salary covered) and a death-in-service policy (4 x income). Which are nice to have, but I’m aware they could stop paying these at any time.
What specific question do you have or what issues are of concern to you?
1. Our Mortgage is at 3.37%, which I know is too high. We are in the process of applying to switch our mortgage and at the same time increasing it to €120,000, to pay for some much-needed works to the house (Insulation and New Windows and Doors). Hoping to go 5 year fixed with KBC at 2.6%, which, despite increasing our mortgage, will actually decrease our monthly payment.
2. Saving for Kids. At the moment, child benefit of €280 per month is just going into the general pot. My plan is to continue this until I have a fully funded emergency fund, and then to divert it either into a regular savings plan or start using it to overpay the mortgage with a view to being mortgage free when they go to college and able to fund their education through income. Which of these would be the preferred option (if either)?
3. We have no pension at all, and have put this off for much too long. We will be addressing that this year, for sure (once we have the mortgage switched). Work offer a PRSA scheme, and they top up employee contributions by 10% (not great, but better than nothing). Was planning on paying in €500 per month - €550 after employer contribution and costing us €300 per month after tax. Is this an ok approach? Am I better off with this work PRSA scheme or should I look elsewhere?
4. Should I just continue with the PCP until end of term and then look to pay off the balance from savings and keep the car (It is a good-sized family car so should suit us for many years)?
5. I am worried about the income protection/life insurance situation. My earning power is significantly higher than my spouses so if anything were to happen to me it could leave them in a very difficult situation.
As it stands, if I died the mortgage would be cleared and there would be approx. €250k paid out under death-in-service policy. But I am worried about how permanent that policy might be.
If spouse died, I would be mortgage free, still with good income, but additional childcare costs.
I’m thinking I need to take out substantial life insurance policy for spouse and a much smaller one for myself?
Do I need separate income protection to my work policy?
In summary, our short term goal is to switch our mortgage and get some necessary works to the house done. Then start pension and review Life Insurance cover.
After that it is figuring out what to do with our excess cash each month and what proportion should be allocated to each area.
- Pension
- Overpay mortgage
- Long-term savings for college
- General savings
Spouse’s age: 33
My Income: 64,000
Spouse's income: 18,000
Take-home pay: Approx €5k between us
Type of employment – Both private sector, spouse is part-time and doesn’t work summers.
Spending or Saving?
We are saving, having been just breaking even for years.
Our current budget for 2019 (I track what we spend and account for every penny) shows us saving €15K this year if we stick to the plan.
Value of home: €270,000
Amount outstanding on your mortgage: €108,000
What interest rate are you paying? 3.37 (EBS). 31 years left on mortgage.
Other borrowings – PCP at 0% interest – paying €290 per month, with 2.5 years remaining. €9k is the settlement figure at the end of the term.
Do you pay off your full credit card balance each month? Yes
Savings and investments:
€5,000 in credit union savings
Do you have a pension scheme?
No.
Do you own any investment or other property?
No.
Ages of children:
2 and 0
Life insurance:
€115,000 dual-life policy with Irish life (against the mortgage)
Work pay for an income protection scheme (2/3 of salary covered) and a death-in-service policy (4 x income). Which are nice to have, but I’m aware they could stop paying these at any time.
What specific question do you have or what issues are of concern to you?
1. Our Mortgage is at 3.37%, which I know is too high. We are in the process of applying to switch our mortgage and at the same time increasing it to €120,000, to pay for some much-needed works to the house (Insulation and New Windows and Doors). Hoping to go 5 year fixed with KBC at 2.6%, which, despite increasing our mortgage, will actually decrease our monthly payment.
2. Saving for Kids. At the moment, child benefit of €280 per month is just going into the general pot. My plan is to continue this until I have a fully funded emergency fund, and then to divert it either into a regular savings plan or start using it to overpay the mortgage with a view to being mortgage free when they go to college and able to fund their education through income. Which of these would be the preferred option (if either)?
3. We have no pension at all, and have put this off for much too long. We will be addressing that this year, for sure (once we have the mortgage switched). Work offer a PRSA scheme, and they top up employee contributions by 10% (not great, but better than nothing). Was planning on paying in €500 per month - €550 after employer contribution and costing us €300 per month after tax. Is this an ok approach? Am I better off with this work PRSA scheme or should I look elsewhere?
4. Should I just continue with the PCP until end of term and then look to pay off the balance from savings and keep the car (It is a good-sized family car so should suit us for many years)?
5. I am worried about the income protection/life insurance situation. My earning power is significantly higher than my spouses so if anything were to happen to me it could leave them in a very difficult situation.
As it stands, if I died the mortgage would be cleared and there would be approx. €250k paid out under death-in-service policy. But I am worried about how permanent that policy might be.
If spouse died, I would be mortgage free, still with good income, but additional childcare costs.
I’m thinking I need to take out substantial life insurance policy for spouse and a much smaller one for myself?
Do I need separate income protection to my work policy?
In summary, our short term goal is to switch our mortgage and get some necessary works to the house done. Then start pension and review Life Insurance cover.
After that it is figuring out what to do with our excess cash each month and what proportion should be allocated to each area.
- Pension
- Overpay mortgage
- Long-term savings for college
- General savings