Government changing company directors pensions?

I'm self-employed and I have set myself up as a limited company. So I am a director of the company and I'm looking to start a directors pension at some point in the future.
My accountant seems to be a nice guy and he recommended the pensions guy that he normally recommends to clients.

I didn't get a very good vibe off them on the phone, he said that the government may be changing directors pensions at some point and they won't be as attractive as they are now so it's better to start it now.

I got the feeling that he wanted to make a sale quickly and was saying that to make me panic into acting now.

I just want to ask people out there is there any truth in what he said?

Those changes have already happenned with the introduction of retail master trusts effectively replacing executive pensions in November 2022. There were also changes made to PRSA's that came into effect on the 1st January '23 that provide an alternative in certain circumstances. Aside from that I'm not aware of any other proposed changes on the horizon.

Kevin
www.thepensionstore.ie

Brilliant Kevin, thanks for that. I couldn't remember exactly what they guy said because I did phone him ages ago and maybe this is what he was talking about. I should give him the benefit of the doubt!

From reading up this morning it seems that these new retail master trusts are complicated, I saw this thread from Marc about them


What I would like to do is to set up a pension for myself and that I can buy shares in the US stock market from my phone, or failing that from my laptop. Is this possible now?

I'm starting to think that just buying shares with cash and taking the 33% hit on CGT each year is a viable option due to simplicity....

Master trusts are more complicated but it is all done at a high level and you don't see it, it is carried out by the administrators of the scheme. From an policyholder point of view, things are the same as before.

As for online trading, there aren't a lot of providers that allow you to trade on your phone for your pension. Davy probably allow it (I don't use them as a provider myself, so I don't know for sure).

Buying shares directly v company pension? The income you receive to buy the shares is after tax, so you are immediately down -52%. Liable to CGT every time you sell as well as income tax, USC and PRSI on dividends versus no CGT, income tax, USC or PRSI within a pension.

Steven
http://www.bluewaterfp.ie (www.bluewaterfp.ie)

Thanks Steven. That's sad to hear, from research I did before it seemed like Stocktrade was a viable option to use to buy US shares for self directed pension. I use Interactive Brokers to buy US shares on my phone with cash and it does exactly what I want, fees are very low too. Would love to be able to use them or similar for my pension.

I'm not in a position to start my pension immediately, so I hope that by the end of this year maybe there will be more options as everyone gets used to the new legislation.

Seems odd though, that surely there must be other 1-person limited companies that would like total control over the investment of their pension in the same way I do?

You can trade on your phone with Davy, but there does seem to be restrictions on some securities. There was a listed VC firm in London, called the trading desk and some waffle about qualified investors. Can buy the same share on IB without issue. Davy's fees for trading non-IE/UK shares are silly (relative to IB certainly).

You can start a self-administered PRSA with its own trading account. Since January 1st 2023, your company can put company contributions into a PRSA without any BIK implications for you.

Regards,

Liam
www.FergA.com