Moneymakeover Asking advice on assets and investments prior to annual meeting with FA

V

VulpusVulpus

Registered User
Messages
36
Personal details

Your age: 60
Your spouse's age: 60

Number and age of children: 2, adults, in later stages of full-time education


Income and expenditure
Annual gross income from employment or profession: zero
Annual gross income of spouse/partner: varies since largely self-employed. Regular monthly net income in region of 30-40k/year but has a lucrative second income stream which can total 100k or more in a year.

Monthly take-home pay: zero from employment
Rental income: 10K in Ireland, 14K elsewhere in EU. This is net after expenses and taxes.

Type of employment - Early retirement from private sector a few years ago

In general are you:
(a) spending more than you earn, or
(b) saving?
  • I am living off my savings and investments, and rental income.
  • I plan with 90k/year including children's university costs but I don't track very carefully my expenditure.
  • Probably my personal expenditure is higher than I estimate but I know the kid's costs are a good bit less than my "worst case" budget for them.
  • I don't have any major extravagances like yachts or expensive cars. I take 1-2 holidays abroad a year.


Summary of Assets and Liabilities
Family home value: total estimated value 325K of which I own half. My wife owns the other half.
Mortgage on family home: zero
Net equity: 162K

Other property in family and personal use: city apartment and summer house, total value 450k (100% owned by me)

Cash: 40k, however much of this is currently in USD which is a risk point, although it gets 4% interest. So right now am quite low on EUR cash.
Defined Contribution pension fund: total 675k value across 3 funds, see Pension Information below.
Other investment fund: 180K (invested in Dimensional 80/20 EUR-hedged fund)
Company shares: 10k in Ryanair stock
Other: 42k (50K USD) in an S&P 500 tracker ETF
Buy to Let Property value:
  • Investment property in Ireland, value 450k. I don't wish to sell but it's a part-4 tenancy which I may exit when it comes up for renewal, as I see too many risks to continue as a landlord.
  • 3 investment properties elsewhere in EU, value 350K, currently rented out. All 3 apartments are in desirable city locations and can be easily sold if necessary, subject to notice to tenants (no restrictions like in Ireland).
Buy to let Mortgage: zero

Total net assets: adding up the above.
1) Property in personal and family use: 612K Eur
2) All other assets: 1,747K Eur


Other borrowings – car loans/personal loans etc

No borrowings

Pension information

Value of pension funds 1 and 2 (Ireland-based occupational pension schemes): Total 250k as of December 2025.
Value of pension fund 3: 425K as of May 2025 (waiting on up-to-date annual statement so I don't have a current valuation), Malta-based.

The first 2 funds are invested in medium-higher risk global equity funds, they have generally good historical performance. I get regular reminders to "lifestyle" them which I ignore. I considered changing them to ARFs but decided not to do it at the moment since I have no near-term need to draw them down.

The third fund is a managed fund invested 90% Global Equities, 10% Bonds.

Note than I am tax-resident in an EU country where tax is not levied on growth in pension funds, so there should be no CGT due when I draw these down.

Buy to let properties
Already listed above but I repeat it here.
Value: Total 800K (450K in Ireland, 350K elsewhere in EU)
Rental income per year: Net after expenses and taxes 24K (10K in Ireland, 14K from EU properties)
No mortgages.

Other savings and investments:
Listed above


Other information which might be relevant

I am tax-resident in another EU country but visit Ireland frequently. I have considered retirement to Ireland but probably will not do that, the roots are too deep abroad by now. My property in Ireland would be useful for me in future to spend periods in Ireland, if I exit being a landlord.

My eventual state pension will be about 50% from Ireland, 50% from where I live now. The latter will most likely be less than Ireland since current pension levels probably around 50-60% of Ireland.

What specific question do you have or what issues are of concern to you?

I feel quite financially secure, early retirement was a good decision, and I just want to make sure I manage my money to see me through my life, help my children get established post-university, and although my wife is currently self-supporting I want to make sure she also has enough if I die young and she would cease working.

