New Ireland AVCs

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Sunnygirl69

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Just wondering if any one else in Single Public Service Pension Scheme (new entrants) have AVC's with New Ireland? This was organised through Cornmarket, the trade unions agent of choice for some reason.
All my calculations were done based on a retirement age of 68 years. They appear to be unaware that current age for state pension is 66 years. I have attached a screenshot of what person I dealt with in New Ireland sent onto their compliance team. 5 weeks later I am still awaiting clarification on this. Not impressed with them at all.
 

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The NRA is just an age that New Ireland use to provide you with future pension estimates. You can retire at an age younger than the quoted NRA. The estimated pension figures will be less than what they quote if you retire earlier.

If you are happy to decide which funds and risk level to invest your AVCs into, you could reduce the fees on your AVCs. This would result in a larger AVC pot at retirement.

Cornmarket's fees are expensive.

You could get a better deal from an execution only broker. If you want to take this route, you could contact a broker and ask for an AVC PRSA pack. Some of these post here. Gerard Sheehy, L. D. Ferguson, L.A. Brokers.
 
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S class said:
The NRA is just an age that New Ireland use to provide you with future pension estimates. You can retire at an age younger than the quoted NRA. The estimated pension figures will be less than what they quote if you retire earlier.

If you are happy to decide which funds and risk level to invest your AVCs into, you could reduce the fees on your AVCs. This would result in a larger AVC pot at retirement.

Cornmarket's fees are expensive.

You could get a better deal from an execution only broker. If you want to take this route, you could contact a broker and ask for an AVC PRSA pack. Some of these post here. Gerard Sheehy, L. D. Ferguson, L.A. Brokers.
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Thank u SClass, that is something I may investigate. But at the minute my issue is getting revised figures from New Ireland to reflect NRA of 66 years.
If I go to a new broker will it be very awkward to get set up? as currently money is taken at source (HSE worker)
 
Sunnygirl69 said:
If I go to a new broker will it be very awkward to get set up? as currently money is taken at source (HSE worker)
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It's relatively easy to set up. The broker can assist you. The only thing the execution only broker will not assist with is the choice of pension funds. You would need to give bank account details and then the PRSA provider would deduct the contributions by direct debit. You would also need to set up the tax relief for the monthly contributions using "my account". After that small amount of setting up, your AVC would then run automatically.

It's good practice to see how the system works for pensions and claiming tax refunds.
The knowledge gained could be useful to you in the future.
 
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T McGibney said:
The figures you're focusing on aren't worth the paper they're written on. You need to focus on fund risk profile and fees charged.
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I wouldn't entirely agree. Some (nasty) pension products calculate seller's commission based on number of years until normal retirement age - more years = more commission - and then if the customer retires before that, they get penalised so the pension company can recoup the extra commission. Therefore if an unscrupulous broker wanted to maximise their commission, they set the oldest normal retirement age they can, presuming that they'll be long gone by the time the client actually retires.

Also - the popular "lifestyling" funds tend to manage their investment strategy based on the stated retirement age. So if the system thinks that you're going to retire at 68, but in reality you're going to retire earlier, it has an impact on the investment strategy.

On the other hand, this might not be the case here at all and the wrong retirement age might have no practical effect whatsoever.

I think it's worth the poster following up on, along with the two important points you've highlighted.
 
Just to follow up on charges.... Cornmarket tell me 0.75% fund management charge and 95% allocation of gross premium.
They also say & I quote....
'the AVC with New Ireland is the cheapest option on the market for HSE staff which is why it is facilitated through your payroll'

Can anyone with knowledge of this area comment please?
 
Sunnygirl69 said:
Just to follow up on charges.... Cornmarket tell me 0.75% fund management charge and 95% allocation of gross premium.
They also say & I quote....
'the AVC with New Ireland is the cheapest option on the market for HSE staff which is why it is facilitated through your payroll'

Can anyone with knowledge of this area comment please?
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The 0.75% AMC is good.

It is possible to get AVCs with 100% allocation and 0.75%/1% AMC, so their statement is false.
 
It may be the cheapest option available on the scheme to buy via payroll, because HSE won't allow you to add an AVC bought through someone other than Cornmarket via payroll.

It's not a PRSA AVC so third party fund costs (included in other ongoing costs) tend to be higher on AVCs. There is no disclosure requirement on this AVC.

