portable pension

[noclue70]

Hi,

I am looking for a pension scheme that's portable, preferrably one that I could 'pick up' and continue in case I move abroad. Any ideas?

 

[LDFerguson]

While a PRSA can be continued between different PAYE employments and periods of self-employment here in Ireland, I'm not aware of any pension contract on which you can claim tax relief in several jurisdictions. This is more to do with the lack of portability of tax legislation between countries and nothing much to do with Irish pension contracts themselves.

 

[Fanny]

I have been employed and had two different PRSAs with the last two companies and one company pension with a third company.
As I will go self-employed now, I wonder what the best way is to continue.

I was told that my recent company PRSA cannot be continued, so it looks like I need yet another contract. Thinking of going with Eagle Star nil com 0%/1%, but as I am trying to fill it in, I need to give employer name etc.
Are there different PRSAs for self-employed. How do I port the other PRSAs into the Eagle Life one?

I might also move around Europe in the future and agree with the previous poster that it would be great to have a real European pension product. However, it looks like Europe is not there yet. Is there any financial adviser who can be recommended who knows about cross-border and between employment/self-employment pension issues?
If there are older threads on these please point me to them.

Thanks,

Fanny

 

[LDFerguson]

I was told that my recent company PRSA cannot be continued

That's not true. You can advise the PRSA provider that you're now self-employed and they can help you to do the rest. You will continue to be charged as per the original contract.

Thinking of going with Eagle Star nil com 0%/1%, but as I am trying to fill it in, I need to give employer name etc.

If you're self-employed you can just ignore the section of the application form that requests details of your employer. Make sure you have the correct application form for a self-employed person - check with whoever sent it to you.

Are there different PRSAs for self-employed.

No. Just different methods of payment.

How do I port the other PRSAs into the Eagle Life one?

When you have your new PRSA up and running, contact the other PRSA providers and tell them you want to transfer your fund into your new PRSA.

 

[HighFlier]

I thought the whole purpose of PRSAs was their portability in order to move away from the employer dependent schemes of the past?

 

[LDFerguson]

I thought the whole purpose of PRSAs was their portability in order to move away from the employer dependent schemes of the past?

That's right - as said above, Fanny can continue her existing PRSA if she wants or start a new one and transfer her existing PRSA funds into it.

 

[Fanny]

Thanks, Liam! Much appreciated.
An Irish Life employee said that this PRSA was a company PRSA and I would have to open a new one (an individual PRSA) and could not avail of the company conditions.
When I changed jobs before, my PRSA was also frozen and I was told I could not port it to the next job.

Anyway, I will try to get away from IrishLife, I had too many headaches over them. I also put a lump sum of my SSIA plus state bonus into it (not sure if that was a wise decision, the value has decreased alot since).

I now applied for an LA Broker Eagle Star nil commission via their website. There is no option to chose self-employed paperwork though so I assume it must be the same they use for employees. What is the main difference paying into a PRSA when I am self-employed so? Looking for previous threads also.

Fanny

 

[LDFerguson]

I also put a lump sum of my SSIA plus state bonus into it (not sure if that was a wise decision, the value has decreased alot since).

Almost all pension funds are down at present, due to global economic conditions. This is to be expected. If your original decision to invest in the particular fund was based on picking a fund that suited your risk profile and long-term objectives, the decision should still be valid today.

Be careful of transferring a fund that has dropped in value into another fund. If the new fund has a similar composition, it will have dropped by a similar amount and so there will be no issue. But I wouldn't be inclined to move the fund, for example, from a predominantly equity-based fund to a cash fund as you'll only be locking in your losses to date and will miss out on any potential rebound.

What is the main difference paying into a PRSA when I am self-employed so?

Not a huge amount. You're still trying to accumulate as large a fund as possible for when you retire. Your limits on contribution are the same percentages of salary, dependent on your age. Your options at retirement are the same.

The major difference between contributing to a PRSA as a self-employed person and contributing as a PAYE employee via payroll is that going forward you will pay your contribution gross from your bank account. You will claim your tax relief when you file a tax return. But the amount of tax relief you will qualify for won't be affected.

You don't get PRSI relief on contributions as a self-employed person. This is an inequity in the system that irritates me, being self-employed myself.

 

[Fanny]

Thanks.

Yes I have chosen 100% equity funds with Irish Life, and my intention was to move them to other 100% equity funds with Eagle Star. Do you see any problem with that? I would have chosen Eagle Star from the start, but my employer only wanted to pay into an IL pension, so I ended up with them. My lump sum would have developed better in the Eagle Star fund so that's why I kinda regret that decision.

>> You don't get PRSI relief on contributions as a self-employed person.

That's strange, indeed!

Fanny