In a few weeks I will have an annual review with my financial advisor of many years and I welcome any feedback or ideas from this forum to bring to that discussion. We update a forecasting model which always shows my total asset values will remain fairly stable over the next couple of decades. The FA usually tells me to increase my cash holding and consider putting more into bonds as an insurance as my exposure to the stock market is a too high with respect to having ready-cash for next 1-2 years. I know I am currently much too low on cash and need to fix that.
 
Last edited:
VulpusVulpus said:
although my wife is currently self-supporting I want to make sure she also has enough if I die young and she would cease working
Click to expand...
Dying young is not your problem, living to 100 is. As an individual, it looks like you are doing fine but...

You haven't provided much info on your spouse which will have the biggest impact on your plans. She seems to be a high earner but does she have similar wealth & pensions accumulated as you do? If she retired tomorrow, can you both afford it?
 
VulpusVulpus said:
I considered changing them to ARFs but decided not to do it at the moment since I have no near-term need to draw them down.
Click to expand...
If you remain non-resident in Ireland, I think you will struggle to convert them to ARFs when you plan to draw them down. In general, Ireland will want any tax due on your ARF. And your country of residence may also want tax. I think only one or two countries have double tax agreements with Ireland that cover ARFs. You may have to go the annuity route, as you can get an exemption on Irish tax for this.
 
Brendan Burgess said:
€2.3m is plenty if you die young.
Click to expand...
_OkGo_ said:
Dying young is not your problem, living to 100 is.
Click to expand...

Yes, this is clear. The important thing is making sure I and my wife have enough to live a long life!

_OkGo_ said:
You haven't provided much info on your spouse which will have the biggest impact on your plans. She seems to be a high earner but does she have similar wealth & pensions accumulated as you do? If she retired tomorrow, can you both afford it?
Click to expand...
She is currently a high earner but this became the case only in the last 1-2 years. She has accumulated savings of c.80k, currently all in cash and wishes to invest in something low-risk. We are looking at options. No other private pension or property beyond the family home. She has strong earning potential in the next few years. She greatly enjoys her work but I feel 3-4 years down the line she will want to go part-time and remain part-time well into retirement years, but it's likely she will still have a decent income if all continues well. However it's important my accumulated savings and investments will support the 2 of us in retirement, in case she could not work, e.g. for health reasons. She is well catered for in my will. Our finances are largely separate because we married later in life but that's not really too important for this discussion - we share all expenditure and support each other financially as necessary.

Persius said:
If you remain non-resident in Ireland, I think you will struggle to convert them to ARFs
Click to expand...
This is very useful, thanks. I will research it again. As I recall, I could get a statement from the local tax authorities that I am tax-resident here and once that is provided to the Irish ARF provider they will not deduct Irish tax on withdrawals. Any tax liability would be in my country of residence. But certainly, I must review that if I think of going the ARF route.
 
VulpusVulpus said:
get a statement from the local tax authorities that I am tax-resident here and once that is provided to the Irish ARF provider they will not deduct Irish tax on withdrawals.
Click to expand...
That's not the case. Revenue will not give an exclusion order for an ARF.
 
Fortune said:
That's not the case. Revenue will not give an exclusion order for an ARF.
Click to expand...
When I enquired about the ins and outs of taking an ARF, Mercer told me:
"If you are not living in Ireland (as mentioned in your request), you can complete the attached IC2 form and return it to the address mentioned on it."
The form they sent me is attached.

In any case, where I live, pension fund withdrawals are not currently taxable, so the ARF tax-free lump-sum is of no benefit for me, unlike if I lived in Ireland.
 

Attachments

This PWC article is quite informative IMHO.
As I understand it, the ARF provider has to break down the "income" and "gains" achieved over the year and then both are taxed according to the double tax agreement for each category. In practice, I'm not sure if any ARF provider is willing to do this, which is why you may struggle to take out an ARF when living abroad.
 
