When the ARF was first introduced, you were under no obligation to make any withdrawals from it if you didn’t want to. This was was very useful for those with other sources of income, especially if those other sources were taxed as income. You could just let your ARF accumulate in value in a tax […]
Up until 2005, you could have as big a pension pot as you wanted. Then, because some very wealthy people took advantage of this rule, a cap of €5m was imposed. This was increased to €5,418,085 by 2008 before it being reduced to €2.3m in 2010 and further still to €2m in 2014. The majority […]
Working with a lot of business owners, I see that a lot of their wealth is tied up in their business. It is therefore vital that they are able to build up as much values as they can in their business and then sell it in the most tax efficient manner. This week, we have […]
As a financial advisor, the AMRF requirement is a pain. When people ask their options in retirement, I explain the annuity and the ARF options (no one goes for taxable cash). But then I have to say, if you do not have a guaranteed pension income of €12,700 per annum, you must put €63,500 in […]
There is a very good thread on the askaboutmoney.com website about how much a normal retiree should invest in equities . As is often the case, there was some very good arguments put forward. The person who started the thread was looking for a definitive answer, what % should a retiree invest in equities in their […]
After spending decades working, have now retired and you are drawing down your pension. During all those years working, your employer always looked after your income tax. You got a payslip each month with the gross payment, a load of deductions and the net pay in the bottom right corner. This always equalled the money […]
When I work with people on planning for their retirement, a key question I ask is “How much do you want to live on in retirement?”. This is a really hard question to answer, especially if you are in your 20’s or 30’s. Afterall, what will the 60+ year old me enjoy doing in over […]
At retirement, if you choose to invest in an ARF, there is the restriction of the Approved Minimum Retirement Fund (AMRF), where you have to put the first €63,500 of your retirement fund into a policy where you can only draw access 4% of it each year until you are age 75, at which stage […]
My initial meeting with clients is to find out about them. Where they are now and where they want to get to. Of course, one of the questions is when they want to retire. More and more frequently, they are telling me that they don’t think they will ever retire. It is not because they don’t […]
Last Wednesday was a day full of excitement. Ireland beat Italy in the Euros to get out of our group and through to the round of 16. Earlier, an announcement was made by the Minister for Finance that got all of us who work in personal finance all excited. The ARF option is being made available […]