I was reading Stephen Kinsella’s article last week about the Irish government’s long term planning failure to address pensions. While successive governments are certainly guilty of kicking the can down the road when it comes to pensions, I think the same can be said of ourselves.
We all know the government have avoided addressing the pension time bomb. Fixing a problem that will happen in 30 or 40 years doesn’t win you votes in the next election. While we are watching this happening, pension coverage has fallen from 54% in 1995 to 42% in 2013.
Even if we did have a robust, fully funded State pension system, how many want to live on €12,000 a year when they retire?
As with most things in life, you have to make it happen. That means planning and saving. We see first time buyers living frugal lives so they can save as much as they can to get their dream, their first home. What dreams do you have when it comes to the rest of your life? What do you want to do? Travel, change careers, go back to college?
It doesn’t matter if you have a traditional pension, property investments or savings, you need something to provide you with an income when you are not working so you can do all the things that you want to do.
If you have any questions, you can contact me directly at steven@bluewaterfp.ie