Persius said:
This PWC article is quite informative IMHO.
As I understand it, the ARF provider has to break down the "income" and "gains" achieved over the year and then both are taxed according to the double tax agreement for each category. In practice, I'm not sure if any ARF provider is willing to do this, which is why you may struggle to take out an ARF when living abroad.
Click to expand...
Tremendously useful link, thanks.

I see Aviva don't accept non residents for their ARF. However Mercer didn't mention it as being an issue.

1779306224859.webp

Meanwhile I found an AAM thread on this topic titled "Non residents - risk of no ARF option". I need to go through the 4 pages of comments.
 
VulpusVulpus said:
Meanwhile I found an AAM thread on this topic titled "Non residents - risk of no ARF option". I need to go through the 4 pages of comments.
Click to expand...

Non residents - risk of no ARF option

I've an Irish DC pension, but no longer live in Ireland (USA). I believe the below may apply to anyone non-resident when it comes time to purchase ARF. I've recently learned from a PWC article (cannot link it here - search "PWC ARF non resident") that the revenue has suggested onerous ARF...
www.askaboutmoney.com
 
Thanks for the feedback regarding the ARF, this was most useful.

I am trying to think of any new questions or topics worth discussing with my FA. Keep in mind we have done an annual review for many years and talk regularly, and at the moment I feel I don't have much new to bring up other than just update the usual forecasts. Here's what I have so far:

Does this appear a good balance? I know it's too light on cash.
1779452444292.webp

I am trying to decide where to take cash from.
I would like to reduce my responsibilities as a landlord generally, and specifically in Ireland because of the burden of regulations - I see many discussions on this forum - and will probably be able to take back the irish property a year or so from now - and keep for personal/family use, although that will initially be very light usage.
Selling one of my non-Irish properties seems like a good option for cash as they will sell quickly for a good price. Lease agreements renew in mid-year.
But in both the above I will lose income, the only income I have.
Is selling a property and keeping it mostly in cash (or whatever interest rate I can get), enough living money for a few years at least, a reasonable tradeoff?
It's important to know that CGT on the non-Irish property sales will be zero due to local tax regulations where I live.

The other option for cash is to take it out of my Dimensional fund, but that will incur CGT, and I'm quite happy with the fund performance.
I'm inclined to not touch the pensions for now, for no good reason perhaps other than that they are pensions, which is not very rational I suppose. (As I understand it, pensions withdrawals are not taxable locally, but I would need to confirm that.) Should I be comparing performance of the 3 pensions and the Dimensional investment and be a bit more calculating about which to withdraw from?
 
Last edited:
I’ve put together a short analysis here that may help frame this discussion with your FA:

Planeir Client Session

Planeir client session viewer for secure read-only planning conversations.
planeir.ie planeir.ie

The key point is that I don’t think the question should be “should I sell a property so I have cash to live on for a few years?”

A better way to frame it is: “should I sell a property to bring my cash reserve up to an appropriate retirement level, and then invest the remainder to help fund the income gap in retirement?”

Most advisers would generally want retirees to hold a healthy cash reserve, often around two years of spending. But once that reserve is covered, holding too much extra in cash can create a drag over a long retirement.

In the analysis, I looked at the Irish property sale scenario on that basis: use the sale to support the right cash reserve, reduce landlord responsibility, and put the remaining proceeds to work in diversified investment funds.

