Age: 33
Spouse’s/Partner's age: 33
Annual gross income from employment or profession: Husband is currently on 41K, proposed new salary €52,383
Annual gross income of spouse: In receipt of Carers Allowance, €217.50 per week - €11,310 P/A
Monthly take-home pay: Husband - €3133.95, my carers averaged out per month is €942.50. Total combined €4076.45.
Type of employment: private sector
In general are you:
(a) spending more than you earn, or
(b) saving?
Saving toward purchase of family home (200k sale price, value of 510k). Currently have 55k in savings for this purchase. We do not own any properties currently but will be 2nd time buyers.
Other borrowings – car loans/personal loans etc None
Do you pay off your full credit card balance each month? Yes
Savings and investments: House savings currently at 55k. We save 1200 per month into this account at present. We have a household savings pot of about 4k at present for emergencies or repair works that we save to each month also.
Do you have a pension scheme? Husband - set up December 2019, contributes €50 per month at present and allocates any annual bonus directly to his pension IF the bonus is paid.
Do you own any investment or other property? No
Ages of children: 7, 3, and one on the way
Life insurance: Yes
What specific question do you have or what issues are of concern to you?
My husband feels its time to move on from his current employer. I have no issues with this as ultimately I want him to be happy. He is currently studying by night for his second degree, and I am also studying to upskill in my field, with a view to returning to the workforce when our situation allows for it. He will be finished in 1.5 years and will progress nicely at this point, I have 2 more years at least for mine but not rushing as I don't want to qualify too long before I can realistically rejoin the full-time workforce (SN child and additional children, childcare costs an issue).
The issue with him taking this position is that I feel we are currently at a good point financially right now - we meet the conditions for Carers Allowance, he has a current take home pay that combined with my Carers more than meets our needs as a family (all outgoings, therapy costs etc.) as we are very good savers. We have no debt, we budget well, and we are saving aggressively toward the purchase of a family home while living in it (it means we are also paying out to repair as we go which I save for separately and we do in small stages - its an old house). His current employer doesn't offer a pension scheme - there was talk of one coming for a long time but I made him bite the bullet last December and set one up himself as we are getting older (33 now). He contributes €50 per month for now and any bonus he might get goes in in full.
He's been offered a new position - the annual salary would be €52,383 P/A. There are no extra benefits - no medical, no pension contribution, its similar to his current workplace in that regard but the salary is higher and he has guaranteed progression with this new company for when he finishes college. For his happiness and overall progression I want him to take this job, however I know the salary increase would mean I would lose Carer's Allowance, so we would be at a disadvantage overall for the years in between.
Carers is means tested and is calculated on the following:
"If you are married, in a civil partnership or cohabiting the first €665 of your combined gross weekly income is disregarded. PRSI, union dues, superannuation (pension contributions) and travel expenses are also deducted. For a couple, their combined gross weekly income (less any disregards) is then halved to give the carer's weekly means."
What I would hope for is that he could accept this new job, and we could maximise his pension contributions so that he is still on the same take-home pay he is now. This will mean nothing changes for us in terms of Carers Allowance, but his pension gets a massive boost to make up for lost time. I'm having trouble working out the figure he would need to contribute to his pension on his new salary and would appreciate if someone could help us with that please?
Tax Credits - he has his 3,300, along with 1,650 of mine. He also has ICTC of 3,300 for our child with additional needs. I have been working one day per week alongside my carers but have finished up now ahead of our third Childs arrival. Truth be told, this position didn't pay me at all (after tax and the drop in Carers rate, I was earning €13.48 per week but it was done in the hopes we could apply for the mortgage this year and it would show more income on paper - a lot of lenders don't accept Carers Allowance as income. Husbands employer had him on the Covid scheme so that put a halt to the mortgage application). As I have now finished up working, we should be able to re-add the Home Carers Tax Credit in January.
Can anyone help with figures for his pension contribution if he accepts this job? Is what I'm hoping for possible - no change to our take home pay, keep Carer's Allowance in place at the rate above, and maximise pension?
