44 year old, looking to make up for living a feckless life

conor_mc said:
You should be able to get a PRSA AVC from the broader marketplace.
Click to expand...
conor_mc said:
so aim for 100% investment in a passive/indexed World Equities fund. Annual charge should be less than 1%.
Click to expand...
Any recommendations for where to look for this?


BIG-notorious said:
Our financial situation isn't a million miles away from the OP's and we've no particular difficulty in overpaying the mortgage, paying into our AVCs, making investments, saving cash, and having a couple of decent holidays a year.
Click to expand...
What AVCs have you taken out? What investments are you making?


I should have been clearer on this. I have about 10 years service under the 1995-2004 pension scheme. I took voluntary redundancy so I have some preserved benefits. I am entitiled to €12 lump sum and ~€1k a year. I am not aware of the supplementary pension for Class A public servants, can you tell me more about this?
 
Last edited:
bobgiga said:
Any recommendations for where to look for this?
Click to expand...

Probably the best (cheapest) PRSA in the world?

The launch of Royal London Ireland's new pension product in late November 2024 seems to have finally offered customers accessible, lost-cost PRSAs. Through an execution-only broker, it is relatively easy to access a passive fund AMC of 0.55% or significantly lower on larger transfers. Taking...
www.askaboutmoney.com
If you choose to go execution only then maybe one of the usual sometime poster brokers...
 
bobgiga said:
should have been clearer on this. I have about 10 years service under the 1995-2004 pension scheme. I took voluntary redundancy so I have some preserved benefits. I am entitiled to €12 lump sum and ~€1k a year
Click to expand...
That still doesn't sound right. That pension scheme pays out 1/80 per year of service as pension and 3/80 per year lump sum. So 1/80 x 10 =10/80 means your wage was 80/10 x 1000 = 8000 per year wages. But your lump sum gives 80/30 × 12000 = 24000 per year wages.
Assuming that 24000 sounds more likely as a wage when you left, you should get a pension of 3000 per year when you hit 60. And then that figure will be increased with public sector increases since then, so the figure will probably be closer to 5000 a year depending on what year you finished.
 
You made me dig out the documentation!

Note: my service is not exactly 10 years.
The lump sum is calculated as final salary * service * 3/80 = ~12k
The annual pension is calculated as final salary * service * 1/200 = ~1.5k

It looks like there are specific criteria under the voluntary redundancy scheme that make it different. I also don't think the figures will be increased due to public sector increases since then. I am not sure about that though. Would you know where I can follow up on this? I assume with my former employer?
 
bobgiga said:
We are not married, what benefits would that bring to out situation?
Click to expand...
Just to expand slightly on what Brendan mentioned above, you should check the details of death benefits of your public service pension - it's very possible they only apply to a surviving spouse, not a partner, so could be important. I think it might not be the same consideration for your partner's private sector pension, as I (think!) they mostly don't insist on it being a spouse (but worth checking the details of that too).
As someone else pointed out, it's very easy and cheap to get married if you decided to.
 
Ahh - yes, this is a coordinated pension so it is reduced to take into account the Contributory OAP. See this link - https://circulars.gov.ie/pdf/general-council/finance/2006/1480.pdf page 31 gives the calculations. If your salary was less than 3.333333 times the COAP then you don't get the 1/80ths. 1.5K sounds better though than 1k - a 50% increase.
But yes, when you get to retirement the figure will be uprated by the value of the pay increases given to your grade on leaving. They will do this automatically when they start to pay you out. So if it was 1.5k 'preserved benefit' when you left and if, (say) wages go up 4-fold by the time you are 60 in 16 years time it will be (say) 6k per year.
Follow up with HR at your previous employer.
Good luck!
 
bobgiga said:
The annual pension is calculated as final salary * service * 1/200 = ~1.5k
Click to expand...

You need to calculate based on the current salary (2025) for the grade you finished up on. It is then 1/200 for salary up to €50,145 (State Pension * 3.333333), plus 1/80 for any salary above that level (by years of service, of course)

I don't know how the redundancy may have impacted this.
 
Last edited:
bobgiga said:
I am not aware of the supplementary pension for Class A public servants, can you tell me more about this?
Click to expand...

Pre-2004 Class A retirees may be eligible for a Supplementary Pension from 60 - if they are not claiming a Welfare Benefit and they are not in insurable employment. It would normally cease at State Pension age in any event. You would not be eligible if, for example, you were still working in your current capacity.
If you were eligible and if you had exactly 10 years of service in the pre-2004 scheme then the rate would be 10/40 of current State Pension.
 
Re: the supplementary pension, if you were on a standard pension accrual (i.e. not a prison officer or Garda) your minimum retirement preserved pension age is 60.

Your occupational pension at this age will be as per the calculation you posted 1/200th x service x final salary up to 3 times the value of the OAP + 1/80th x service x any salary above that.

Whereas if you were a Pre 1995/Class D public servant, your pension would be 1/80th x service x final salary.

The difference between what a Class D would get at age 60 and what a Class A would get at age 60 is the supplementary pension. Once you reach OAP age, you get that instead of the supplementary. It's a little more complex than that but that is the gist of it.

Problem is, you cannot claim the supplementary while in insurable employment and as your retirement from your single scheme service is later than 60, presumably that means that you will want to work until that later age - but perhaps not.

I'm 99% sure that the voluntary redundancy will not affect your pension and am 100% sure that the final salary used for your pension calc will be whatever the current salary for the grade is, not what it was when you resigned.
 
Last edited:
Thanks all, I have submitted a query with my former employer.

The Ghoul said:
Re: the supplementary pension, if you were on a standard pension accrual (i.e. not a prison officer or Garda) your minimum retirement preserved pension age is 60.
Click to expand...
Yes, I was on a standard pension accrual as a Class A public servant (self praise is no praise)).

The Ghoul said:
Problem is, you cannot claim the supplementary while in insurable employment and as your retirement from your single scheme service is later than 60, presumably that means that you will want to work until that later age - but perhaps not.
Click to expand...
Well, I would love to retire at 60. Going through this excercise to try and get a better sense of my options. Info re. supplementary pension is very helpful in that regard.
 
The Ghoul said:
I'm 99% sure that the voluntary redundancy will not affect your pension and am 100% sure that the final salary used for your pension calc will be whatever the current salary for the grade is, not what it was when you resigned.
Click to expand...
That is correct, confirmed by my former employer. I had been told during a consultation with an AVC provider that it was the salary at the time of resignation.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register