AlastairSC
Registered User
- Messages
- 357
Hi to fellow AAMs,
I am retiring from teaching and will have a lump sum and an AVC. The go-to financial services provider for INTO members is Cornmarket. At a recent Zoom call, their guy went through my AVC options and after a quick financial review of my circumstances, found reasons to reject notional service purchase, an annuity, and taxable cash, in favour of an ARF. He then explained a bit about the funds Cornmarket, as an Authorised Advisor, offer. They all seem to have really high charges and fees so I expressed an interest in other funds, at which point he cooled off considerably! My questions are:
- how do I get my AVC funds out of Cornmarket/Irish Life and, possibly with some of my lump sum, invest it in some of the index funds I found (e.g. S&P 500 Euro hedged UCITS ETF, Core MSCI Europe UCITS , and MSCI Emerging Markets UCITS ETF), which seem to me to give a good spread of US, Europe and emerging markets at a small TER of 0.2%?
- Do they count as ARFs?
- As I will now be a lower-rate tax payer on my pension, (we are jointly-assessed) are ETFs even a good idea?
For clarity, we've two salaries (now 1 salary and 1 pension), no mortgage or debt, a good emergency fund and good health cover. We can live adequately without these upcoming amounts so I'm trying to think ahead to a point where we are both on pensions and trying to protect our funds against inflation, and need extra income or capital funds. Perhaps there are alternative uses for these funds which I haven't considered. I'd prefer to spread my risk rather than, say, buy an apartment in Spain, for example, and have everything in one basket.
I'd be very glad of a steer from the more experienced people on here, before I speak to an Independent Financial Advisor, as it will greatly help that discussion. preferably a fee-only one, if anyone could recommend one?
If I've posted in the wrong forum (Investment forum?), I will gladly remove and re-post.
Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
I am retiring from teaching and will have a lump sum and an AVC. The go-to financial services provider for INTO members is Cornmarket. At a recent Zoom call, their guy went through my AVC options and after a quick financial review of my circumstances, found reasons to reject notional service purchase, an annuity, and taxable cash, in favour of an ARF. He then explained a bit about the funds Cornmarket, as an Authorised Advisor, offer. They all seem to have really high charges and fees so I expressed an interest in other funds, at which point he cooled off considerably! My questions are:
- how do I get my AVC funds out of Cornmarket/Irish Life and, possibly with some of my lump sum, invest it in some of the index funds I found (e.g. S&P 500 Euro hedged UCITS ETF, Core MSCI Europe UCITS , and MSCI Emerging Markets UCITS ETF), which seem to me to give a good spread of US, Europe and emerging markets at a small TER of 0.2%?
- Do they count as ARFs?
- As I will now be a lower-rate tax payer on my pension, (we are jointly-assessed) are ETFs even a good idea?
For clarity, we've two salaries (now 1 salary and 1 pension), no mortgage or debt, a good emergency fund and good health cover. We can live adequately without these upcoming amounts so I'm trying to think ahead to a point where we are both on pensions and trying to protect our funds against inflation, and need extra income or capital funds. Perhaps there are alternative uses for these funds which I haven't considered. I'd prefer to spread my risk rather than, say, buy an apartment in Spain, for example, and have everything in one basket.
I'd be very glad of a steer from the more experienced people on here, before I speak to an Independent Financial Advisor, as it will greatly help that discussion. preferably a fee-only one, if anyone could recommend one?
If I've posted in the wrong forum (Investment forum?), I will gladly remove and re-post.
Thanks in advance for your thoughts.