Spouse’s/Partner's age: 33
Annual gross income from employment or profession: Husband is currently on 41K, proposed new salary €52,383
Annual gross income of spouse: In receipt of Carers Allowance, €217.50 per week - €11,310 P/A
Monthly take-home pay: Husband - €3133.95, my carers averaged out per month is €942.50. Total combined €4076.45.
Type of employment: private sector
In general are you:
(a) spending more than you earn, or
(b) saving?
Saving toward purchase of family home (200k sale price, value of 510k). Currently have 55k in savings for this purchase. We do not own any properties currently but will be 2nd time buyers.
Other borrowings – car loans/personal loans etc None
Do you pay off your full credit card balance each month? Yes
Savings and investments: House savings currently at 55k. We save 1200 per month into this account at present. We have a household savings pot of about 4k at present for emergencies or repair works that we save to each month also.
Do you have a pension scheme? Husband - set up December 2019, contributes €50 per month at present and allocates any annual bonus directly to his pension IF the bonus is paid.
Do you own any investment or other property? No
Ages of children: 7, 3, and one on the way
Life insurance: Yes
What specific question do you have or what issues are of concern to you?
My husband feels its time to move on from his current employer. I have no issues with this as ultimately I want him to be happy. He is currently studying by night for his second degree, and I am also studying to upskill in my field, with a view to returning to the workforce when our situation allows for it. He will be finished in 1.5 years and will progress nicely at this point, I have 2 more years at least for mine but not rushing as I don't want to qualify too long before I can realistically rejoin the full-time workforce (SN child and additional children, childcare costs an issue).
The issue with him taking this position is that I feel we are currently at a good point financially right now - we meet the conditions for Carers Allowance, he has a current take home pay that combined with my Carers more than meets our needs as a family (all outgoings, therapy costs etc.) as we are very good savers. We have no debt, we budget well, and we are saving aggressively toward the purchase of a family home while living in it (it means we are also paying out to repair as we go which I save for separately and we do in small stages - its an old house). His current employer doesn't offer a pension scheme - there was talk of one coming for a long time but I made him bite the bullet last December and set one up himself as we are getting older (33 now). He contributes €50 per month for now and any bonus he might get goes in in full.
He's been offered a new position - the annual salary would be €52,383 P/A. There are no extra benefits - no medical, no pension contribution, its similar to his current workplace in that regard but the salary is higher and he has guaranteed progression with this new company for when he finishes college. For his happiness and overall progression I want him to take this job, however I know the salary increase would mean I would lose Carer's Allowance, so we would be at a disadvantage overall for the years in between.
Carers is means tested and is calculated on the following:
"If you are married, in a civil partnership or cohabiting the first €665 of your combined gross weekly income is disregarded. PRSI, union dues, superannuation (pension contributions) and travel expenses are also deducted. For a couple, their combined gross weekly income (less any disregards) is then halved to give the carer's weekly means."
What I would hope for is that he could accept this new job, and we could maximise his pension contributions so that he is still on the same take-home pay he is now. This will mean nothing changes for us in terms of Carers Allowance, but his pension gets a massive boost to make up for lost time. I'm having trouble working out the figure he would need to contribute to his pension on his new salary and would appreciate if someone could help us with that please?
Tax Credits - he has his 3,300, along with 1,650 of mine. He also has ICTC of 3,300 for our child with additional needs. I have been working one day per week alongside my carers but have finished up now ahead of our third Childs arrival. Truth be told, this position didn't pay me at all (after tax and the drop in Carers rate, I was earning €13.48 per week but it was done in the hopes we could apply for the mortgage this year and it would show more income on paper - a lot of lenders don't accept Carers Allowance as income. Husbands employer had him on the Covid scheme so that put a halt to the mortgage application). As I have now finished up working, we should be able to re-add the Home Carers Tax Credit in January.
Can anyone help with figures for his pension contribution if he accepts this job? Is what I'm hoping for possible - no change to our take home pay, keep Carer's Allowance in place at the rate above, and maximise pension?