ReesesPieces
Registered User
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- 41
Age: 35
Spouse’s/Partner's age: 37
Annual gross income from employment or profession: 38,500
Annual gross income of spouse: 48,000 (Sterling)
Monthly take-home pay: approx 5,500 [2,550 (me) + approx 3000 euro (spouse)]
In general are you:
(a) spending more than you earn, or
(b) saving? 0
Wiped out savings to get under 50% LTV when buying our house, then saved up to buy car outright last year so savings down to zero but will get them back up soon - we can generally save about 2k a month with typical outgoings on our current salaries.
Rough estimate of value of home 520,000
Amount outstanding on your mortgage: 205,000 (27 years remaining)
What interest rate are you paying? 2.75%
Other borrowings – car loans/personal loans etc: None
Do you pay off your full credit card balance each month? Yes
If not, what is the balance on your credit card?
Savings and investments: None
Do you have a pension scheme?:
Me - UK pension with current transfer value of £25k, which I plan to leave where it is. Hoping to set up pension in next few months.
Spouse - no private pension in Ireland, current UK pension is career average but there is talk about it being switched to defined contribution which would be a significant loss as he's only been paying in for four years.
Do you own any investment or other property? No
Ages of children: None as yet
Life insurance: Life cover for the mortgage but not beyond that
What specific question do you have or what issues are of concern to you?
We're both from Dublin but spent a decade in the UK before deciding to move home for good six months before the Brexit vote and ensuing uncertainty/currency changes. My husband still works in Northern Ireland, so his earnings and pension are in sterling, and the value of his salary in euro has dropped by 20% since we made the move. Neither of us has a euro-denominated private pension. I'm worried about our exposure to currency fluctuation, and the fact we're quite underprepared in terms of pensions in general.
We currently plan to do some significant and necessary work to our house (circa 100k) and to start a family this year. Both will increase our outgoings (mortgage and childcare). We are 100% committed to staying in Dublin long-term and raising our family here, but uncertain about the best thing to do to protect ourselves in the long and medium term, especially since our outgoings are likely to increase.
Should we be paying a large % of my salary in pension contributions now, to protect against the risks of our existing pensions being in the wrong currency? Should we prioritise building up more of a buffer in terms of liquid savings before I go on maternity leave/we have additional childcare costs? Should we be paying down our mortgage and putting a more meagre amount in pensions?
Would appreciate views on this, and any other steps we can take to protect ourselves from what may be a fairly volatile few years.
Spouse’s/Partner's age: 37
Annual gross income from employment or profession: 38,500
Annual gross income of spouse: 48,000 (Sterling)
Monthly take-home pay: approx 5,500 [2,550 (me) + approx 3000 euro (spouse)]
In general are you:
(a) spending more than you earn, or
(b) saving? 0
Wiped out savings to get under 50% LTV when buying our house, then saved up to buy car outright last year so savings down to zero but will get them back up soon - we can generally save about 2k a month with typical outgoings on our current salaries.
Rough estimate of value of home 520,000
Amount outstanding on your mortgage: 205,000 (27 years remaining)
What interest rate are you paying? 2.75%
Other borrowings – car loans/personal loans etc: None
Do you pay off your full credit card balance each month? Yes
If not, what is the balance on your credit card?
Savings and investments: None
Do you have a pension scheme?:
Me - UK pension with current transfer value of £25k, which I plan to leave where it is. Hoping to set up pension in next few months.
Spouse - no private pension in Ireland, current UK pension is career average but there is talk about it being switched to defined contribution which would be a significant loss as he's only been paying in for four years.
Do you own any investment or other property? No
Ages of children: None as yet
Life insurance: Life cover for the mortgage but not beyond that
What specific question do you have or what issues are of concern to you?
We're both from Dublin but spent a decade in the UK before deciding to move home for good six months before the Brexit vote and ensuing uncertainty/currency changes. My husband still works in Northern Ireland, so his earnings and pension are in sterling, and the value of his salary in euro has dropped by 20% since we made the move. Neither of us has a euro-denominated private pension. I'm worried about our exposure to currency fluctuation, and the fact we're quite underprepared in terms of pensions in general.
We currently plan to do some significant and necessary work to our house (circa 100k) and to start a family this year. Both will increase our outgoings (mortgage and childcare). We are 100% committed to staying in Dublin long-term and raising our family here, but uncertain about the best thing to do to protect ourselves in the long and medium term, especially since our outgoings are likely to increase.
Should we be paying a large % of my salary in pension contributions now, to protect against the risks of our existing pensions being in the wrong currency? Should we prioritise building up more of a buffer in terms of liquid savings before I go on maternity leave/we have additional childcare costs? Should we be paying down our mortgage and putting a more meagre amount in pensions?
Would appreciate views on this, and any other steps we can take to protect ourselves from what may be a fairly volatile few years.