Key Post The Single Public Service Pension Scheme

[cad450]

3. Choice of Funds from Cornmarket

In the original OP I talked about some of the equity index funds you can invest in via Irish Life from Cornmarket.

After doing a bit more digging on the bond funds they have available, the only one that seems to have performed well over a long period of time is the "Indexed Fixed Interest Fund" (bearing in mind past performance not an indicator of future performance). This fund invests in 50% Euro government bonds and 50% Euro corporate bonds. It isn't technically an index fund because it tracks the bond allocation in the Irish Life Consensus Fund, which, in turn, tracks the allocation of bonds in various actively managed funds. At the same time it seems to be the only decent bond fund Irish life have available with lower fees and there isn't a nice global one. Would welcome views from others on this - the indexed European gilts fund seemed like it might be OK too but has very high fees and got absolutely hammered by interest rate rises.

For the equity funds, it appears that the "World Equity Indexed Fund" has lower fees than the "Global Indexed Fund", so the former would be the one to go for. They both track different indices but the end difference between both shouldn't be material and the difference in fees for the world equity indexed fund should mean it pulls out in front over time.

Hi @Ent319, does the information here still stand? I ask because I had a Cornmarket rep out to the house today & she was either total unaware that we can access other Irish Life funds through Cornmarket, or was unwilling to advise on them. She completely denied that there was any other option than the Public Sector cautious/balanced/adventurous. Seemed quite put out when I didn’t sign up to any of them Where can I find the fees charged for the different fund fees too, please? All I can see is the 1%. Thanks a mill

 

[Ent319]

Hi @Ent319, does the information here still stand? I ask because I had a Cornmarket rep out to the house today & she was either total unaware that we can access other Irish Life funds through Cornmarket, or was unwilling to advise on them. She completely denied that there was any other option than the Public Sector cautious/balanced/adventurous. Seemed quite put out when I didn’t sign up to any of them Where can I find the fees charged for the different fund fees too, please? All I can see is the 1%. Thanks a mill

Heya,

So investing in other Irish life funds is 100% allowed. See the no advice application form here: https://cornmarket.cdn.prismic.io/c...6_No_Advice_AVC_Application_Form_08-21_D3.pdf

As regards specific fees on other funds I’m trying to get to the bottom of this atm following Gerard’s posts.

 

[Johnthomas92]

Heya,

So investing in other Irish life funds is 100% allowed. See the no advice application form here:

As regards specific fees on other funds I’m trying to get to the bottom of this atm following Gerard’s posts.

In the no advice application form you shared here, the only index funds offered are:

• Indexed Developing World Equities
• Indexed Emerging Market Equities

There is no reference to the (best performing) Indexed World Equities fund that is referenced earlier in this thread. Does anyone know if this can still be requested as part of the no advice process?

 

[wally1]

@Ent319 This has been most helpful, thank you. Not sure if this is permitted; but do you offer consultancy services at all? I'd love to get some further advice on my scenario. Thanks.

 

[Ent319]

In the no advice application form you shared here, the only index funds offered are:

• Indexed Developing World Equities
• Indexed Emerging Market Equities

There is no reference to the (best performing) Indexed World Equities fund that is referenced earlier in this thread. Does anyone know if this can still be requested as part of the no advice process?

You can write down the Irish Life fund you want to invest in in that section of the form and they will put you in it. That’s what I did.

@Ent319 This has been most helpful, thank you. Not sure if this is permitted; but do you offer consultancy services at all? I'd love to get some further advice on my scenario. Thanks.

Hi Wally, it’s very kind / humbling for you to ask that but I don’t provide financial advice at all (see disclaimer at top of thread). There are posters on the forum who are financial advisors (like Gerard in this thread) who should be able to help you out if you have queries. I only really dip my toe in pensions stuff.

 

[CharlieMac]

Fantastic post @Ent319 - Should this be a Key Post in the Public sector pensions threads? @Brendan Burgess

I'm uploading to this thread as well the calculator I put together for the previous thread. This is a net pay calculator for SPSPS members, it includes a max AVC calc too.

Thank you to all contributing to this excellent thread.

@gort_gráinneog Can you please give some more explanation about how to fill in the items in the blue box in your spreadsheet AVC contribution calculator?

Standard Rate band - If my salary is €84k then what do I put in here? Is it €0.40 for 40%?
Annual Tax Credits - Where do I get these? How do I enter them?
Cycle to Work - What is this for?
Credit Union - What would one put in here and why?
Union - Is this maybe the amount I pay as a subscription to a workplace Union?
Income Continuance - What would go in here?

Thank you.

 

[gort_gráinneog]

Thank you to all contributing to this excellent thread.

@gort_gráinneog Can you please give some more explanation about how to fill in the items in the blue box in your spreadsheet AVC contribution calculator?

Standard Rate band - If my salary is €84k then what do I put in here? Is it €0.40 for 40%?
Annual Tax Credits - Where do I get these? How do I enter them?
Cycle to Work - What is this for?
Credit Union - What would one put in here and why?
Union - Is this maybe the amount I pay as a subscription to a workplace Union?
Income Continuance - What would go in here?

Thank you.

No problem

Standard Rate band - This is your rate band according to your Tax Credit Certificate. For 2024, a single person with no adjustment the rate band is €42,000.

Annual Tax Credits - This is the amount of your tax credits according to your Tax Credit Certificate. For 2024, a standard single person would have €3,750.

Cycle to Work - This is only if you're availing of the Cycle to Work scheme and have a relevant deduction for this. This is only if you do this, otherwise leave blank or enter 0.

Credit Union - Many people pay directly into their Credit Union account from payroll. This is only if you do this, otherwise leave blank or enter 0.

Union - If you're a member of a union, generally you pay your membership as a percentage of your salary. If you are a member you can input what that percentage is here. For example 0.5% or 1%. If you are not a member, leave blank or enter 0.

Income Continuance - Many people pay into an Income Continuance scheme and similar to the union membership, it is generally charged at a percentage of your salary. There is tax relief available on this and it's built into the calculator. You only need to input the percentage charge of the scheme. For example 0.57% or 0.75%. If you do not pay into an Income Continuance scheme, leave blank or enter 0.

I hope this helps. I think you should refer to your Tax Credit Certificate which is available within the My Documents folder/heading of your myAccount profile on revenue.ie. It will inform you of your amount of rate band and tax credits.