Archive for 2018

Differences between Vested PRSAs and ARFs/AMRFs

When PRSAs were created, the legislation around them through up some little quirks that practioners discovered when they got into the weeds and read through the actual legislation. One of those quirks lead to the creation of the Vested PRSA. That is, at retirement age, you can take 25% as a tax free lump sum […]

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The difference between a PRSA and a Personal Pension

PRSA’s were created under legislation in 2002. They were marketed as the flexible, transferable pension plan. But the take up of them was very low as people stayed away from them. They are a lot more popular now with a lot of people making inquiries about setting up a PRSA. A lot of the time, […]

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What does being wealthy look like to you?

YouTube is full of videos of kids telling their followers how the became millionaires quickly. We see some kid driving a Lamborghini to prove to everyone that they are rich, a lesson in how they did it and then a product at the end. They mostly lease these cars for $1,000 a day and are nothing […]

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What’s your time worth?

Black Friday is an American tradition that has been adopted by retailers over here in Ireland. It’s just like our own Christmas sales. In both cases, TV stations will visit shopping centres and interview people who have given up the biggest family day of the year to camp out all night for a half price […]

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Are pensions too long term for Millennials?

I work with a number of ambitious career people in their 20’s. They are in well paying jobs and have lots of surplus income. They want to build wealth over time so instead of spending all this extra money on designer clothes or gadgets, they want it to work for them. They are happy to […]

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Why you need a private pension

The State pension increased in the last Budget by €5 a week, which will bring it up to €248.30 a week or €12,911.60 a year. If you were to buy a this pension yourself from an insurance company, it would cost you €325,000. That’s a lot of money to accumulate yourself from a private pension. […]

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The income trap

People are getting paid more than ever before. Salary scales are increasing at an even faster rate than during the Celtic Tiger. And a lot of people are getting caught in the income trap. They are earning a lot of money and to look at them you would think they are rich. They have designer […]

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Understanding your true risk profile

I have been speaking to a lot of new clients recently who are not happy with their current investments. In all cases, they either spoke to their bank or went directly to the insurance company, and they felt that the advisor who spoke to them didn’t get much understanding of what they are about. They […]

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Would you invest all of your pension fund in just one stock?

At Bluewater, we have a clearly defined investment philosophy. One of our key investment principles is diversification. As property mania has taken hold in Ireland again, investors are losing their investment discipline and taking more investment risk by rejecting diversification in favour of concentration and debt. What is diversification? Taken from our investment philosophy: Diversification […]

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Has trust in financial advisors improved at all?

I started my working life in 1998 and as an advisor in 2000. This was about the time when disclosure regulations came in and financial advisors had to disclose the commissions they were being paid by insurance companies. Back then, advisors took 50% of the first years contribution as commission for pension plans. I had […]

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