Spare Cash, Unit Fund or Pension

Riggers#

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I am 57 yrs old married working man and have 250000 euro's in a Bank a/c doing nothing and 100000 in Prize bonds. I have no debts or mortgage to worry about. I only started paying into AVC back in June of this year and have max out on Pension AVC with my Occupational DC pension scheme. My DC Pension and PRB value is 196000 euro's. I don't have any investments apart from only the pensions and would grateful for any advice

My question is would it make sense to invest my cash into Irish Life/ Zurich investment fund for 5 to 7 years or put cash into my DC pension fund even though I have max out on tax relief.
 
I have a feeling that there's plenty more like you Riggers. A fair bit will be taken away by fees, etc, with the funds, but depending on what funds you get into the returns are "usually" better than most other returns, although you'll have to leave them in for a good few years. I personally don't think 57 yrs is too old for doing this. In any case, there's not many other options for getting a return on investing? When you say, would it make sense to invest in Irish Life/Zurich? Do you have an independent financial advisor for doing this? Or, who, if anyone, told you to maybe go down this path?
 
Thanks for your reply, yes I spoke to Financial Adviser and his recommendations was to invest 200,000 into Zurich fund for 5 to 7 yrs...
With inflation eating away @ cash it was advised this was best option . I know there are set up charges and fees for this to happen but with 41% exit tax on growth you make is very off putting. I did find the FA very good in explaining my situation , Pensions, options. I don't think there is anything more I can do with my Pensions.
 
I have no problem paying high tax on investment returns, if the returns were big enough. When you say the FA recommended Zurich, did he mention any particular fund (there are many) and was he an independent FA?
 
Just another question I want to ask would it not be better to invest your spare cash into your DC Pension scheme even though you have max out on your AVC than opening a new Mutual Fund with Life company.
 
I would think yes, if you like the fund choices with your DC pension plan and you don't need the funds anytime soon. especially as you are over 50 so anytime you want to retire that plan, you can access your funds.

the AVC limit is just for getting tax relief but i think in other threads, it has been mentioned that there is no limit on adding funds
 
Thanks for the reply I will put some money into my DC pension to give it a much needed boost as I only have 8 years left. I will also start a Zurich Fund for children paying a lump sum with monthly payment using the child allowance. Hopefully this would contribute as their College fund

I think it is best for me to concentrate on my Occupational DC Pension fund than having to open a investment fund with Life company.
 
Interesting I spoke to a FA from BOI and he mentioned going for Dynamic 95 (95% is protected) protected bond. But estimates are not great. Likelihood of only getting back protected amt is 41%. this is the latest version
[broken link removed]
 
Interesting I spoke to a FA from BOI and he mentioned going for Dynamic 95 (95% is protected) protected bond. But estimates are not great. Likelihood of only getting back protected amt is 41%. this is the latest version
[broken link removed]
That product is from 2016
 
Yep just saw that and need to find the replacement scheme. Either way not sure if these schemes are really worth it, saying that leaving in a deposit account doing nothing is not great either
 
Yep just saw that and need to find the replacement scheme. Either way not sure if these schemes are really worth it, saying that leaving in a deposit account doing nothing is not great either
These bonds can be fairly convoluted and complex. If you're not 100% clear on how the bond works and how/if you will get a return, you might be best to leave it. Is a simple unit fund out of the question for you - diversified investment with known charges. In general, it should keep you ahead of inflation at a minimum, for a long term investment.
 
Enlightening thread on those funds here.

If I read that right they leave most of the money on deposit and invest the rest in an option. They'll be charging you negative interest on that deposit - so you'd be losing 1%+ a year on that making it even harder for the investment to generate a positive return.
 
Looking at the BOI one it looks like the max you could earn was reduced from 40% to 30% and on last count 25%
 
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