95% allocation is the same as having an additional AMC of 0.47% pa (assuming a 20 year period and a moderate growth rate).
 
Is there a PRSA AVC available with 100% allocation and 0.75% AMC? Or one with 100% allocation and tiered AMC based on fund value similar to the way Cornmarket is now structured? Please post links as I can't find any.
 
Yarm01 said:
Is there a PRSA AVC available with 100% allocation and 0.75% AMC? Or one with 100% allocation and tiered AMC based on fund value similar to the way Cornmarket is now structured? Please post links as I can't find any.
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LA brokers = This is 1% AMC, but there are some bonuses, see below.

Start Your Zurich PRSA Pension Today!​

LA Brokers is a low charges, execution-only broker. PRSAs are a simple product. We don’t believe that you need advice so we don’t provide it and we don’t charge for it.

Most investment advisors get paid high commission and this is reflected in a charge of 5% of each and every contribution you make and 1% annual management fee. As we do not provide advice we can afford to reduce the commission we take. As a result, Zurich will not charge you 5% of the contribution, so 100%* of what you pay in each month, goes into your pension fund. Zurich will charge just the 1% annual management fee.

*In addition, lump sum contributions of at least €15,000 but less than €30,000 receive a bonus allocation of 0.75%, over €30,000 gets a bonus allocation of 1.5% (the amount must be paid in one lump sum to Zurich and does not apply to contracts written as part of a group including all salary deduction contracts)
 
Yarm01 said:
Is there a PRSA AVC available with 100% allocation and 0.75% AMC? Or one with 100% allocation and tiered AMC based on fund value similar to the way Cornmarket is now structured? Please post links as I can't find any.
Click to expand...

PRSA Ireland | PRSA.ie

Low Cost Pensions Ireland Zurich LIfe The Value Pension Website Execution Only PRSA AVC PRSA Pensions www.prsa.ie
www.prsa.ie www.prsa.ie

This broker is at 1% AMC for AVC PRSA, but please see details below, 0.75% AMC is possible on other types of pensions:

Charging Structure​

All Pension Products​

  • 100% of your contribution is invested in your PRSA, Master Trust Executive Pension, AVC PRSA, ARF, Retirement Bond

  • There are no entry or sneaky exit charges on any products

  • The Annual Management Charge is 1% for PRSAs (including AVC PRSAs)

  • The Annual Management Charge for a Retirement Bond or ARF is 0.75%. NB: Lower AMCs available for substantial (circa €200k+) single contribution transfers.

  • The Annual Management Charge for a Single or Regular Personal Pension is 0.75% (minimum SP €10,000 or RP €500pm) . For contributions less than these it's 1%.

  • Master Trust Executive / Directors Pension - Minimum Regular Contribution €750pm (Single €20,000) - Annual Management Charge is 0.75%. For contributions less than these it's 1%.

  • The regulated entity is paid 0.25% by Zurich Life from the quoted annual management charges.

  • There is no additional broker fee

  • For some regular contribution contracts (eg. RACs & PRSAs), where the regulated entity inputs and generates the policy documents, Zurich Life will pay the intermediary for this work. This payment will be included in your disclosure documents, if it applies. This does not affect the charging structure.

The only contracts currently available on these terms through PRSA.ie are with Zurich Life Assurance plc.
 
Protocol said:

LA brokers = This is 1% AMC, but there are some bonuses, see below.

Start Your Zurich PRSA Pension Today!​

LA Brokers is a low charges, execution-only broker. PRSAs are a simple product. We don’t believe that you need advice so we don’t provide it and we don’t charge for it.

Most investment advisors get paid high commission and this is reflected in a charge of 5% of each and every contribution you make and 1% annual management fee. As we do not provide advice we can afford to reduce the commission we take. As a result, Zurich will not charge you 5% of the contribution, so 100%* of what you pay in each month, goes into your pension fund. Zurich will charge just the 1% annual management fee.

*In addition, lump sum contributions of at least €15,000 but less than €30,000 receive a bonus allocation of 0.75%, over €30,000 gets a bonus allocation of 1.5% (the amount must be paid in one lump sum to Zurich and does not apply to contracts written as part of a group including all salary deduction contracts)
Click to expand...
They have a list of funds in their application pack - Is there a link to a page that describes the historic performance and investment breakdown of each of these funds?
The names are quite generic.
 
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