Eight years? Did you join late too? If you factor in a promotion itâs probably a no brainer. Like you said it wouldnât have cost you much as a CO, but then you probably wouldnât have had even that small bit spare as a CO anyway so itâs swings and roundabouts. The cost of additional pension contributions but would be a big contribution towards the cost of a house some day, which I think is the bigger benefit in the long run. And I wouldnât say gunning for but Iâd expect to end up there alright. Unless I become massively demotivated/happy with my lot/find another career, and I wouldnât rule any of them out either.
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yep, i joined late. was too busy earning good money in the private sector but saw the financial shitstorm coming so joined in 2007.
iâd fuck all spare as a CO, as you say, so not a runner. ive mortgages now and weâve one and a bit incomes so it makes more sense to get rid of the big millstone and we could sell the apartment at retirement age for that nest egg and still have the family home.
from my perspective, i think that AP is the perfect balance of responsibility and remuneration. i just dont think that the money for A/Sec or PO is worth the extra hassle. im also lucky that the role i have is incredibly conducive to gaining the AP1 grade so thats probably as far as ill go with my circumstances and thats fine by me.
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That sounds like a good set up and if youâre happy in your job thatâs a great place to be in.
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i got incredibly lucky on where i landed after promotion to HEO and even luckier still that i got to stay there after i got AP as SecGen demands that everyone be transferred to another division on promotion. iâve basically been put in the position where i have written my own job spec and have a PO and A/Sec that trust me to carry that out. its a unicorn to have that much autonomy in the civil service!
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If you just want the cheapest possible go onto one of the insurance aggregator websites and you will see if better availableâŚ
Maybe different for civil service pensions donât know much about them⌠But for private pensions youâd need to be getting more than 50% return on any other investment to beat maxing out the pension
What about the opportunity cost of the money in the short term? Say I came into a ball of money tomorrow and could put that towards a bigger house or into a pension, to me Iâd say the use of it earlier is better, no?
Sounds like a good set up alright and it sounds like you like your current job and are happy to continue it. Good for you art. You timed it nicely avoiding the crash too. Youâll probably walk into PO if you go for it at a later stage, a year or two before you retire would be perfect.
Think You need three years in a grade for it to be reflected in your pension
There you are Art, make sure and time it well.
Reading his post, heâs been in same section for HEO and AP , he wonât be getting PO without a lot of moving around other sections ⌠heâll ride it out to AP1 which i think is above starting scale of PO anyway ?
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Not a clue. Chance might come up to do his POâs job maybe. I wouldnât let Art in charge of my goldfish mind.
good job you dont know what i do. your head would literally explode
yep, ill ride it out at AP1. im not fond of change and i really really like my job so if i get AP1 for doing it and the extra 8k would be a nice bonus
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I presume the extra 8k has you a few points into PO?
2 points OTTOMH
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If you had cash with tax paid already its a different story alright
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The only reason I ask this is because the likes of Irish life only give joint mortgage protection, if you were to go with another company they would probably give you dual (cover continues if one person dies or two payouts if both were to pass) for even cheaper, I know itâs highly unlikely to happen but your far better off covering both parties for the same/less then leaving it in Irish Lifeâs pocket. The monopoly they have is crazy itâs just people donât look into it enough.
You can pay into a private pension as well