redundacy, what to do now

alanqaz · 01-09-2011 11:48am #1

Hi All,
I am 40, will be made redundant at christmas, I should get about 40K, this will be all the money I have to my name, I have nothing else of value, what do I do next, the chances are I will be unemployed for the fore seeable future maybe for the rest of my life, well I mean I dont think I will get a good job in my field of engineering, I need to buy property with this money straight away otherwise I will never own my own place.
In the west of ireland you can buy a one / two bed apartment or basic house for 40K.
People say just keep renting, renting is not good, I live with strangers all the time and some nasty landlords.
So what do I do now.
I can buy an apartment in donegal and then live there on the dole.
I can continue to rent and hope I get a good job then save to get a mortgage, this is risky because if I dont get a good job and spend my 40k redundancy I will never buy my own place.
I could go traveling for a few years on the 40K but what do I do when the money is gone.
I could buy a house in the Philippines or somewhere in asia, live there and work in a bar and probably still have some money left over to enjoy life.
Any suggestions !!

Cuddlesworth · 01-09-2011 11:57am

If you are 40, in a professional career, have been renting and have no savings I don't think it matters what you do with the money because its not going to last any length of time until you learn to budget.

Distorted · 01-09-2011 12:05pm

alanqaz wrote: »

I am 40, will be made redundant at christmas

alanqaz wrote: »

the chances are I will be unemployed for the fore seeable future maybe for the rest of my life, well I mean I dont think I will get a good job in my field of engineering, I need to buy property with this money straight away otherwise I will never own my own place.

Why on earth, at the age of 40, would you think you would never get a job again if you are an engineer? There are loads of jobs in engineering - I know because my partner owns an engineering company and he struggles to get engineers to fill new jobs. OK, its not in Ireland but in another part of the UK, but surely you would consider moving if its a choice between that and long term unemployment! Germany is a great country for engineers and the economy there is pretty good now.

This is particularly so if you have a degree in engineering. If you don't, theres an obvious thing to spend some of your redundancy money on. Otherwise, I would bank it and live as cheaply as possible while looking for a new job. If you do need to move, the redundancy money will set you fair for it. What on earth is the point in buying somewhere cheap to live in a rural backwater where theres never likely to be jobs in your field?

Though I do think to find employment, you will need to buck that defeatist attitude up - at 40 you have decades of working life left and the world should be your oyster.

alanqaz · 01-09-2011 12:06pm

I need to buy straight away, if I keep the cash I wont get the dole, you dont get the dole if you have 40K sitting in your bank account, at least if I buy a place my money will be locked up until I decide what to do, property prices aren't going to drop much more.
I was hopeing somebody might have a great idea that I hadnt thought of.

Distorted · 01-09-2011 12:07pm

I've just given you two ideas - look abroad for engineering jobs and if no degree, consider one?

Magicmatilda · 01-09-2011 12:16pm

I could be wrong but I am pretty sure that Job Seekers allowance (I think thats the right one) is paid once you have paid a certain number of weeks PRSI and have less than 50K. Contact citizens information and double check your entitlements.

You seem to be in panic mode, when did you find out about the redundancy? As you have a job until December I think it makes sense to take your time and consider your options. Running out and buying a house now would be madness!

neuro-praxis · 01-09-2011 12:20pm

Job seekers benefit is paid based on your PRSI payments. When that runs out, you are means tested, and might be eligible for job seekers allowance. So you will be entitled to job seekers benefit for at least a year.

You are panicking unnecessarily here and tbh have a ridiculous attitude. I am unemployed and have €0 to my name and my response is to keep plugging away until I get an opportunity.

You need to relax and consider your options in a calm and reasoned manner. Everything will be fine.

woodchuck · 01-09-2011 12:29pm

alanqaz wrote: »

I need to buy straight away, if I keep the cash I wont get the dole, you dont get the dole if you have 40K sitting in your bank account

I don’t think that’s true at all… for the first year you should be entitled to job seekers benefit (based on your PRSI contributions), which is not means tested. After a year if you’re still on the dole you would be switched over to job seekers allowance. And while this is means tested, any large savings would only decrease your total weekly entitlements by a small amount. At this point you would’ve used up a lot of the redundancy package anyway even if you don’t buy a house. This is my understanding of the system anyway, but you should definitely look into the specifics of this properly before you rush into buying property!

