Informed Decisions Independent Financial Planning & Money Podcast

Looking for Financial Advice in Ireland you can trust? A few weeks ago I did a piece on finding 'Independent Advice in Ireland', this week I intend to share some ideas that might help you evaluate a firm before engaging them. "I just checked my investment portfolio - now I know why they call them Brokers" - anonymous. I came across that quote in a sketch cartoon recently and found it amusing. With MSCI Index up over 20% so far this year it's not really applicable however! Perhaps you already have an advisor but are unclear about their intent, fees or abilities. You may have had several over the years but none really 'did it' for you! Or perhaps you are thinking about engaging one for the first time. I hope this piece will help a little. I fully accept also that being a fully independent fee-based advisor, I will carry some biases here - but as always I'll tell it as I see it. Paddy

This week I aim to share some brief insights that might be worth knowing when you are building an investment portfolio in Ireland. When it comes to investing it's probably fair to say that there is so much choice, probably too much! Reminds me of that weird situation referred to as the 'paradox of choice' where, when confronted with too much choice we can stall, suffer from inaction and often make choices that are far from the ones that really wanted! Barry Schwartz's TED Talk is here, worth a watch! That same paradox seemingly happens to often to investors and pension-holders in Ireland also. When we are faced with a choice of multi-asset funds, private banking funds, insurance products, index funds, Lithuanian car parks, Alaskan leisure centres, you name it, there are options available for all tastes! Paddy QFA RPA APA

Expat Tax is a subject that I often get asked about from listeners. These are individuals that may be leaving or returning to Ireland. Tax being such a specialist area I felt the best thing to do was to invite someone onto the show who specialises in tax mobility. I was delighted to be joined by Barry Murphy of Expat Tax Services Ireland (www.etsi.ie). In this episode we discussed and chatted about: - Tax Domicile and Residence, and the impact these have - Pension transfers across different countries - Applying for tax reliefs and grants on relocation - Employment Tax Reliefs - How to benefit from State Pension if living/relocating from abroad - Special Assignee Relief Programme (SARP Ireland) - How to split your tax year between countries - Foreign Earning Deduction (FED Ireland) Expat Tax is such a niche area, with limited credible information available. If you know anyone currently living abroad whose thinking of coming back to these fair shores, do them a favour and send this to them! And vice-versa! I hope it is of value. Paddy.

Ever wondered which is the best multi-asset investment Fund in Ireland?? Well if you have, you came to the right place! Welcome back to Ireland's dedicated Investment and Financial Planning Blog & Podcast! In my work with clients I frequently get asked about Multi-Asset Investments, whether they are any good, and which ones might be best. So this week I aim to answer a question that I think has yet to be answered in these parts; which is the best Multi-Asset Investment Fund in Ireland! Owning any investment is kinda like 'Pick n Mix' sweets, you can have all of one type of you can have lots of different types in the one bag! Paddy Delaney QFA RPA APA

'Mind the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves' is a well-worn saying, the origin of which I have no idea! While it might give the perception of being 'mean' or 'tight' I reckon it's basis is in being proactive and deliberate in our approach to managing our personal finances. This week I share 10 small changes that can have a siginificant and positive result for you as an investor, saver or retiree. I hope it helps. Paddy.

Ever wonder about Financial Advice in Ireland? Are financial advisors worth their salt? Are financial advisors worth paying? Should I bother getting financial advice? My take is that it totally depends on what you are hoping to achieve, and what support you are hoping to get. The thing that strikes me about both of the examples above is that both Client A and Client B are probably already PAYING for financial advice, irrepsective of whether they are actually benefiting from it or not! In pretty-much every retail financial product relating to financial planning (investments, protection, pension, savings) there is probably a commission going to the advisor or agency that you bought it through, even if you have not seen sight nor sound of them since! Unfortunately this it totally true, and what I believe is as equally as unfortunate is that you could potentially be benefiting from the equivalent of an extra 3% in investment returns per year! Paddy

I was fortunate enough to get to attend the annual Nucleus Platform Conference in Manchester last week. They had an agenda with some of the most exciting speakers in Financial Planning from Canada and USA. While Nucleus are a UK-only platform I was really chuffed to get on the ticket, and made full use of my day over there, meeting lots of quality advisors, hearing some extra-ordinary speakers, and have a super fun time too! In this episode I get to share insights with you from the following: Westside Financial Planning, Sheffield. Vanguard Michelle Hoskin Nick Lincoln Alan Smith I hope it is of some value! Paddy.

When it comes to Financial Planning in Ireland it is fair to say that it is a pretty new service to many. It seems many of us are aware of the role of traditional Brokers and Insurance Agents, but perhaps not the same level of awareness or understanding of Financial Planning. In this short piece I hope to convey what Financial Planning is and how it can potentially be of significant value to people. Paddy Delaney

I frequently get asked by listeners and readers about funding into a Self Administered Pension. There seems to be a lot of confusion about what it is, or indeed isn't, and who they are or aren't well suited to. So that is this weeks' objective, to answer these very queries. I hope it is of use. My father used to shoot. He'd go out with his busted old shotgun with the stock taped on with insulation tape! He'd walk around fields for what seemed like days at a time, coming home with the occasional pheasant! As frowned upon and macabre as that may seem to some today, when you are from the midlands of Ireland that was (and remains) the equivalent of golfers hunting for birdies today! I remember vividly the first time he took me out shooting. Being fiercely animal-centered I wasn't up for shooting any live animal, but I do remember taking my first shot with a shot-gun in the wilds of Kilkenny. Aiming for a tree, with nerves and an unsteady hand (I was 10!) I let fly a cartridge, missed the tree and very nearly shot a passing duck. Luckily he passed unharmed, but that was essentially the beginning and the end of my shooting career! Whenever I see a duck these days I'm reminded of that fond memory. If It Looks Like A Duck, Quacks Like A Duck, Its A Duck! A Small Self-Administered Pension Scheme (SSAS) is just that, a pension, which is small in number of members, and which is self-administered! There are lots of misconceptions about what they do and don't do. If you like detail then I strongly suggest reading this, Chapter 19 of the Revenue's Pension Manual. That will keep you going for a while! I get a lot of questions about Self-Administered Schemes, so here are some of the typical questions I get asked about them, and a broad answer to help get some clarity around them. Thanks for your time. Paddy.

Welcome back to Ireland's award-winning Financial Planning Blog & Podcast, with me Paddy Delaney. Delighted you have decided to join me! This week we are going to explore an approach to retirement income planning that I mentioned months ago. It is customary for retirees in Ireland to decide to generate pension income by using either an annuity, or an ARF. In Blog113 we explored the pros and cons of both of these in isolation. However, as we like to look at things a little differently here we're going to dissect the merit or otherwise of using a combination of the two. If you google it you'll find millions of results for articles and pieces outlining why an ARF or why an Annuity, but you might struggle to find one which addresses the topic we are about to! We will briefly summarise the probable outcome from using an ARF only, an annuity only, and only then will we analyse using a combination of both. Paddy Delaney RPA QFA APA