Retired and living off pension

RickyJ

Registered User
Messages
20
If you have retired in the past number of years and are now living off your pension, or pensions, from what you know now, would you have done anything differently while planning for your retirement? The reason for the question is that inflation has been quite high over the past year or two and it seems that the cost of living continues to rise significantly.
The second question is in relation to taxation and fees. The benefits of saving into a pension scheme is well publicised and the amount of taxation that you will pay once you retire can be calculated quite easily but it seems more difficult to estimate the amount of charges and fees that will reduce the pension pot each year. When you see the cost of living increasing with no signs of it every going the other way, you may look to see where you can make savings in your expenditure but in terms of taxation and the costs associates with administering a pension scheme, are there any possibilities to reduce these expense? I keep thinking about these points as I continue to maximise my pension payments in order to make the most of the tax savings while I am still working.
 
You have full controll of any AVCs or PRSAs.
You could consider moving these to a lower cost broker.

When planning for your retirement, check your Prsi record and see if you will have 2080 contributions at your retirement date.

If you don't reach this target at your retirement date aim to get more contributions up to age 66.
These can be from Jobseekers credits, ARF drawdowns or voluntary contributions.

If you are considering retiring at or before age 65, aim to qualify for Benefit Payment 65.
 
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Is it though? While not every (many?) products clarify the TER (Total Expenses Ratio) all of them do state what general charges (hopefully usually 100% allocation and a single Annual Management Charge of 1% or maybe even lower these days) apply which is usually adequate for estimating the drag on growth caused by charges. The days of huge (e.g. first year or two of all contributions) and very high charges are thankfully largely gone especially if one pays attention and, if necessary, shops around for the best deal appropriate to one's specific needs.