Browse Forums Home Finance 1 May 18, 2009 5:42 am Hi, I'm a 30year old single female, currently living in Ireland. I have a contract with work here until Nov 2009 which has been approved to be extended until Nov 2010 (although nothing in writing yet) and have also applied for a permanent post (waiting for that to come through, however the goverment has currently put a ban on recruitment so that won't be happening for a while). My dilema is this- -if I leave within 2 years of starting work here, I get all the money that has been paid into my pension fund plus social security paid back to me. I'm looking at roughly $13000AUD based on today's exchange rate. In addition, I could save between $5000 - $6000AUD between now and then if I did no travelling and lived frugally, so I could potentially have $18000 when I come back to Aus. - If I stay on beyond the two years, I will not get any of the money paid into my pension back until I actually retire (another 30 years) where I will then get a lump sum that varies depening on the length of service I had and also a fortnightly pension that will again vary depending on length of service. I currently have NO savings (have done too much travelling while living here) I also have a personal loan that would have around $5000 on it if I returned to australia in Nov, plus a car loan that would have around $15000 (not sure of the exact amount) However with the car loan that is currently $300 p/fortnight, I am only paying $100p/fortnight and my mum is paying the other $200 as she has essentially bought the car off me however it remains in my name. I also have NO personal possesions in Aus - no tv, bed, couch etc as I sold it all before moving to Ireland as it was intended to be a medium term move. The thought of having around $18000 plus the FHOG's (I will probably move to Victoria) is very appealling. However I would still have significant debt which I feel would be counted against me if I tried to apply for a loan. Plus I'd need to set up again - car, furniture etc so that would eat into some money. If I stayed in Ireland for another year or two those debts would be paid off. One reason I am considering leaving Ireland is that since the start of the year, I have seen my pay cut by almost 250euro a fortnight (around $470AUD) due to the goverment tax hikes (unlike the goverement in Aus, the Irish goverment is doing nothing to stimulate the economy) so that is making it less appealling to stay long term (especially if they introduce any more tax rate rises). For those in the finance industry, what would gut feeling be about my situation? Would I be likely to get a loan or it is possibly still better to stay in Ireland (which I do love living in and love my job) and maybe take advantage of the exchange rate and the goverments saving scheme for the next four years (or even just a high interest account)so when I do return home I have a sizeable deposit and no debt? Sorry for the very long winded post, I just don't know what to do and would be interested in some thoughts. Meldives Re: FTB considering moving back to AUS - advice needed 2May 18, 2009 8:28 am Hi You are young and in a successful career and already an economic refugee Ireland is a beautiful country with a great future founded on its current IT business base. Ireland will continue, but Australia has no real direction yet, its future at the moment depends on the world's demand for minerals. Live where you feel good... if there is an $18,000 or $18 million difference, no matter. Whatever you decide, start saving, but most of all be happy wherever you decide to live and enjoy living. On the economy here, I have seen forecasts on the exchange rate exceeding 0.90 AUD:USD by Christmas. Good luck, Ed "ECOECO" At 'EcoEco', we design windows, we design the best windows, we do it for you, so that when you’re happy we are happy. Tel. 1800 326 326 First Home 3May 19, 2009 6:00 pm I always tell aspiring first home buyers not to base the timing of the purchase just on the government incentive to buy now. In your example, you not only have the issue of existing debt but also limited savings, re-settling costs and the issue of probation period when you start a new job in Australia. I can only say to consider those issues. Good Luck. Re: FTB considering moving back to AUS - advice needed 4May 20, 2009 3:51 am Thanks Thlo, you have helped to put things into perspective for me. I also feel that if i went home in Nov, everything would be very rushed to try and met deadlines and then I would end up with something I'm not happy with. If only we had a crystal ball to predict what house prices are going to do. I'm living through the bust here in Ireland at the moment, where people cannot sell houses and have up to and sometimes in excess of 25% negative equity in their homes due to a combination of 95-100% loans and the drop in house prices. Obviusly Aus is different to Ireland and Aus still hasn't felt the full force of the recession (and may not) but I'm starting to feel it is safer to pay off the debts and save a good deposit and wait and see what happens (here and there) Re: FTB considering moving back to AUS - advice needed 5May 22, 2009 1:35 am meldives Thanks Thlo, you have helped to put things into perspective for me. I also feel that if i went home in Nov, everything would be very rushed to try and met deadlines and then I would end up with something I'm not happy with. If only we had a crystal ball to predict what house prices are going to do. I'm living through the bust here in Ireland at the moment, where people cannot sell houses and have up to and sometimes in excess of 25% negative equity in their homes due to a combination of 95-100% loans and the drop in house prices. Obviusly Aus is different to Ireland and Aus still hasn't felt the full force of the recession (and may not) but I'm starting to feel it is safer to pay off the debts and save a good deposit and wait and see what happens (here and there) No probs. It's great to see my virtual arms of support extend as far as Ireland Speaking of Ireland, I heard Dell is pulling its investment out of Ireland and going to cheaper Poland (until an even cheaper alternative comes along of course). Re: FTB considering moving back to AUS - advice needed 6May 22, 2009 5:07 am thlo Speaking of Ireland, I heard Dell is pulling its investment out of Ireland and going to cheaper Poland (until an even cheaper alternative comes along of course). Yep, they announced 2000 job loses in Limerick (either earlier this year or late last year). I'm not sure when it is all going through but it has had a huge effect on the local area (I live 30 min from Limerick). It's also not only those 2000 jobs, but all the support jobs that went along with them - everything from courier drivers to the local sandwhich bars and pizza shops that workers bought lunch/dinner at that have been affected also so the resulting job loses is much higher. There's also 11% (and rising) unemployment in Ireland at the moment and no jobs for those people I believe this is correct. From the picture you can see the power was put in last so the electrician knew where the water was. 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