Personally I think buying a house is bad idea. Worst case sinario, if you don’t manage to find a job, how would you keep up the mortgage payments while on the dole? Surely renting is cheaper and you should be entitled to rent allowance too. And what if you manage to find a job but then it’s much further out than where you’ve bought a house (or in another country even!).

Christmas is months away, so if you’re not already looking hard for a job then get on it!! Engineering is still an employable sector in Ireland as far as I’m aware and you’ve years of experience behind you. Or if you’re having trouble finding a job here then widen your search to the UK.

As someone else mentioned the money would be put to better use building up a qualification in engineering if you don’t already have one. I definitely wouldn’t invest in property until your job/financial situation is more secure.

jor el · 01-09-2011 3:46pm

alanqaz wrote: »

I need to buy straight away, if I keep the cash I wont get the dole, you dont get the dole if you have 40K sitting in your bank account, at least if I buy a place my money will be locked up until I decide what to do, property prices aren't going to drop much more.

You really need to research what you're doing before you go doing something silly with your money.
http://www.welfare.ie/EN/OperationalGuidelines/Pages/meansassess.aspx#sect1
Capital is assessed as means, and it won't matter if that's cash or a property. Buying a property ties you into something that you may never get value out of, and it will not effect your means testing either way.

You're being made redundant, and being given a tidy sum of money to help you get buy. Start looking for jobs in your chosen field right now. Look to the USA, Australia, UK and Europe, etc. Don't forget the Irish companies either. There are quite a few engineering companies still in business here, mostly to do with export since that's quite a prosperous area right now.

Stop and think about what you have, and what you're prospects are, before you do anything. There is absolutely no need to rush into anything. €40k will pay a whole lot of rent while you take stock of your circumstances.

ToddyDoody · 01-09-2011 10:08pm

Understandable problem but the world is changing. Now that there's few jobs for life, mortgages are less feasible, particularly if you definately know you dont have a job for life. Your life will change next year, your unpaid internship in change engineering / management awaits.

alanqaz · 02-09-2011 8:25am

People keep saying dont buy a house because if you dont get a job how will you keep up the repayments.
I will be buying the the house outright, I will have no mortgage, I will then have a roof over my head and can rent out one of the the bedrooms, in this comfortable situation I can then take stock of my life and decide what to do next, maybe I am wrong, if so how, I welcome constructive criticism and other suggestions.
There is a small house in Portlaoise for sale at 37K, two bedrooms and near the train station, it is basic but I can do some improvements myself.

baby and crumble · 02-09-2011 10:19am

What if you find a job but it's in Donegal? Then you've got a pointless bit of property that you can't use and you have to rent closer to work. How much are you paying in rent now? I'm assuming you're in the midlands, and rooms in houses are very cheap down there at the moment, so maybe you could move somewhere smaller for cheaper rent. I have lived (not terribly comfortably) on the dole for a number of months (supplementing it by about €200 a month from savings) for 6 months in Dublin previously. It's doable. I think buying a place would be a major knee-jerk reaction, to be honest. You're in panic mode about being made redundant, and you can't see the wood for the trees.

You have 4 months to find a replacement job- that is a LOT of time. You can spend a while getting your cv up to scratch, identifying the types of jobs becoming available in your sector, and what qualifications they look for. You can then make sure you have them.

Are you dead set on staying in Ireland come hell or high water? If not, then you can immediately start looking abroad for jobs too, Australia for example has a booming construction industry, if that's the side of engineering you're in. Closer to home you have the UK, and a lot of Europe does business in English if you have no 2nd language. There's also the USA which might fare better if you're an electronic or mechanical engineer.

All people are saying is don't freak out so much. You have a lot more advantages than someone who lost their job with immediate effect. You're getting a decent redundancy package which is equivalent to 2 1/2 times my annual earnings. I can manage a 1 bed apartment in Dublin, paying pack a grad loan and a decent enough style of living on my earnings.

