Pulling out of employers pension scheme

2 months ago I signed up to my first pension scheme and so far have only paid €150 into it. Now I've decided I don't want to pay into it anymore as I'm in a low paying job and can't afford the €75 a month. Is it easy to cancel it or am I tied to it for a certain length of time?
The other reason I want to cancel is because I'm looking for a better paying job as I have qualifications that I'm not using.

Any advice gratefully appreciated, pension is with Eagle Star through a local insurance broker. I expect I'll have to forfeit my €150 already paid

2 months ago I signed up to my first pension scheme and so far have only paid €150 into it. Now I've decided I don't want to pay into it anymore as I'm in a low paying job and can't afford the €75 a month. Is it easy to cancel it or am I tied to it for a certain length of time?

What sort of pension? A personal pension/Retirement Annuity Contract plan? A PRSA? It would be unusual for you to be locked in for any period of time but your contributions to date will be as far as I know.

Sinead

Pensions are a great long term investment, if you can afford it. Also does your company contribute to the scheme on your behalf?

C

"I expect I'll have to forfeit my €150 already paid"

That money will remain in the account until you retire.
You can decide to stop paying into the pension at any time its your choice.

Depending on the Insurance company you can also decide to reduce the monthly contribution. I think the min is 30 euro pm. (Hibernian) Not sure about Eagle Star.

pulling out of pension

I'm only on the company pension scheme 2 months i heard that a person had to be on it 2 years or so before they could take it with them. I am actively seeking a new job so when/if I get one I will be paying into a pension then?
My boss knows nothing about this yet, is it possible to keep paying the money in myself and reduce the amount after I quit this job? I'm assuming that in my next job i won't be eligible to join a pension scheme until the initial probation period is up?

Re: pulling out of pension

Not sure but I think that what you can't take with you is your employer's contribution. Money that comes out of your salary remains yours but you don't get the benefit of anything your employer may have paid into the scheme on your behalf. There are no other penalties for moving your monies to a different pension scheme (e.g. your new employer's scheme) but if you choose to take your money as a lump sum instead of leaving it in a pension scheme then it's fairly heavily taxed afaik. I'm sure there's information on the Oasis website about this.

Re: pulling out of pension

I'm only on the company pension scheme 2 months i heard that a person had to be on it 2 years or so before they could take it with them

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Check the rules for your particular scheme to see what the 'vesting period'. It can be no longer than 2 years, but some schemes have no vesting period.

If you leaving the scheme before the vesting period is up, you forfeit any employer contributions. For your employee contributions, you can either;

- leave your contributions in the company scheme, let these investments grow and get a small pension when you retire.
- transfer your contributions into a 'buyout bond' which will be invested on your behalf until you retire and will then generate a pension for you.
- get a refund of your contributions less 25% tax. If you are normally a high rate taxpayer, this can mean a tax saving of 17%. The catch is that if your new job doesn't come through until the month after the vesting period is up, your funds are stuck into the scheme and you won't see them again until you retire. So you'd want to be pretty certain of your chances of getting a new job before the vesting period expires to try this.

re: tax...

Thanks!

Tax isn't really a problem, I don't even earn enough to pay tax at the 20% rate - hence looking for a better job. I needed this job to build up a bit of experience but now I'm a bit more employable with a few years under my belt

Re: re: tax...

You will be able to take a refund of your own contributions and stop paying your own contribtutions. If you are not paying tax then you will not be taxed on your contribution refund. You should contact someone in the Groups Administration department in Eagle Star and they will be able to help you