Gardaí struggling to pay bills - AGSI

K-9

TL: DR

Bosco boy

I hate anyone who has a job and immediately call for the IMF to cut their pay by 50% regardless of what they do. Who do they think they are, I didn't get that job I applied for and it's all one big conspiricy and has nothing to do with the fact that the other candidate may have been better and my deplorable attitude shone through in the interview. Humbug!

Offy

Bosco boy wrote: »

I hate anyone who has a job and immediately call for the IMF to cut their pay by 50% regardless of what they do.

Bosco boy wrote: »

I hate anyone

Bosco boy wrote: »

I hate

Bosco boy wrote: »

I hate

Bosco boy wrote: »

I hate

So stop hating and put on a smile Mr. policeman. Its all good 50% spot on the ball. I'll vote for that.

Bosco boy

Offy wrote: »

So stop hating and put on a smile Mr. policeman. Its all good 50% spot on the ball. I'll vote for that.

greenoverred

gurramok wrote: »

Surprised no-one picked up on this. Assuming net pay is correct before 'bills' and given the mortgage looks fair, fair enough.

Now, what is this?? It ain't health insurance. It cannot be for a car, its far too high.

Insurance Tax. 7000 which is 588 pm.

Tax, insurance, petrol, maintenance, depreciation.

bamboozle

gurramok wrote: »

Surprised no-one picked up on this. Assuming net pay is correct before 'bills' and given the mortgage looks fair, fair enough.

Now, what is this?? It ain't health insurance. It cannot be for a car, its far too high.

Insurance Tax. 7000 which is 588 pm.

that's what i was thinking, medical insurance 3k, insurance tax 7k

first of all dont all gardai have their own medicare scheme where they contribute a small amount each month, second of all 7k on 'insurance tax' what the hell is this?

is there not a tax credit for GRA membership?

K-9

bamboozle wrote: »

that's what i was thinking, medical insurance 3k, insurance tax 7k

first of all dont all gardai have their own medicare scheme where they contribute a small amount each month, second of all 7k on 'insurance tax' what the hell is this?

is there not a tax credit for GRA membership?

Their medical aid insurance scheme isn't that cheap, 3k is about right, I know it goes against the urban legend that they only pay a small amount.

There's a tax credit of 20% like all Union memberships, though I'm not 100% if the GRA qualify.

gurramok

greenoverred wrote: »

Tax, insurance, petrol, maintenance, depreciation.

7k? Ah come on, what are you driving, a Ferrari?? I call baloney on that figure.

Son Of A Vidic

I'm sure my local Garda, who also happens to be my local electrician isn't short of a few pennies.

Bosco boy

Corvus Maximus wrote: »

I'm sure my local Garda, who also happens to be my local electrician isn't short of a few pennies.

I call for an 75% reduction in everyones wages on hearing this!

greenoverred

gurramok wrote: »

7k? Ah come on, what are you driving, a Ferrari?? I call baloney on that figure.

Petrol 80pw
Tax/insurance 1000pa
Maintenance 600pa
Depreciation 1200pa

Medical aid 62.38pw. Tax deducted at source

By the way the 9000 figure for mortgage is quite low. Don't you think this could be increased a bit

audidiesel

Will people stop saying only 120 guards are in trouble. That's 120 guards who had their wages set up to pay bills that got no wages after those bills were paid. The majority of guards I know don't use this system.

There are thousands of guards struggling with debt at the moment. Not just 120. I know as I'm definitely one of them!

I know there are thousands of normal people struggling too by the way before someone points it out, but that's not the topic of this thread

DUB777

KerranJast wrote: »

The only way a member of AGS could be struggling to pay bills is if they've a huge mortgage AND other property investments that have gone south.

Greed:D Thats what has the country in this mess.

Offy

audidiesel wrote: »

Will people stop saying only 120 guards are in trouble. That's 120 guards who had their wages set up to pay bills that got no wages after those bills were paid. The majority of guards I know don't use this system.

There are thousands of guards struggling with debt at the moment. Not just 120. I know as I'm definitely one of them!

I know there are thousands of normal people struggling too by the way before someone points it out, but that's not the topic of this thread

No. Only 120 guards are in trouble. They should get cheaper bills, the Aldi type. Not Audi, Aldi!

