Crisis in Irish retirement savings has no silver-bullet solution
With 800k workers banking solely on the State pension, a multi-faceted approach is needed to help people plan their financial future
Pensions Focus looks at all aspects of the rapidly evolving Irish pensions market from green pension funds to auto-enrolment delays and the introduction of master trusts, and highlights the critical importance of starting early on the retirement savings journey. It also looks at the options open to people as they approach retirement and need to make decisions on how much risk they are prepared to take with their hard-earned pension savings.
With 800k workers banking solely on the State pension, a multi-faceted approach is needed to help people plan their financial future
Additional voluntary contributions allow you to boost your pension fund – great news if you started saving late or want to retire early
Longer life means a longer retirement but a comparatively smaller workforce will struggle to support more pensioners
As a rule of thumb, you should be putting a percentage of your salary equivalent to half your age into your pension. We do the maths...
The new auto-enrolment national pension will be ‘soft mandatory’, with employees able to opt out at certain times
Although clearly a first-world problem, retirement savings that exceed the €2 million SFT present challenges
The many unknowns about the State’s auto-enrolment pension plan make it hard for employers to prepare
Thinking of making a career move? What to do with your pension when you change jobs
Experts say pensions are the best investment you can make; here’s how to make the most of it
If you’ve been pouring your spare cash into a business for years or just didn’t have enough to put in a pension, late starters still have options
Danielle Barron looks at the pros and cons of ARFs and annuities, based on your attitude to risk and personal income requirements at retirement
Consumers want sustainable options, with implications for where fund managers invest their pensions
The rewards of the stock market can be great in the long-term, but it’s volatile for the short-term investor
Whether to take up an enhanced transfer value offer is a huge and complex decision, and warrants specialised advice
With cost of living increases driving people to access their funds early , experts weigh in on early drawdown
The burden of meeting new regulatory requirements has led many employers to move their pensions schemes to master trusts
It’s better to start saving for a pension early but if you haven't, here’s what to do
What are the best options for ensuring your pension fund is invested in ethical assets?
There are downsides to annuities but with inflation on the rise, annuity returns have also increased
The EU IORP II directive is bringing the biggest change seen in Ireland’s occupational pensions landscape for a generation, according to experts
If you are far away from retirement, it is often best not to switch to more secure assets in periods of volatility
Auto-enrolment will be a new savings and investment scheme for employees where financial returns are paid out to participants on retirement, in addition to the State pension
In the UK the Financial Conduct Authority(FCA) is warning that scammers are using a number of tactics to con victims
If someone reaches retirement and exceeds the threshold by, even by €1, the pension administrator will immediately take 40 per cent Chargeable Excess Tax and remit that to Revenue
National pension auto-enrolment is coming down the tracks in 2024, but in the meantime the advice is to start pension savings as soon as possible
Pensions: Employers' offers of enhanced transfer values may appear very tempting on the surface, but people should be very cautious before signing on the dotted line
Corporate pension programmes in the UK are increasingly looking to offload their risk to insurers as they try to insulate themselves from future market turmoil.
A new obligation on pension scheme trustees to ensure effective governance
Starting a pension early is key to living standards remaining the same upon retirement
With a new, high compliance burden, what is the future of the SSAP model?
Any contributions above the standard fund threshold of €2m are hit with a punitive tax
Policy makers have been reluctant to allow tax-free early access to pension pots
Lord make me good, but not yet. Everyone agrees a national auto-enrolment pension is a good idea, but no one seems ready to pay for one
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