Financial Advice Needed - 7 years on from last post

Sarenco said:
Ah, I think I can guess the job.

Would he not be better off retiring, taking another job and start building another pension pot?

In a sense, he’s working for half pay by not accruing additional pension entitlements.
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Yes we discussed this. However, we need the salary and he won't make what he makes as a wage anywhere else. Only options are driving buses/van, security etc with. He has great time off so can help with kids and can make OT if needed. With the kids at the stage they are we need what the job can give. His job also isn't very taxing where he is so he would be mad to leave that to do any of the alternatives. He was all ready to finish up in December but we had long talks about it. The agreement was we would both work to 60 (me maybe a little more) and save as much as we can while still having a nice life with kids. I'm actually delighted as it takes the pressure of me and I think its the better option with me focusing on increasing my pension. I'll be chatting to him over next couple of days (he working) regarding him taking over some of the outgoings so I can max out my pension.
 
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Re your sinking fund and categories, I am a bit ott on this but I have N26 account, I think Revolut has the same where you can have all little sub accounts with different names. Now I always did that with ordinary bank savings accounts in the past but since leaving banking myself and UB closing it just wasn't an option to continue that way so I opened the online versions.

For starters you need to add up your annual bills and then divide by how many lodgments you want to make, monthly/weekly. I have 5 sub catergories with my main account, they are Car which is obvious covers all maintenance costs. Car Tax & Insurance though I include under annual bills together with house/life/health insurance. Utilities then covers electricity/broadband/sky/bins/tv licence etc, Gas covers heating bills and finally Holidays. I have a once a month standing order from the account my pension goes into which is then distributed automatically to those sub accounts based on the amount I set up. Anything left in my main account is for spending.

Now obviously you need to be ahead of yourself and possible start with a small lump sum in each otherwise you can get caught out if your main bills are front loaded to start of the year. All my big bills like insurances are in the second half of the year so I usually have plenty accumulated for them, in fairness I usually overestimate the yearly amount anyway so I am carrying a surplus in some categories which is always a fall back if needed.

What this gives you is control over spending/bills and even if surprise bills like car repairs for example there is a fund there for it. It takes a bit of setting up initially and I have been doing this a very long time but when my daughter got married some years ago now she used a lump sum of the gift money she got to set up their 'fund' for bills which they each pay into now monthly so was a year ahead and has kept it up since and finds it great.

Obviously it's a great theory and unfortunately not everyone can implement such a system as they are living from payday to payday but if one can it relieves a lot of sudden bill stress!
 
Small thing but VHI looks a bit low and you are incurring medical expenses, maybe worth stepping up. Is that life assurance expensive?

If one partner is accumulating huge savings in secret that is unacceptable and "being at peace" with it is doing yourself a disservice. (Note, not saying this applies here as I havent deciphered how much the difference was when you said you updated "there was more savings than expected").

While husband might want a separate account there ultimately needs to be some transparency given huge outgoings revolve around kids and mortgage - joint responsibility. There is of course a spectrum from sharing accounts and counting pennies together, to not sharing accounts and every detail. We have separate accounts, only recently got a joint account because revolut app makes it so easy to gain visibilty and move money from own accounts to joint account. But long story short - not knowing other half's exact finances are one thing, being 1000s and 1000s of euros out is - in my opinion - a form of domestic abuse given the huge responsibility that is managing cashflow and pension building for a large family.

I realise that sounds very blunt - and worth repeating there is no need for joint accounts or micromanaging a partner but there is joint responsibility to ensure mortgage, pensions, and kids are serviced fairly. There are some basic minimum levels of transparency required to run a household cash flow - you should not be deprived of that.
 
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presidenttttt said:
Small thing but VHI looks a bit low and you are incurring medical expenses, maybe worth stepping up. Is that life assurance expensive?

If one partner is accumulating huge savings in secret that is unacceptable and "being at peace" with it is doing yourself a disservice. (Note, not saying this applies here as I havent deciphered how much the difference was when you said you updated give there was more savings).

While husband might want a separate account there ultimately needs to be some transparency given huge outgoings revolve around kids and mortgage - joint responsibility. There is of course a spectrum from sharing accounts and counting pennies together, to not sharing accounts and every detail. We have separate accounts, only recently got a joint account because revolut app makes it so easy to gain visibilty and move money from own accounts to joint account. But long story short - not knowing other half's exact finances are one thing, being 1000s and 1000s of euros out is - in my opinion - a form of domestic abuse given the huge responsibility that is managing cashflow and pension building for a large family.

I realise that sounds very blunt - and worth repeating there is no need for joint accounts or micromanaging a partner but there is joint responsibility to ensure mortgage, pensions, and kids are serviced fairly. There are some basic minimum levels of transparency required to run a household cash flow - you should not be deprived of that.
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People can have their own allocation of personal spending money to do as they wish but transparency on finances should be a given in this day and age once a family is involved
 
Monbretia said:
Re your sinking fund and categories, I am a bit ott on this but I have N26 account, I think Revolut has the same where you can have all little sub accounts with different names. Now I always did that with ordinary bank savings accounts in the past but since leaving banking myself and UB closing it just wasn't an option to continue that way so I opened the online versions.

For starters you need to add up your annual bills and then divide by how many lodgments you want to make, monthly/weekly. I have 5 sub catergories with my main account, they are Car which is obvious covers all maintenance costs. Car Tax & Insurance though I include under annual bills together with house/life/health insurance. Utilities then covers electricity/broadband/sky/bins/tv licence etc, Gas covers heating bills and finally Holidays. I have a once a month standing order from the account my pension goes into which is then distributed automatically to those sub accounts based on the amount I set up. Anything left in my main account is for spending.