Bosco boy

Offy wrote: »

No. Only 120 guards are in trouble. They should get cheaper bills, the Aldi type. Not Audi, Aldi!

I call for an 80% pay cut for everyone on hearing this!

Offy

Bosco boy wrote: »

I call for an 80% pay cut for everyone on hearing this!

I second that motion.

bamboozle

greenoverred wrote: »

Petrol 80pw
Tax/insurance 1000pa
Maintenance 600pa
Depreciation 1200pa

Medical aid 62.38pw. Tax deducted at source

By the way the 9000 figure for mortgage is quite low. Don't you think this could be increased a bit

1200 for depreciation? who do you pay this to? if the car is losing its value by 1200 a year this has no impact on you annual take home pay it just means your car is worth 1200 less at year end, unless of course you are saving 1200 a year towards a new car??

greenoverred

bamboozle wrote: »

1200 for depreciation? who do you pay this to? if the car is losing its value by 1200 a year this has no impact on you annual take home pay it just means your car is worth 1200 less at year end, unless of course you are saving 1200 a year towards a new car??

So this imaginary medicare scheme you heard of doesn't exist.

I never said the 1200 comes out of take home pay. I was asked how a car could cost 7000 per year. 1200 for depreciation on a car is low figure in my opinion.

Have a look at this

http://www.aaireland.ie/AA/Motoring-Advice/cost-of-motoring.aspx

gurramok

greenoverred wrote: »

So this imaginary medicare scheme you heard of doesn't exist.

I never said the 1200 comes out of take home pay. I was asked how a car could cost 7000 per year. 1200 for depreciation on a car is low figure in my opinion.

Yes you did, you stated it was a bill of 7k

So I'll take for example a Garda on €43,700 increases his/her pay to €50,000 with overtime, rent allowance, unsocial hours
Taxable pay 50000
Paye. 7500
Pension. 3000
Pension levy. 3750
Prsi. 2000
USC. 2800. Take Home 30950

Rent/Mortgage. 9000
Med insurance. 3000
Insurance Tax. 7000
GRA. 300. Left Over. 11650
Car is needed to travel to work. Rent/Mortgage is what I think would be a modest mortgage. Could vary depending on station.

Now you say

Petrol 80pw
Tax/insurance 1000pa
Maintenance 600pa
Depreciation 1200pa

Comprises of that 7k. How do you manage to spend nearly 320quid a month on petrol? Me thinks you need to cut down on the motoring lifestyle.

3k on Medical Aid. How many other people are you paying for? No wife around to help the bills??

g_moriarty

greenoverred wrote: »

So I'll take for example a Garda on €43,700 increases his/her pay to €50,000 with overtime, rent allowance, unsocial hours
Taxable pay 50000
Paye. 7500
Pension. 3000
Pension levy. 3750
Prsi. 2000
USC. 2800. Take Home 30950

Rent/Mortgage. 9000
Med insurance. 3000
Insurance Tax. 7000
GRA. 300. Left Over. 11650
Car is needed to travel to work. Rent/Mortgage is what I think would be a modest mortgage. Could vary depending on station.

I'm certainly glad that in my chosen profession, I'm not swindled by this "insurance tax". I pay insurance (€500~year - male/29) and tax of €445 year totalling less than €1000. This "insurance tax" of €7000 would definitely make the other bills more difficult to pay each month.

ShamoBuc

That's some amount of insurance!!

greenoverred

gurramok wrote: »

Yes you did, you stated it was a bill of 7k



Now you say


Comprises of that 7k. How do you manage to spend nearly 320quid a month on petrol? Me thinks you need to cut down on the motoring lifestyle.

3k on Medical Aid. How many other people are you paying for? No wife around to help the bills??

Ok maybe Im missing something here but where did I say it comes out my take home pay. It an expense, a cost whatever you want to call it of running a car which I need to travel to and from work, but I never said it comes out of my take home pay.

Did you even look at the link I posted about cost of running a car. If you cant understand it fine, ill try and explain it to you. Actually looking at it I should have a higher amount than 7000.

