I’m useless with money and can’t seem to save at all especially with the current price rises. How can I break this habit and save for items I need rather than borrow? A During the current cost of living crisis, we could all do with a bit more money. There are countless different ways to add
Q I have a mortgage with just over €250,000 remaining. It’s variable rate of 4.5% with 23 years remaining. This will bring me up to 66 years of age so I am thinking of paying extra off my mortgage to try and get the term reduced. I have about €100pm to spare but I heard that
Q My husband and I jointly own our home, which has a €118,000 mortgage left to pay. It has 18 years left and we have 10 months remaining on our current 1.95 per cent fixed rate. Our property is valued at about €315,000 and our equity is about €197,000 due to house prices rising in
Q I’m getting worried about my retirement as I didn’t start saving for retirement until my very late-30s and even then, I didn’t put much away. I’m 45 next year and I don’t know if I’ll be able to afford retirement. This was a longer question than normal so I have added more of the
Q My husband and I are First Time Buyers and are hoping to buy a home of our own to get out of the rent trap as soon as possible but don’t know where to start. Do I find a house first? Do I get a mortgage first? Can I afford this? How do I apply
Q My fixed rate is up next month and I’ve been told that I don’t need to do anything as interest rates are to start falling and I’ll get the benefit anyway. Is this correct? If not, what should I do to ensure I get the best rate available? A There are tens of thousands of fixed-rate
Q I am going to be 60 soon and have decided to try get my affairs in order. I have just completed my will and now want to concentrate on making sure I don’t leave any debts behind. With this in mind, I’d like to put a policy in place to cover the expense of
Q. I was thinking of switching my mortgage as the interest rate has increased a lot in the last few months. Is it worth my while as I hear interest rates have risen across the board? A. Homeowners are often reluctant to revisit their mortgages and shop around for a better deal. Thousands of Irish homeowners
Inheritance tax bills and saving the family home – part two This is a follow up to last week’s article where a reader was being forced to sell their family home to pay an Inheritance tax bill. In that article I mentioned dwelling house relief and how this could save you from inheritance tax on
Q We live in Dublin and our home is currently valued at €800,000. We have one child and I worry that with the way property values and wage rates are going that even with a good salary, she will be unable to manage the tax bill on this inheritance. Is there any way to manage