Planning for Retirement

Personal Pesions / PRSA’s

Personal Pensions / PRSA’s for the self employed or those in non pensionable employment.
If you don’t have access to a company pension plan then one of the best ways to put those savings away is a Personal Retirement Savings Account (PRSA). A PRSA is a cost efficient pension plan that anyone can take out to build up a fund for retirement. You can also claim tax relief on the contributions you make to your PRSA.

 

Executive Pensions

Company and Executive Pensions for Company owners and Directors.

Some company owners view their business as their pension. But how can you be sure that you will be able to sell your shares, or even the whole business, at the time you Want to retire.

An Executive Retirement Plan allows you to benefit from pension contributions paid By the company on your behalf. It also allows you to provide for your pension fund Independent of the company’s assets and its future profitability.

 

What Happens at Retirement?

AMRF / ARF(Approved minimum Retirement Fund / Approved Retirement Fund)

An ARF is an investment plan that allows you to retain control of your retirement fund throughout your retirement years and enables you to pass on the remaining value of your fund to your dependants when you die.
You can choose how to invest your ARF, giving you the opportunity to continue to manage your own fund and select from a wide range of different investment options to suit your requirements in retirement and attitude to risk.

Some of the key features of an ARF are:

        • You can make withdrawals, as and when you require.
        • Your ARF invests in funds that currently benefit from tax-free growth.
        • You can manage and control your retirement fund.
        • You can invest in a range of different investment funds.
        • You can set up an ARF to pay you a regular income.
        • You can pass it onto your dependants.

There is currently a requirement to either have a guaranteed income of €18,000 pa before one can have access to an ARF as outlined above. However if you do not meet this requirement and have a sizable fund you may invest the first €119,800 (currently the amount of 10 times the state pension) into an AmRF (Approved Minimum Retirement Fund) which is essentially the same as an ARF however you will not be permitted to access this fund until you turn 75 years of age, at which time it becomes an ARF.

Annuity

An Annuity is a series of regular payments made to you throughout your retirement.

To buy your Annuity, you use some, or all, of your pension savings to buy an agreed amount of regular income to be paid to you for the rest of your life.

No need to worry about the effect of poor investment returns reducing the value of your retirement savings, an Annuity gives you a secure and predictable income for the whole of your life in retirement.
With options to provide a secure income for your spouse or partner when you die, you can make sure that provisions have been made for your loved ones.

The Annuity gives you the security of an income for the rest of your life however you will not be able to cash-in your policy for a lump sum.

 

Approved Retirement Fund with Life Long Income Benefit

One of the providers, for the first time in Ireland, offers an Approved Retirement Fund (ARF) which allows you to keep control over your investment by providing access to your retirement fund while at the same time allowing you to enjoy the security of a guaranteed income for life.By providing both security and flexibility, this type of Approved Retirement Fund with lifelong income benefit provides a creative and innovative new retirement option, offering you:

  • A secure, predictable, guaranteed income for life in retirement;
  • Access to your retirement fund when you need it;
  • A choice of investment options;
  • The potential for your income to be increased through income ‘lock-ins’;
  • A minimum payment on death.

You should note that if you do make a discretionary withdrawal, your guaranteed income will reduce.

The minimum payment on death is equal to the higher of the current fund value and the premium paid less all withdrawals made (including any surrender penalties, administration charges and tax).

Warning: The value of your investment may go down as well as up.

Warning: If you invest in this product you may lose some or all of the money you invest.

Warning: The income you get from this product may go down as well as up.

Warning: This product may be affected by changes in the currency exchange rates.