Am i right to hold off on starting a pension?

upport - my pension is unit linked ... 100% in equities, mostly "safer ones" ... i.e. banks and stuff that have only fallen, oh, about 90% or so. Yes, I am still contributing on the advice that "you're wrong to try to time the market". Actually, I considered moving it all out of equities in August 2007 when my own gut feel told me the S was going to HTF, but inertia stopped me, as it is now stopping me from stopping contributing.

I hear "with profits" have weathered the storm somewhat better.

.....and cash and government bonds a lot better again.

If you are providing for a basic retirement income (maybe €10k p.a. on top of the Old age pension) the best match is to invest your pension in government bonds

1 It is the safest
2 It is the best match if you are buying an annuity

People have to view equities and property for what they are, a gamble best suited to money you are not relying on to provide a basic standard of living

100% equities is high risk strategy and therefore will provide the highest levels of ups and downs.By staying invested and continuing contributions you will accumulate an additional volume of units during this downturn and will benefit substantially when upturn arrives.With 16 years to retirement the cheap units you purchase over the next few years will greatly enhance your pension fund when/if the unit price recovers.Without a crystal ball its difficult to predict a recovery time but hopefully ten years will be adequate and then you could commence a consolidation strategy six years from retirement.

If your attitude to risk has changed to conservative,a range of low risk options are available.

a pension that is invested in irish shares is complete madness. ireland is a small country that could easily be wiped off the map financially. if we werent a part of europe our currency would have collapsed in value and there would be hyperinflation on imported goods. bank accounts even in foreign currencies may well have been frozen like whats happened in iceland. who knows what the future may bring?

bonds and cash may also not be safe. if there is hyperinflation then an asset like shares would perform far better. just ask the folks in zimbabwe!

the theory is shares should provide a higher yield than bonds and cash as there is more risk. unfortunately many shares in many companies are far too expensive when one considers the risk.

I think it's a good idea to put money aside or have an investment strategy for some kind of retirement plan.

Whether that should be all in Irish pension funds is highly debatable, as we have seen in this thread.