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The myth of the overnight success

The myth of the overnight success

We constantly read about overnight success stories. Young people who come from nowhere to own multi billion dollar businesses. At the same time, young people are looking at their starting salary out of college and wondering where they got it all wrong. How come they aren’t earning the big bucks? It’s all a myth. The […]

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Diversification in action

Diversification in action

For years, tech stocks were all the rage. The Nasdaq 100 post double digit returns for eight of the ten years up to the end of 2021. The other two years posted returns of 4.58% and 9.91% (you could round this up to double digits!). With returns over 30% for last three of those years, […]

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How to get entitlement of employers pension contributions inside 2 years

How to get entitlement of employers pension contributions inside 2 years

If you are a member of a company pension scheme, you have to be in that scheme for at least two years to be legally entitled to the value of your employer’s contributions (when I started working, it had just been changed to five years. Before that, you were never entitled to the value of […]

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The value of a financial planner

The value of a financial planner

Using a financial planner isn’t for everyone. Lots of people have an interest in personal finance and are willing to spend the time learning about it and keeping track of things (although over confidence in their own abilities can be an issue). But there are lots of people who have no interest in personal finance […]

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Providers missed a chance to change things with Master Trusts

Providers missed a chance to change things with Master Trusts

With four different Master Trust products being launched over the last number of weeks, I found myself logging onto a number of webinars to find out more about these new products that are replacing one person company pension plans. One thing that struck me was all the life company wanted to emphasise that financial brokers […]

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One person Master Trust

The Pensions Authority shut down one person pension schemes last July. The replacement is the Master Trust structure. Over the last few weeks, the insurance companies have been launching their version of the master trust structure that can be used in one person arrangements. What is a Master Trust? Previously, when setting up a one […]

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How much can I afford to lose?

How much can I afford to lose?

With markets continuing to have a torrid time and now the start of job losses in the tech sector, there is an increased level of worry for investors. Last year saw bumper returns for investors so this years volatility is somewhat of a shock for investors. Some are beginning to ask, how much can I […]

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Investing isn’t just for rich people

There was a time when if you wanted to invest, you had to go to a stockbroker and they would place the trades for you. They earned a commission on placing the trades, so it was only worth their while making sizable investing. In other words, you had to be rich to invest. Current Day […]

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The number myth

The number myth

Speaking with a new client last week, he told me that his colleague’s financial advisor said she needed €1 million in her pension at retirement. He wanted to know if he needed €1 million as well? I had no idea. He was a new client and I didn’t know enough about him and what he […]

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The Finance Bill opens up PRSAs

The Finance Bill opens up PRSAs

The Finance Bill has made some interesting changes to funding for retirement, namely in PRSAs. Current rules At present, employer paid contributions to an employee’s PRSA is a Benefit in Kind (BIK) for tax purposes. But the BIK is not put through the PAYE system so the it does not attract USC & PRSI taxes, […]

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