There is a lot of pension legislation coming from Europe that is having a big impact on pensions in Ireland. It is important to have an idea of where this has come from first. The first directive, known as IORPS I was introduced in 2004/2005. The government at the time availed of an option not […]
In 1992, the top 10 holdings in the S&P 500 were: General Electric Exxon AT&T Wal-Mart Coca-Cola Philip Morris Shell Merck Proctor & Gamble General Motors 10 years later the top 10 holdings were: Microsoft General Electric Exxon Pfizer Wal-Mart Citigroup IBM Intel Cisco System In 2012, the top 10 holdings were: Apple Exxon Google […]
I had a financial planning meeting with Bob last week. Going through his investments, he noticed they were up 7%. He was both delighted and surprised. How could this be with everything that is going on in the markets? Bob looks at his portfolio once a year when we update his plan. For the other […]
Apple announced that they are getting into the “buy now pay later” (BNPL) market. For those of you who don’t know what this is, BNPL is a way for you to spread payments on purchases over a number of months. And we’re not talking about big purchases lie a car or household furniture. It can […]
Two questions: 1. Imagine that you are richer by €20,000 than you are today and that you face a choice of two options: 1. Receive €5,000; or 2. A 50% chance to win €10,000 and a 50% chance to win nothing 2. Imagine that you are richer by €30,000 than you are today and that […]
There is a lot going on in the world at the moment. Inflation is out of control. Central banks are raising interest rates to try to combat it. This will reduce spending and growth, leading almost certainly to a recession. China is in lockdown again so the supply chain is impacted again. And there has […]
Brian runs his own business and is very successful. He has made a lot of money. Growing up, he always want to own a Porsche and now he can afford one. So he bought one and it is ready to collect. So he has taken the day off work to pick up his new car […]
Ever put up photos on social media of you at a fancy dinner or at a corporate event? Ever ask yourself the real reason why you did that? It isn’t to share the experience with your friends and family. It is to show them that you have something great. It could be touch line tickets […]
A question arose recently about deemed disposal. Would it actually be better to pay the tax every 8 years and start anew than be subject the the deemed disposal? There are a number of factors that show the deemed disposal is better than real disposal every 8 years and immediately reinvesting. Tax and Returns There […]
I read an article in The Irish Times about how the Fire movement is inspiring people to plan for retirement. Fire stands for Financial Independence Retire Early. It is a movement that started in the US and has grown in popularity in Europe too. Under its principles, people save large proportions of their salary each […]