Recommendations for good pension advisors

A

aoraki

Registered User
Messages
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Hi,
Not sure if this is against rules or not but I’m looking for some recommendations for a decent pension advisor. I am just looking for general advise around retirement planning and availing of tax breaks as much as I can, I am not looking to buy any pension or other financial products (I already have a pension through work).

I would also value recommendations and testimonials from ordinary joe soaps rather than pension advisors bigging themselves up :)

Location of advisor doesn’t really bother me as zoom meetings are pretty normalised now.

Thanks in advance.
 
If you already have an occupational pension, then simply ask further questions here.

That is the whole point of this website.
 
As Protocol said, ask here. Are some very knowledgeable posters, including financial advisers, who provide answers/guidance for free. In saying that, it is not a substitute for paid professional advice.
 
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TRS30 said:
As Protocol said, ask here. Are some very knowledgeable posters, including financial advisers, who provide advise for free!
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This site is not intended as a substitute for professional advice. There is a world of difference between the often useful tidbits of wisdom offered here and proper advice tailored to the recipient's circumstances.
 
Thanks all for the responses, I appreciate the community spirit and the willingness to share information (while taking it for what it is - online suggestions and not tailored advice). I suppose a concern I would have with posting information here is doxxing myself. I guess I can try be general enough :)

My current pension situation is not good (for various reasons that I won’t go into) and I really want to maximise my contributions over the next 15 years until my retirement. I recognise that I’m going to end up with a pretty poor pension but it is what it is and I want to make it as good as I possibly can. I’m lucky that I am in a group scheme in my job that is making a contribution in the high teens, but that’s only something that has started in the last 2 years.

I want to add voluntary contributions on top of my employer contribution, but I’m not sure what the limit of that is. I also have some savings and I’m not sure if it’s possible to put some of that into my pension fund as a lump sum (but avail of the tax credit side of things). Any bonuses I get from now on as well can be put into the pension.

Regarding other stuff, the only debt I have is a very small mortgage that I’m keeping around more for convenience sake more than anything else. The monthly payment is minuscule. Like I said I have some savings, the bulk of it for my partner and myself, but we’re putting money aside every month for our young kids. I’m not working in the PS and have been working full time for almost 30 years, so should qualify for the state pension as well.
 
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Tax relief limits on pension contributions

This page outlines the tax relief limits on pension contributions
www.revenue.ie www.revenue.ie

Tax relief limits on pension contributions​

Tax relief for employee pension contributions is subject to two main limits:

  • an age-related earnings percentage limit
  • and
  • a total earnings limit.

Age-related earnings percentage limits​

You can get tax relief up to the relevant age-related percentage limit of your earnings in any year.

You might have more than one source of income. If you do, this relief is only from the source of income in respect of which the contributions are made.

Age-related percentage limit for tax relief on pension contributions
AgePercentage limit
Under 3015%
30-3920%
40-4925%
50-5430%
55-5935%
60 or over40%
For example, an employee who is aged 42 earns €40,000 per year. They can get tax relief on annual pension contributions up to €10,000.

Total earnings limit​

The maximum amount of earnings taken into account for calculating tax relief is €115,000 per year.

Employer contributions to an employee's scheme are not taken into consideration when calculating the employee's earnings threshold.
 
You should contribute the max amount you can/allowed (as per post above). Ideally that will be in the top rate of tax. You can use your saving to invest for the 2022/23 tax year up till 31st Oct this year, I believe.

You also need to make sure you are in an appropriate fund type for your risk appetite and investment timeframe.

The other thing you want to watch out for is charges. They will eat into any growth and potential returns. Even seemingly small amounts/percentages can have a big impacts over even a medium timeframe. I appreciate you can't shop around on a company scheme however if the charges were very high, you can set up AVC's (Additional Voluntary Contributions) with a separate provider with lower charges.
 
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Protocol said:

Tax relief limits on pension contributions

This page outlines the tax relief limits on pension contributions
www.revenue.ie www.revenue.ie

Tax relief limits on pension contributions​

Tax relief for employee pension contributions is subject to two main limits:

  • an age-related earnings percentage limit
  • and
  • a total earnings limit.

Age-related earnings percentage limits​

You can get tax relief up to the relevant age-related percentage limit of your earnings in any year.

You might have more than one source of income. If you do, this relief is only from the source of income in respect of which the contributions are made.

Age-related percentage limit for tax relief on pension contributions
AgePercentage limit
Under 3015%
30-3920%
40-4925%
50-5430%
55-5935%
60 or over40%
For example, an employee who is aged 42 earns €40,000 per year. They can get tax relief on annual pension contributions up to €10,000.

Total earnings limit​

The maximum amount of earnings taken into account for calculating tax relief is €115,000 per year.

Employer contributions to an employee's scheme are not taken into consideration when calculating the employee's earnings threshold.
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Thank you Protocol :)

That’s all very clear and makes sense. I had one question around AVCs. In my case my percentage limit is 25%. Just say by the end of this current year my AVCs for the year added up to 18% of my gross pay. That would mean that there was 7% of my limit that I didn’t utilise. Would I be able to make a lump sum payment in early 2025 equivalent to 7% of my 2024 pay, to bring my 2024 AVCs up to 25%? And if so how would I get the tax relief on that, would I need to make a tax return?
 
TRS30 said:
You should contribute the max amount you can/allowed (as per post above). Ideally that will be in the top rate of tax. You can use your saving to invest for the 2022/23 tax year up till 31st Oct this year, I believe.