So cut down on my motoring. How much do you suggest I cut down. Maybe Ill drive half way to work and cycle the rest. I live 35 miles from work. Some live nearer. Some live further away. Its a rough figure. Try and get back on topic and stop nit picking at my post

Ill take your other suggestion on board. Get a wife to help with the bills. Any ideas where id find one of these. Internet, Copper face jacks, etc

angelfire9

FYI re Medical Aid

Single Adult €25.77 p.w. or €1340 per annum
Couple €51.54 p.w. or €2680 per annum
Couple with children under 18 €62.38 p.w or €3244 per annum

All figures are after tax relief at source

Re Car insurance
Some insurance companies actually penalise a Garda driver by charging extra (due to the shift work mainly) so insurance for a Garda can be more expensive than a carpenter or an accountant

As for the comment in relation to petrol
€320 per month is not unreasonable it depends on how far the Garda lives from his station €80 a week is not unusual my OH spends €60 a week to and from work and doesn't drive his car at all on his days off

The "120 Gardai" being referred to by the AGSI is the tip of the iceberg in relation to Gardai having trouble paying bills
The AGSI is the association of Garda Sergeants & inspectors and if those guys are having trouble paying the bills you can bet there are hundreds of GRA members (Garda rank) who are having similar difficulties

I have told you how in our household money is very tight, audidiesel said the same thing, there are lots of Gardai out there that won't put their heads above the parapet and admit to being in difficulty because the general perception is "tough luck you over extended yourself, you're overpaid, get over it"

This attitude is not going to help anyone
Ye need to realise that Gardai have endured serious cuts already so screaming for more cuts isn't going to help anyone

A Garda with a basic of €46k in 2008 has had that cut to €43857 by budget 2010 which is a 5.89% cut before any other changes are applied
THEN there is the pension levy before any of the other changes that every employee has to deal with like the income levy, changes to PAYE/PRSI/USC etc etc

Budget 2010 cut the pay of public servants by 5% on the first €30,000 of income, 7.5% on the next €40,000 and 10% on the next €55,000.

Pension levy - 1st €15,000 exempt; 5% on next €5,000; 10% on earnings between €20,000 and €60,000; and 10.5% on earnings above €60,000 p.a.

At what point do you call a halt and look for savings elsewhere?

At what point do we start looking at the likes of the CEO's of Bord Gais and the ESB and the other semi-state bodies like Coillte that are getting lunatic salaries for doing next to nothing

At what point is the wider "public service" looked at instead of hammering the front line workers time and again??

Garda bashing seems to be a popular pastime on boards

Just remember that when you are calling for cuts to Garda pay & Garda numbers you cannot turn around in 12 months or 2 years and complain when it takes 8 hours for a Garda to respond to a burglary call or even an assault

greenoverred

g_moriarty wrote: »

I'm certainly glad that in my chosen profession, I'm not swindled by this "insurance tax". I pay insurance (€500~year - male/29) and tax of €445 year totalling less than €1000. This "insurance tax" of €7000 would definitely make the other bills more difficult to pay each month.

Good man. You didn't read this so

"Petrol 80pw
Tax/insurance 1000pa
Maintenance 600pa
Depreciation 1200pa".

A typo in the original post but I taught it had been cleared up by now. Sorry if you didn't pick this up

angelfire9

HellFireClub wrote: »

It seems to me yet again that the Gardai are trying to make the case for them to be sufficiently paid so that only one of the parents/couple has to work. That isn't the case for any other couple who are living on one average industrial wage, so why should it be the case that Gardai get paid better so that the rule of thumb that we have in this country which seems to be that if you have a family you need two parents working, why should Gardai be exempt from this, which is the norm for all other couples I know where there isn't an exceptional circumstance such as for example a high earner such as a GP, solicitor or a hospital consultant out earning the crust for the family???

