I came across a case of someone who is retiring and wants to set up an ARF. They said they had “very little knowledge on finance” but they wanted to set up an ARF themselves. This always rings alarm bells for me.
I am very bad a DIY. I have watch YouTube videos on how to do things and it has taken me hours to do what the tradesman manages to do in a three minute video. I have gone to Chadwicks and asked for a part only for the clerk to list off 5 or 6 different options. I haven’t a clue what what he is talking about. All I know is what the YouTube video told me! Don’t give me options?!!!
Believe it or not, personal finance has a lot of nuance to it too. I joke with clients that all the complications introduced by Revenue/ government on pensions keeps me in a job as I know what they are! Just like with DIY at home, if you don’t know what you are doing, you are going to run into issues. It is going to take you a long time to work out how to complete the process and even then, you are going to be wondering if you got it correct. This case I came across had 1% in cash. When I questioned why they would have such an irrelevant amount invested in a fund, they just said their pension had that amount 🤷♂️.
While you may think that setting up an ARF is a one off, ongoing advice is especially important for retirees. You have to manage your pot of money for the rest of your life. You are now in the spending part of life when you spend down your savings instead of building them up. When your kids come to you and ask you if you can help them out with getting the money together for a house deposit, you can you ask if you can afford it?
When there is a market crash, who is going to remind you that this has happened before and is already factored in to your plan and not to worry about. Your finances are already arranged in such a way that despite the fall in the market, you still have the resources available so you can go on that trip.
Lots of people have an interest in personal finance and are well capable of looking after their own finances. There are also lots of people who think they will save money by doing it themselves when in the long run, they may cost themselves tens of thousands of euro in the mistakes that they will make.
Steven Barrett
13 July 2026