You also need to make sure you are in an appropriate fund type for your risk appetite and investment timeframe.

The other thing you want to watch out for is charges. They will eat into any growth and potential returns. Even seemingly small amounts/percentages can have a big impacts over even a medium timeframe. I appreciate you can't shop around on a company scheme however if the charges were very high, you can set up AVC's (Additional Voluntary Contributions) with a separate provider with lower charges.
Click to expand...
Thanks for that info! Yeah, that’s a good shout about fees and charges, I’ll need to investigate that. I’m hoping because it’s a group scheme that the company will absorb a lot of them :)

The plan is to make the maximum contributions each year for as long as I can. I need to treat this as a bill that I need to pay every month, like my mortgage. I’m lucky that my employer makes very high pension contributions. If I can stay with them and if I can make the max contribution on my side it will actually be ok by the time retirement comes around. But that’s a lot of ifs.

Are there any other tips/tricks I should be aware of?
 
aoraki said:
Thank you Protocol :)

That’s all very clear and makes sense. I had one question around AVCs. In my case my percentage limit is 25%. Just say by the end of this current year my AVCs for the year added up to 18% of my gross pay. That would mean that there was 7% of my limit that I didn’t utilise. Would I be able to make a lump sum payment in early 2025 equivalent to 7% of my 2024 pay, to bring my 2024 AVCs up to 25%? And if so how would I get the tax relief on that, would I need to make a tax return?
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It seems you have a DC occupational scheme.

The normal contributions by you to the DC scheme attract tax relief through payroll.

Any increased contributions to the work pension scheme through payroll would typically get tax relief through the payroll.





If you start a separate AVC scheme, not through payroll, you would make the contributions from your bank account to the AVC firm.

In that case, yes, you claim the tax relief by submitting forms to the Revenue.

This can be done as part of a normal Form 12 tax return, where you might also be claiming tax relief on medical expenses, remote working, etc.
 
I am more familiar with public servants setting up AVC funds, to enhance their DB pension.

In the case of a DC work pension, instead of starting an AVC policy, can employees not simply increase their contribution rate to the main work DC pension fund? That would avoid having to set up an AVC policy.
 
Yes. And the can make back payments for the prior year and get tax relief via their tax return for that year (rather than through payroll).
 
Protocol said:
It seems you have a DC occupational scheme.

The normal contributions by you to the DC scheme attract tax relief through payroll.

Any increased contributions to the work pension scheme through payroll would typically get tax relief through the payroll.





If you start a separate AVC scheme, not through payroll, you would make the contributions from your bank account to the AVC firm.

In that case, yes, you claim the tax relief by submitting forms to the Revenue.

This can be done as part of a normal Form 12 tax return, where you might also be claiming tax relief on medical expenses, remote working, etc.
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Hi Protocol, yes that’s all correct. I can control the level of AVC I make just by notifying payroll. The monthly AVC payment is deducted from my gross pay and therefore I get my tax relief at source.
 
Okay.

There is a question of terminology here.

An AVC typically refers to a wholly separate pension policy started between an employee and a firm like Zurich, etc., as an add-on policy, with a separate fund, separate to the main pension scheme.

For example teachers, nurses, etc. starting an AVC policy with Zurich or New Ireland to enhance their work DB pension.


Personally, I would not call increased employee contributions to your main scheme as an AVC.

Maybe I'm wrong.
 
aoraki said:
I had one question around AVCs. In my case my percentage limit is 25%. Just say by the end of this current year my AVCs for the year added up to 18% of my gross pay. That would mean that there was 7% of my limit that I didn’t utilise. Would I be able to make a lump sum payment in early 2025 equivalent to 7% of my 2024 pay, to bring my 2024 AVCs up to 25%? And if so how would I get the tax relief on that, would I need to make a tax return?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure how the tax relief might work here.

If a lump-sum employee contribution is made in 2025, surely the payroll system have to apply the 2025 tax regime to that payment??



(I am more used to the situation where the AVC fund is separate from the main scheme.)
 
Protocol said:
Okay.

There is a question of terminology here.

An AVC typically refers to a wholly separate pension policy started between an employee and a firm like Zurich, etc., as an add-on policy, with a separate fund, separate to the main pension scheme.

For example teachers, nurses, etc. starting an AVC policy with Zurich or New Ireland to enhance their work DB pension.


Personally, I would not call increased employee contributions to your main scheme as an AVC.

Maybe I'm wrong.
Click to expand...
Apologies for the confusion, that’s actually the terminology being used by our payroll department. They refer to both the voluntary contributions from payroll and once off lump sums as “AVCs”. You could well be right though
 
Protocol said:
Okay.

There is a question of terminology here.

An AVC typically refers to a wholly separate pension policy started between an employee and a firm like Zurich, etc., as an add-on policy, with a separate fund, separate to the main pension scheme.

For example teachers, nurses, etc. starting an AVC policy with Zurich or New Ireland to enhance their work DB pension.


Personally, I would not call increased employee contributions to your main scheme as an AVC.

Maybe I'm wrong.
Click to expand...
Yes, you’re wrong.

That’s exactly what they are.
 
Gordon Gekko said:
Yes. And the can make back payments for the prior year and get tax relief via their tax return for that year (rather than through payroll).
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Thanks GG. Yes, that’s what I was getting at with my question. This year for example, I know now that the total of the voluntary contributions I make is going to fall short of my limit of 25% by the time the year is over. But I would be in a position to make up the difference early next year by lodging a lump sum.
 
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