I'm a qualified accountant and I lost my job in May 2010 when the company I worked for closed its doors without notice and no redundancy either

I would LOVE to be working and in the 10 years I've been married until last May I worked all the time (I took 2 weeks off before my first daughter was born and was back to work when she was 8 weeks old not withstanding the fact that I had another 4 months of maternity leave available)

I earned a gross wage of almost €100k in 2009 back then we could afford holidays and nice clothes now every piece of clothes that go on our baby are borrowed or gifts cos we cannot afford to buy her things, we were lucky that we didn't have to buy things like car seats & buggies as I had them from our first and because I was working when she was born I could afford top of the range stuff that is still in good nick 10 years later

No one is suggesting that Gardai should all be in one income households but some of us are struggling because the 2nd income is GONE

It would be nice if people didn't automatically make ill informed judgements based on a bias they have against the members of AGS :rolleyes:

Offy

angelfire9 wrote: »

I'm a qualified accountant and I lost my job in May 2010 when the company I worked for closed its doors without notice and no redundancy either

I would LOVE to be working and in the 10 years I've been married until last May I worked all the time (I took 2 weeks off before my first daughter was born and was back to work when she was 8 weeks old not withstanding the fact that I had another 4 months of maternity leave available)

I earned a gross wage of almost €100k in 2009 back then we could afford holidays and nice clothes now every piece of clothes that go on our baby are borrowed or gifts cos we cannot afford to buy her things, we were lucky that we didn't have to buy things like car seats & buggies as I had them from our first and because I was working when she was born I could afford top of the range stuff that is still in good nick 10 years later

No one is suggesting that Gardai should all be in one income households but some of us are struggling because the 2nd income is GONE

It would be nice if people didn't automatically make ill informed judgements based on a bias they have against the members of AGS :rolleyes:

Almost €100k? Bloody accountants have the country ruined! Nearly as bad as them bloody coppers on their €40k, blast them all with p1ss I say :P

angelfire9

Offy wrote: »

Almost €100k? Bloody accountants have the country ruined! Nearly as bad as them bloody coppers on their €40k, blast them all with p1ss I say :P

A good accountant is worth his or her weight in gold :D:D

I did ALOT of overtime in 2009 to get to that figure it must be said

Orando Broom

angelfire9 wrote: »

A good accountant is worth his or her weight in gold :D:D

I did ALOT of overtime in 2009 to get to that figure it must be said

Would you admit that you spent excessively and are now reaping what you sowed? With 100K PA even for two or three years I could have set myself up nicely. I would easily weather this financial storm.

I know you are probably not looking for sympathy but your story is symptomatic of the real problems with our now broken society.

Offy

angelfire9 wrote: »

A good accountant is worth his or her weight in gold :D:D

I did ALOT of overtime in 2009 to get to that figure it must be said

Worth their weight in gold? Bloody accountants think their leprechauns now, burn them all, burn them at the stake, where's Gaybo gone? Overtime, you lucky [EMAIL="b@st@rds"]b@st@rds[/EMAIL], overtime, I wish we engineers got paid overtime, bloody coppers and accountants, I always knew ye were in it together

angelfire9

Orando Broom wrote: »

Would you admit that you spent excessively and are now reaping what you sowed? With 100K PA even for two or three years I could have set myself up nicely. I would easily weather this financial storm.

I know you are probably not looking for sympathy but your story is symptomatic of the real problems with our now broken society.

Nope
I saved a good chunk which paid off the mortgage until Christmas
I had money invested in shares which are obviously now not worth the paper they are written on
I paid a massive chunk into my life assurance policy and am continuing to pay it from money I had set aside so it will be covered until July/August this year
I also paid into a pension scheme that I will see benefit from in 30 years time(hopefully)

To earn that 100k it must be remembered that I worked every hour that god sent I had to pay for childcare 6 days a week most weeks (afterschool including pick ups plus evening sitters and saturday sitters) I brought home work to do in the evenings and weekends
I drive an 04 Fiesta not a suave BMW or Audi like most of my college mates and I live in a 4 bed Semi D in an estate

The only luxuries I possibly "wasted" money on was a 2 week holiday to New York in 08 and 09

I bought alot of expensive suits that now sit in my wardrobe but they are investments and a well fitted suit is pretty much essential for an accountant and they will get used again
Ditto my ludicrously expensive laptop and briefcase(s) and shoes!

It should also be remembered that in earning a gross of 100k in 2009 I paid a large chunk of money (circa 40%) to the state in Tax, PRSI, Income Levy, far more than the 10k I got back in JSB payments