Now obviously you need to be ahead of yourself and possible start with a small lump sum in each otherwise you can get caught out if your main bills are front loaded to start of the year. All my big bills like insurances are in the second half of the year so I usually have plenty accumulated for them, in fairness I usually overestimate the yearly amount anyway so I am carrying a surplus in some categories which is always a fall back if needed.

What this gives you is control over spending/bills and even if surprise bills like car repairs for example there is a fund there for it. It takes a bit of setting up initially and I have been doing this a very long time but when my daughter got married some years ago now she used a lump sum of the gift money she got to set up their 'fund' for bills which they each pay into now monthly so was a year ahead and has kept it up since and finds it great.

Obviously it's a great theory and unfortunately not everyone can implement such a system as they are living from payday to payday but if one can it relieves a lot of sudden bill stress!
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Thank you Mondbretia - I have been using Revolut Vaults for my sinking funds for 3 years now. I save for almost everything through them. Before I set them up I was living pay-cheque to pay-cheque. No longer.
 
presidenttttt said:
Small thing but VHI looks a bit low and you are incurring medical expenses, maybe worth stepping up. Is that life assurance expensive?

If one partner is accumulating huge savings in secret that is unacceptable and "being at peace" with it is doing yourself a disservice. (Note, not saying this applies here as I havent deciphered how much the difference was when you said you updated "there was more savings than expected").

While husband might want a separate account there ultimately needs to be some transparency given huge outgoings revolve around kids and mortgage - joint responsibility. There is of course a spectrum from sharing accounts and counting pennies together, to not sharing accounts and every detail. We have separate accounts, only recently got a joint account because revolut app makes it so easy to gain visibilty and move money from own accounts to joint account. But long story short - not knowing other half's exact finances are one thing, being 1000s and 1000s of euros out is - in my opinion - a form of domestic abuse given the huge responsibility that is managing cashflow and pension building for a large family.

I realise that sounds very blunt - and worth repeating there is no need for joint accounts or micromanaging a partner but there is joint responsibility to ensure mortgage, pensions, and kids are serviced fairly. There are some basic minimum levels of transparency required to run a household cash flow - you should not be deprived of that.
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VHI is only for me. Spouse has it through work. We don't have kids covered. I have had a number of procedures/injuries in last couple of years. We don't have dental insurance and I won't be getting it. Life Assurance is €125 per month.

Husband isn't accumulating huge savings in secret. We just haven't talked about it. If I ask him he will tell me. I'm currently working on an 'after I'm gone' document recording everything one would need when gone and he is more than happy to work with me on filling it out.
We absolutely have joined responsibility regarding mortgage & kids. The pension needs to be looked and and it will. He very open though about his and what he will be paid when retires. No secrets there.
 
Gordon Gekko said:
Agreed. It’s shocking in this day and age for either spouse to be coy about their finances.
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There isn't really a coyness. Its more that we just haven't talked about it much. We started talking about it really because the time had come that he was able to retire and we needed to figure out if it made sense. That conversation led to what we wanted in the future and deciding that he needed to work to 60 for it to happen. That may sound really unusual to some people but when you have had a number of rocky years and the subject of money was often the cause of arguments you tend to stay away from the subject. Its actually great that we are now talking about it and planning. He isn't going to change overnight but we are going in the right direction. He is a good person, a good husband and a great Dad. Just crap with money and avoids risk at all costs. Unlike me, so that scares him.
 
I think you did really well to build up those savings, with a family at the expensive stage. Definitely prioritise a special holiday, i don't think you'll regret it - maybe a joint sinking fund for it!!
 
Sorry to sound rude or actually confused but I actually have no idea how you can possibly feel that you need all that organisation around your finances with revolut, sinking funds with your level of income, cash saving and relatively low accommodation costs. While I think it gives you reassurance that you are doing the right thing, it stops you from focusing on the big picture. You have car loans while you have substantial amount of savings. You seems to be saving 800 per month but think that you can’t increase your pension contribution without impacting your current lifestyle while at the same time wishing to stop working in 8 years. What is that saving for? At the end of the day, you already have about 130k. As you have a lot of savings as well as shares, I would definitely put these 800 towards your pension. I would actually probably use some of the saving to pay for the current lifestyle if necessary while maximizing pension contributions.
 
Premos said:
Sorry to sound rude or actually confused but I actually have no idea how you can possibly feel that you need all that organisation around your finances with revolut, sinking funds with your level of income, cash saving and relatively low accommodation costs. While I think it gives you reassurance that you are doing the right thing, it stops you from focusing on the big picture. You have car loans while you have substantial amount of savings. You seems to be saving 800 per month but think that you can’t increase your pension contribution without impacting your current lifestyle while at the same time wishing to stop working in 8 years. What is that saving for? At the end of the day, you already have about 130k. As you have a lot of savings as well as shares, I would definitely put these 800 towards your pension. I would actually probably use some of the saving to pay for the current lifestyle if necessary while maximizing pension contributions.
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Thanks for your comment @Premos . I didn't always have these savings as I wasn't always great with money (you might say I still am not!). Using Vaults has helped me plan and feel I have control over my money. I will be getting rid of the car loan in the coming weeks.
I've had a few different occasions over the years when I lost my job due to the economy so I like to have the safety net.
I'm going to work on increasing my pension contributions over the next few weeks.
 
RentingD said:
I think you did really well to build up those savings, with a family at the expensive stage. Definitely prioritise a special holiday, i don't think you'll regret it - maybe a joint sinking fund for it!!
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Thank you @RentingD. I appreciate your comment. I will definitely be making it a priority for the future :)
 
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