I am lucky enough to have a very good defined benefit work pension plan.
After the assistance of my company pension office I have been told there is scope for additional voluntary contributions AVCs. (Thanks Sarenco for advising me to look into this). Unfortunately my company has recently stopped doing in house AVCs due to a deficit in the fund. Although apparently this deficit is an artificial one and only due to recent strict legislative requirements.
Perhaps these AVCs will become available again in the future for us as I gather there are advantages to company AVCs as opposed to PRSA AVCs which apparently now is my only option.
I am 41 and am already contributing 11% of my salary. I understand I am eligible to contribute an additional 14% a year. It has been calculated that I am able to put in just over €14,000 per year according to my salary. Although potentially only for a few years if I am not to exceed the 200,000 Euro threshold.
I am still trying to figure out exactly what my company pension scheme tax free lump sum will be on retirement and therefore how much I can invest in a PRSA AVC without exceeding the 200,000 Euro threshold. Although even if the lump sum increases with a PRSA AVC to 300,000 I guess it would still be worth it, considering the 20% tax, as opposed to just investing this money myself in stocks and shares with a stockbroker?
I have been to a couple of banks and spoke to Irish life and Zürich Life and to be honest I've been bamboozled with all the options.
The fees for the different funds seem to be fairly standard at 1%. Are there any other costs? Is there anything specifically to be aware of when considering the funds on offer? Is it worth going through a broker or direct with Irish life or Zürich life?
Do the brokers work off commission in terms of not necessarily recommending something that would be suitable for me?
I would imagine the 200 and 300,000 Euro thresholds will be increased by the time I retire in 19 years time. Should I consider this factor now when determining how much to invest in a PRSA AVC?
After the assistance of my company pension office I have been told there is scope for additional voluntary contributions AVCs. (Thanks Sarenco for advising me to look into this). Unfortunately my company has recently stopped doing in house AVCs due to a deficit in the fund. Although apparently this deficit is an artificial one and only due to recent strict legislative requirements.
Perhaps these AVCs will become available again in the future for us as I gather there are advantages to company AVCs as opposed to PRSA AVCs which apparently now is my only option.
I am 41 and am already contributing 11% of my salary. I understand I am eligible to contribute an additional 14% a year. It has been calculated that I am able to put in just over €14,000 per year according to my salary. Although potentially only for a few years if I am not to exceed the 200,000 Euro threshold.
I am still trying to figure out exactly what my company pension scheme tax free lump sum will be on retirement and therefore how much I can invest in a PRSA AVC without exceeding the 200,000 Euro threshold. Although even if the lump sum increases with a PRSA AVC to 300,000 I guess it would still be worth it, considering the 20% tax, as opposed to just investing this money myself in stocks and shares with a stockbroker?
I have been to a couple of banks and spoke to Irish life and Zürich Life and to be honest I've been bamboozled with all the options.
The fees for the different funds seem to be fairly standard at 1%. Are there any other costs? Is there anything specifically to be aware of when considering the funds on offer? Is it worth going through a broker or direct with Irish life or Zürich life?
Do the brokers work off commission in terms of not necessarily recommending something that would be suitable for me?
I would imagine the 200 and 300,000 Euro thresholds will be increased by the time I retire in 19 years time. Should I consider this factor now when determining how much to invest in a PRSA AVC?