Like I said you have a lot of time to think things through, just sit back, relax, and maybe make an appointment with someone professional like a careers guidance person or something, to talk you through what you could do. Research, in detail, the different welfare arrangements, to put your mind at rest that buying a house with your €40,000 is in effect, from the assessors pov the same as having that in the bank. It'll get assessed either way, so why tie yourself down so quickly and make it so that you have to narrow down your search for a job to that local area?

woodchuck · 03-09-2011 12:39pm

alanqaz wrote: »

I will be buying the the house outright, I will have no mortgage, I will then have a roof over my head and can rent out one of the the bedrooms, in this comfortable situation I can then take stock of my life and decide what to do next, maybe I am wrong, if so how, I welcome constructive criticism and other suggestions.
There is a small house in Portlaoise for sale at 37K, two bedrooms and near the train station, it is basic but I can do some improvements myself.

So you want to buy a house and THEN take stock of what to do with your life!? I think you have it all backwards… by the time you get your thinking cap on you’ll have already made a huge (and possible irreversible) decision.

I think buying the house in Portlaoise is a bad idea because:
1. You have no idea where you’ll be working in a years time. Your new job may well be too far away to actually live in the house you’ve bought.
2. There’s no guarantee that you’ll be able to rent it out or sell it for a profit if you’re not living in it so it could be money down the toilet.
3. It’s basic and you’re planning on making some improvements? Sounds like a ‘fixer upper’ and that could cost a lot more money than you think to make it comfortable to live in.

This is not your only chance ever to buy a house. I really think you need to get out of that way of thinking. And no offense, but you seemed to totally have the wrong idea about the dole (and were contemplating making a huge decision based on your assumptions) so I’m not sure you’ll have researched buying a house properly either. I really think you need to get some proper financial and career advice from a professional.

Whiskey Devil · 03-09-2011 12:53pm

You sound dangerous with money!! Dear God, I cannot think of anything worse you could do. As said above, get some professional advice..

Use your head.

thefeatheredcat · 03-09-2011 11:39pm

OP have a read with regards to redundancy on the SW site here (no. 3)

http://www.welfare.ie/EN/Pages/jajbfaq.aspx#q3

Is it a lot of people being made redundant together? Would SW be on hand before you finish up to go through the paperwork and give you an indication?

On the news the other day there was a feature on a company who manufacture high tech parking systems for the high end cars market that is exported globally based in the west of Ireland (I think it was Tuam) and were stating how they cannot get engineers from within Ireland - and are expanding, so worth having a look.

OP I think you need to take a step back for a minute on buying the whole house thing - if you're doing it for the purpose of SW entitlements, then you need to make contact as to your eligibility.

If you were to buy the house, sure yes you would have a house but will you have the cash to pay for the insurance, taxes, charges, utilities and all the rest that go with it, as well as maintenance, and if your intent is to rent out the rooms, that would be considered as income for you whereby you may not be eligible for any SW entitlement.

As for what to do now - well what do you want to do for your life? I think that you need to stop and have a think before you buy a house - and consider your options and what you want to do, and not what you think you should do or that you must spend the money for fear otherwise you won't get any SW payments.

ILikeBananas · 03-09-2011 11:43pm

There's plenty of work for Engineers in the UK. I've changed careers but I still get a phone-call at least once a month asking am I interested in positions over there and I only have 4 years experience.

Reading through your responses is frustrating as you don't seem to be listening to all of the good advice you are receiving here. Your level of logical thinking is particularly bad considering that you're an Engineer

ted1 · 04-09-2011 12:13am

Does my head in when I hear of people talk about jobs for engineers. There is so many different type of engineers civil, electrical ,electronic different to electrical),mechanical, sound, etc,etc. outside of the UK and Ireland you are not alllowed call yourself an engineer without a formal engineering qualification. What is your background? What is your qualification and experience. There's plenty out there but you have to be willling to accept lower pay relevant to your actual experience and qualification.

redundacy, what to do now

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