Preparation For Retirement

GingerH

Registered User
Messages
42
Your age:60
Your spouse's age:57
Partner's age if not married:

Number and age of children: 2 in their 20's


Income and expenditure
Annual gross income from employment or profession: €106,000
Annual gross income of spouse/partner: €100,000

Monthly take-home pay: €8,000

Type of employment - e.g. Employee or self-employed. Me - public service employee, spouse; private sector
Employer type: e.g. public servant, private company.

In general are you:
(a) spending more than you earn, or
(b) saving? Saving - in recent years all saving has been diverted into paying off mortgage early


Summary of Assets and Liabilities
Family home value: €400,000
Mortgage on family home: €35,000
Net equity: none apart from house.

Cash:
Defined Contribution pension fund: Me; €30,000 AVC - Spouse pension fund: c€400,000. Both have paid for UK pension - spouse eligible for 100% UK pension at 67 - I am for c80% of UK state pension.
Company shares : n/a
Buy to Let Property value: n/a
Buy to let Mortgage: n/a

Total net assets:


Family home mortgage information
Lender AIB
Interest rate 3.25%
Type of interest rate: tracker, variable, fixed. Tracker
If fixed, what is the term remaining of the fixed rate?
If tracker, what is the margin e.g. ECB + 1% ECB + 0.5%

Remaining term: (Original term is not relevant) - November 2026
Monthly repayment: Until recently we had been paying €3500 per month - we have reduced this to €2100 and intend to pay off mortgage fully in the summer.

Other borrowings – car loans/personal loans etc

Do you pay off your full credit card balance each month? Yes
If not, what is the balance on your credit card?

Pension information

Value of pension fund: I have pre 95 public service pension and will have full pension in 2027. I also have a AVC of value €30,000.

My spouse has a pension pot of c€400,000 which should be around €415,000 when retires this summer


Buy to let properties
Value: N/A
Rental income per year: N/A
Rough annual expenses other than mortgage interest :N/A
LenderN/A
Interest rateN/A
If fixed, what is the term remaining of the fixed rate?N/A

Other savings and investments:

N/A

Other information which might be relevant

Life insurance:


What specific question do you have or what issues are of concern to you?

My spouse will retire this summer at age 58 with a pension pot of c €415,000 resulting in lump sum of c€104000 plus pension of c€16,000 pa. At 67 she should receive the full UK pension, plus Irish state pension. Retirement is due to burnout from work plus a need for life change. She intends to take time out and may consider part time work at some stage. We intend to pay off the mortgage with the lump sum. We intend to take out an ARF at 5% PA.

When I retire in 2 years time I should receive 1.5 salary plus pension of 50% salary .

Questions:
Is the ARF the best option for spouse?
Is there anything we are missing in preparation for retirement?
Would she be eligible for job seekers allowance if, after a period of time, she considers returning to work on a part time basis?
What should I do with my AVC of €30,000 - I had understood there may be a problem drawing this down on the basis that my pension is at max level but recent posts here appear to contradict this. I haven't paid into this in over 10 years - would it be worth resuming payment?
 
Both of you should claim Jobseekers Benefit if you have the required Prsi contributions. When the payments end continue to sign on for Jobseekers credits up to the time you claim the Irish Contributory pension. Check out "Benefit payment 65" you both might be able to qualify for this.
Jobseekers Benefit and Benefit Payment 65 are not means tested.
 
What specific question do you have or what issues are of concern to you?

My spouse will retire this summer at age 58 with a pension pot of c €415,000 resulting in lump sum of c€104000 plus pension of c€16,000 pa. At 67 she should receive the full UK pension, plus Irish state pension. Retirement is due to burnout from work plus a need for life change. She intends to take time out and may consider part time work at some stage. We intend to pay off the mortgage with the lump sum. We intend to take out an ARF at 5% PA.

I don’t think your maths is right there OP. A fund of €415k will give you a pension of €16k based on a 4% withdrawal. If you take a 25% tax free lump sum it will reduce to €12k pa. Unless you plan to take more than 4% pa.

g
 
S class advised that "Both of you should claim Jobseekers Benefit if you have the required Prsi contributions. When the payments end continue to sign on for Jobseekers credits up to the time you claim the Irish Contributory pension. Check out "Benefit payment 65" you both might be able to qualify for this.
Jobseekers Benefit and Benefit Payment 65 are not means tested."

Question regarding the application process - it seems to require extensive information regarding means ( accounts, statements, etc ) from both spouses. Can this be avoided if one is only applying for Jobseekers Benefit, knowing that one will not qualify for Jobseekers Allowance ?
 
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it seems to require extensive information regarding means ( accounts, statements, etc ) from both spouses. Can this be avoided if one is only applying for Jobseekers Benefit
Yes it can be avoided. This is the wording on the claim form.

"PERSONAL DETAILS about you and your spouse, civil partner or
cohabitant: (If you do not wish to claim for a spouse, civil partner or cohabitant you do not need to list his/her details below or complete Section 6 of this form for Jobseeker’s Benefit"
 
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