New pension comparison tool launched to track funds
The National Pension Helpline has launched a new online comparison platform which tracks the performance of hundreds of pension funds.
Strange though, there is no link to the actual tool.
Unofficial Pension Fund Comparison Tool Launched
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Strange though, there is no link to the actual tool.
That "National" Pension Helpline site is really misleading in my opinion...
Several people have posted here on Askaboutmoney thinking that it was some sort of "official" site when it's not.
25% tax free pension withdrawal at age 50
Hello All, I read with some interest here -> https://nationalpensionhelpline.ie/pension-calculators/tax-free-pension-lump-sum/ In summary you can withdraw 25% of your pension tax free when aged 50 or above. From reading the site it says you can keep working after this withdrawal. I have the...
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JoeRoberts
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And
Would have thought such domain names would be rejected by IDR
Why? Does it actually violate any of their rules?
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That site is so bad.
No obvious option to seach their list of funds.
No obvious way to de-select the funds that are pre-selected.
I've noticed a few funds on there that aren't pension funds.
Looks like they just got a subscription to fund info provider and mashed all the providers together.
Seems entirely pointless, but I suppose it'll get a few eyeballs onto their site, confuse people and make them a few quid on referrals to advisors through the site.
That's my experience of most of their content up to now. And, as pointed out elsewhere, some of it is incorrect/misleading.
Brendan Burgess
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Guys
Journalists are busy. When you see stuff like this, let the journalist know, politely.. I have emailed him.
Hi Brian
The National Pension Helpline has launched a new online comparison platform which tracks the performance of hundreds of pension funds.
These guys are using official sounding names to mislead people. And your online piece may add to the confusion by giving them credibility. I think you should point out that it's a private company despite its official sounding name
https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2025/0724/1525045-pension-comparison-tool/
And, as it happens, it's a terrible website
https://www.askaboutmoney.com/threa...-comparison-tool-launched.241186/post-1950222
Brendan
Journalists are busy. When you see stuff like this, let the journalist know, politely.. I have emailed him.
Hi Brian
The National Pension Helpline has launched a new online comparison platform which tracks the performance of hundreds of pension funds.
These guys are using official sounding names to mislead people. And your online piece may add to the confusion by giving them credibility. I think you should point out that it's a private company despite its official sounding name
https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2025/0724/1525045-pension-comparison-tool/
And, as it happens, it's a terrible website
https://www.askaboutmoney.com/threa...-comparison-tool-launched.241186/post-1950222
Brendan
FWIW I contacted the a Pensions Authority about the National Pension Helpline site years ago and they never even replied to me.
25% tax free pension withdrawal at age 50
So the new personal pension is a completely new pension. Yes it would be.
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Brendan Burgess
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Fair play to Brian. He corrected it immediately
“It has been launched by the National Pension Helpline, a private firm that offers financial advice to consumers.”
“It has been launched by the National Pension Helpline, a private firm that offers financial advice to consumers.”
I don’t envy journalists but they do have a responsibility especially those who work with RTE.
A press release obviously landed in his inbox and he published it with a little bit of rewording.
The damage here is minimal but it does add confusion.
I used work for a public body that did good work for the public. However it was relatively common for news organisations to publish business owners complaints about delays or red tape without an opportunity for us to respond or maybe contact us at with an hour to publish. They had no interest in basic fact checking there story. The details didn’t matter anyway as the story was x says…. Not that delays are…
The outcome was the public’s impression of the body was not great, I don’t blame the public. Yet people in the organisation went to work every day seeking to protect the public and the businesses complaining were in breach or worker or food safety measures.
Journalists are busy, the industry has issues but it doesn’t give them a free pass.
We don’t let doctors, engineers etc away with that.
Good to see the update, funny that his article says that, while the disclaimer in the footer on National Pension Helpline says "information-only website and does not provide direct financial advice", surprised they are getting away with that.
I think they need to do some more QA before releasing. I was just using it to compare some Vanguard funds and it had the legends wrong on the charts, so it was showing a graph of Vanguard Global Stock with -1% growth over last 3 years. If I add/remove the same funds I can get a different label colour for it!
JoeRoberts
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Do Rte and other media outlets get paid for publishing these style of "articles "? It is better than running an advertisement that would be skipped over and ignored.
Oh great!. Something else to be correcting when past performance comes up.
Central Bank or Pensions Authority would have zero interest in this.
Not too hard to find advisor websites that would have questionable accuracy info on them but I'd say the resources aren't there for regulators to go after those. You don't have to be a regulated entity to publish inaccuate or mileading information on a website, unegulated websites can do it also. It's not like the advice/info is in a suitability statement to a client. Probably more viewed as opinion content.
Bit of a boo-boo by RTE though to publish it though.
Central Bank or Pensions Authority would have zero interest in this.
Not too hard to find advisor websites that would have questionable accuracy info on them but I'd say the resources aren't there for regulators to go after those. You don't have to be a regulated entity to publish inaccuate or mileading information on a website, unegulated websites can do it also. It's not like the advice/info is in a suitability statement to a client. Probably more viewed as opinion content.
Bit of a boo-boo by RTE though to publish it though.
I don't believe they're allowed to take a straight-up ad money for publishing an article without labelling it a "sponsored". However, a few points regarding the broader Irish media landscape that may be of interest:
- The RTE brainstorm series gets funding from "partner institutions" who "have no role in editorial decision-making"
- Most of the top Irish media outlets have accepted money from the Department of Foreign Affairs as part of a scheme pushing for more coverage of the Department's preferred topics.
- Look at who's buying a lot of ad space in the Irish media. As an editor, would you be keen for your writers to go after one of the main industries that butters your bread?
My point is that there are many layers of incentives under that surface that can influence what gets pushed by the media, versus what just gets a brief mention or none at all. I don't know what goes on. I just know that a lot goes on.
In RTE's defence: While I agree the website name is deliberately misleading, and the journalist should have called them out more harshly, I still think the company have provided a useful new tool, so you could make a case that the launch is newsworthy.
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