Are you married, and if you are, are you jointly assessed for tax?Both my partner and I are 40, both work
Get married if you aren't already. The state provides valuable inheritance tax relief to married couples. Being married will also avoid potential issues claiming survivor's benefits or a widow's pension. You don't need a big wedding party if that's not your scene. €200 and some paperwork will do.Both my partner and I are 40, both work.
Your mortgage is already quite low and you are only 40, so my guess is that you haven't overextended yourself with a very expensive property. Are renovations or a new house on the cards? That would impact your decision-making about how much cash to hold and whether to overpay the mortgage or lock up savings in a pension. I'll work on the assumption that you are happy with what you have.Mortgage:
170k left
Find out what your partner and their employer are contributing to their pension. Consider raising their contribution to the relevant tax relief limit.Partner: They contribute, but unsure of percentage.
Once your partner is maxing out her pension contribution tax relief, then make overpayments with any spare monthly cash. You are likely able to overpay by more than 10% with a small or no penalty. Your lender will be able to quote you a "break fee" for any proposed overpayment.Overpayment of 10% each year
As you mention bonuses, I am guessing that you are both private sector workers? And you have kids. So, you do need a decent emergency cash reserve. I think €45,000 is about right, but others might differ. You could consider putting some of this cash pile into an interest-bearing overnight demand deposit account or equivalent, like Trade Republic / Lightyear / etc. You'll find discussion on this site of the options. If you held €25,000 in the best yielding overnight account at present, you would earn (25,000*0.0275*0.67)=€460 interest a year. That would soften the inflation blow a little, while retaining easy access in case of emergencies.Savings:
45,000
Do you have life insurance? If not, take out some and help your partner provide for your children in the event of your death.Annual gross income from employment: 100,000
Bonus: 20,000 per year
Spouse gross income from employment: 39,500
Spouse Bonus: 300-500 per year
Regular overpayment of mortgage, aim to clear before 2030.
These are rule-of-thumb financial goals. You are amassing a lot of wealth. What is it for? And when, if ever, do you plan to spend it? Early retirement? Providing handsomely for your children? Whatever you do, make sure your savings behaviour aligns with your life goals.Aim to save min of 1k per month, works out most of the time.
I want to make the most of my relatively modest savings so they are not destroyed by inflation, but keep enough rainy day money.
I am not very financially literate and time poor so individual stocks, shares & other options that require a bit of time and maintenance are unlikely to suit my life currently.
I think you have a great interest rate that is unlikely to be on the market again over the term. With inflation at 5% an interest rate of half that means free money basically. There will be ups and downs but the return on diversified equities via pension fund is almost certainly likely to be better than 2.44%.Mortgage:
170k left, roughly 1100pm.
14 years remaining, locked at 2.44%
Overpayment of 10% each year
You still need to find out exactly what the pension is invested in. Lots of schemes offer a choice of investments, but people end up in a default 'middle of the road' option they day tgey start, and never review it. You've 25 years to retirement, being invested in something that returns 7% vs 5% per annum will make a massive difference to your wealth on retirement.Pension contributions are managed by my employer, who covers fees.
I don't follow your logic. There are two ways of investing in the stock market. One is to spend a whole lot of time and effort researching companies and trying to time your trades. This is a terrible idea for most people, including you. The other way is to buy a passive index fund that tracks the market at the lowest possible cost. This is not time intensive.A big goal is to ensure I'm maximizing my money. This seems to indicate investments, but as I am time poor, stocks & shares are not an option right now.
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