The projections suggest the position is much tighter at €90k p.a. spending, but looks much more manageable at €60k p.a., especially if the Irish property is sold and the excess proceeds are invested. This also excludes pensions, spouse income and foreign State Pension income, so the full picture may be more comfortable than the simple projection shows.
 
geraldo2001 said:
I’ve put together a short analysis here that may help frame this discussion with your FA:
Click to expand...
Thanks, I appreciate very much the time you put into this! It's very useful to explore modelling scenarios.

geraldo2001 said:
A better way to frame it is: “should I sell a property to bring my cash reserve up to an appropriate retirement level, and then invest the remainder to help fund the income gap in retirement?”
Click to expand...
Absolutely agree.

geraldo2001 said:
In the analysis, I looked at the Irish property sale scenario on that basis: use the sale to support the right cash reserve, reduce landlord responsibility, and put the remaining proceeds to work in diversified investment funds.
Click to expand...
While I might be inclined to sell the foreign properties sooner, post-CGT which applies only in Ireland, the net return would be similar, so this model still works.

geraldo2001 said:
The projections suggest the position is much tighter at €90k p.a. spending, but looks much more manageable at €60k p.a., especially if the Irish property is sold and the excess proceeds are invested
Click to expand...
The reality is that 90k is very much a worst case for budgeting purposes since I don't track actual spending (too complicated unless I would spreadsheet everything into categories and add my wife's expenditure too). The children have part-time income and state grants which greatly reduces the 2x20k I budget for them each year (univ abroad).

I will go through this model a number of times. thanks again.
 
Regarding the two pensions I have from earlier employments in Ireland, total 250k.
Note that one is in the employer pension fund, the other is in a buy-out bond. But I think my options are the same regarding both.

As discussed above, transferring them into an ARF - which was my original plan at some stage - may not be easy or even possible as I am non-resident.
It's unfortunate, because my understanding is that the ARF was introduced to be a better option than the Lump Sum + Annuity, i.e. keep the funds invested, ARF goes into the estate on death, etc.

But if I have to take a Lump Sum + Annuity, then some questions if anyone is able to advise:
  1. Is my understanding correct that an Annuity is a fixed sum per year which is worked out by the insurance company at the time I request it, based on the fund value and actuarial input on my life expectancy. And that the Annuity dies with me. A good deal if I live to 90+, a bad deal if I die much younger.
  2. I'm in good health, but what if that changed before I request the annuity? Is that factored into the amount offered?
  3. Do I have to accept the amount they offer as Annuity, even if I think it's a poor return on the fund value?
  4. I think there is typically a cap on the lump sum, right? 25% or something like that. I No way to take it all out in cash? To be confirmed, but my understanding is where I live pension withdrawals are not taxable, so the 200k (I think) tax-free limit in Ireland would not be relevant.
and

5. What happens to the pension funds I have accumulated if I die without having done any of the above? Liquidated and the total fund value goes into my estate? That would be good from my perspective.

6. My current stance is I should not take any action regarding these pensions. The growth has been good for many years, and in terms of my overall assets, they are not something I need to tap into right now. Is this a good approach or I should take some action?

Thanks again

UPDATE
I just found this very useful thread on the forum, which appears to answer my question 5 about the inheritance aspect and indeed question 6 also, i.e. leave the pension fund invested as it is now.
"How are pension funds and ARFs taxed after a person dies"
I cannot post a link.
 
Last edited:
VulpusVulpus said:
UPDATE
I just found this very useful thread on the forum, which appears to answer my question 5 about the inheritance aspect and indeed question 6 also, i.e. leave the pension fund invested as it is now.
"How are pension funds and ARFs taxed after a person dies"
Click to expand...

Key Post - How are pension funds and ARFs taxed after a person dies

There seems to be a lot of confusion over this. I don't have any direct experience so I will draft this key post and correct it based on feedback. The first objective is to clarify the tax treatment. Only after that is done, will we discuss the planning points. PRSA before retirement...
www.askaboutmoney.com
VulpusVulpus said:
I cannot post a link.
Click to expand...

Key Post - New users must wait one hour between posts and cannot put links in posts

Spammers flood askaboutmoney with posts with links To prevent that we have some limits on new users 1) They must wait an hour between posts. 2) They cannot put links in posts These restrictions are lifted, when you become an established poster. An established poster must have at least 10...
www.askaboutmoney.com
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top