Informed Decisions Independent Financial Planning & Money Podcast

Welcome to Ireland's award-winning Personal Finance Blog & Podcast. This week we explore a topic which is being asked more and more, what fees are payable, and what is the impact of these fees on a pension, with particular focus on Approved Retirement Fund (ARF). We will not just determine the impact monetarily but also the impact on how long that ARF might actually last you, which is kind of a big deal! This won't be a long episode, but I sure hope it helps shed some light on a dark corner! If you haven't already caught last weeks' episode, which helps explain how to maximise the duration of your ARF, you can grab that here. Now it goes without saying that you get nothing for nothing, and that we will pay fees in both the accumulation phase of pension/retirement planning, and in the spending-phase. Much like an egg-timer, where you turn it over, there is no halting it, there is a finite amount of grains in the top and there is a finite amount of time before they all pass through. We are precious of every grain, we only have so many to use. I guess in this case what we are trying to do is to be aware of any grains that might be escaping out the sides without us even knowing about it. We're looking to plug any leaks! The focus of this piece is very much on the impact of the fees on our ability to draw income from an Approved Retirement Fund over the course of our 'Life 2'! Paddy.

Welcome to Ireland's #1 Personal Finance Blog and Podcast, with me Paddy Delaney! This week we explore an important topic for many, and that is managing our income when we leave full-time employment. When we enter 'Life 2' we are switching from accumulation to spending, which is a big shift for many people to take. I hope this piece offers some insights that will help you. In this article I aim to answer the following questions that I frequently hear in working with clients who are in this stage, and for many are a cause of concern, until answered: How much can I safely take from my Approved Retirement Fund? Should I be flexible about how much I take from my Approved Retirement Fund (ARF)? Should I invest in Bonds in order to avoid volatility Drop me a mail here. Paddy Delaney - Informed Decisions

Discover a fresh take on retiring early, where retirement transforms into 'Life Two.' The host shares personal stories and insights on how to navigate this new phase with financial advisors’ help. Explore crucial considerations for a secure early retirement, emphasizing flexible income strategies. Whether you're ready to embrace 'Life After Full Time Work' or rethink what retirement means, this discussion highlights the importance of preparing financially for a fulfilling future beyond traditional work.

The concept of Financial Independence Retire Early means different things to different people. Friend of the show, Fin Goulding has no shortage of experience when it comes to the investment and insurance industry, and joins us on the show to share his own take on FIRE, and how people can achieve Financial Independence. Be sure to stay till the end where Fin shares his take on how to manage and achieve long term investment success. Paddy Delaney Fin's Twitter

If you have, or are soon to have, an Approved Retirement Fund (ARF) you might benefit from the following research. Wondering how to make your ARF last longer? How to generate as much income as feasible from your ARF? This week we continue where we left off 2 weeks ago, and as promised share some strategies that can Welcome to Ireland's #1 Finance Blog, where we're on a mission to share insights that'll hopefully help you with money. If you have any questions, feedback or suggestions on the back of this piece please do get in touch with me directly here. Would love to hear from you. Paddy

Welcome to Informed Decisions Podcast, Ireland's #1 Finance Blog & Podcast. As we continue out focus on managing and optimising pension and retirement income in Ireland we are delighted to bring you one of the leading lights in the academic research of this topic, Abraham Okusanya. As the creator of Finalytiq in the UK, author of 'Beyond the 4% Rule', and host of the 'Science Of Retirement' Conference there is not much that he does not know about delivering results for customers in their investing and retirement planning. Sit back and enjoy! Paddy Delaney P.S. apologies for the dodgy sound quality when I am speaking - my fault entirely. Will sort it for the next interview!

How long will my ARF Income last? This week we continue our analysis of how we can actually go about drawing and maximising our pension and ARF incomes when we reach the age where we start to 'spend' instead of 'accumulate' our money. For me at least this is the fun bit for us. We don't have pensions because we want a pension, we have pensions because we want what it can potentially give us. Ultimately what it will hopefully give each and every one of us is financial independence and choice when we get to that stage of life. Unfortunately this is the bit that doesn't get very well covered in media and education. What we tend to read and hear about is 'the pension' or 'the ARF' (the products people are trying to sell us!) - we rarely hear about the finer details, and the details that will be the most significant when we get to that stage. I aim to arm you with the ideas and knowledge now so that you can achieve tangible results when you get there yourself and you are drawing an income from your ARF or other pension funds. We will be looking at two core aspect to Retirement Income Planning; Withdrawal Rates, and Dynamic Spending Strategies. First up are Withdrawal Rates. Paddy Delaney

Investing in Bonds, particularly in retirement (or once we stop working full time!) is the norm. If you are a member of an Occupational Pension scheme or you have a mass-market pension fund you are more than likely signed-up to LifeStyling on your scheme. We covered it in Blog 53. What LifeStyling will do is move a large chunk of your pension or investment portfolio from Equities and into Bonds as you approach your 'normal retirement age'. Can be a good thing, can be a not-so-good-thing. This week I aim to share a short piece outlining the key aspects of Bonds, how they work, what you need to know about them if investing in them, and how they can stand to benefit/hinder investors in the mature stages of their financial planning. We will focus on Bond funds, and Bond Index Funds specifically in this weeks' edition. Paddy Delaney

Welcome, and thanks for checking out Informed Decisions Blog. Over the past couple of weeks we have focused on managing finances in later life. Last week we explored the 2 options many of us have when we get to draw our retirement funds, Annuity or ARF. Seeing as it currently accounts for the majority of retirement income strategies it will form a large part of coming weeks. We will be exploring how one can attempt to maximise the income one gets from an ARF. Make sure you stay till the end because we will also be exploring how you can aim to ensure that your ARF lasts at least as long as you do - and hopefully longer, potentially leaving a sizeable legacy to loved-ones. This week we will now share insights on some really important aspects of Approved Retirement Funds (ARFs). I was being a little cheeky calling this 'what you should know about ARFs' but I do honestly believe these are the basics. I also believe that knowing these fundamentals will help, whether you already have an ARF, or will have one in the future. We will determine how ARF-income is taxed, how it is handled on death, and explore how you can maximise the income you get from your ARF. This latter element is an entire science on it's own however I will intro the main aspects to consider. Thanks, Paddy Delaney

Should I buy an Annuity or Approved Retirement Fund (ARF)? Unless we are retiring from a defined benefit (DB) pension scheme we will have this decision to make in regards how to access our pension benefits. Once we take out tax free lump sum we will have this decision to make with the balance. It is a big decision with multiple complexities involved, both financial and emotional. Do I want the predictable route or do I want the less predictable but potentially more lucrative route? Do I want the peace of mind knowing that I'll get €x every month for the rest of my days, or do I want the potential to get more every month and potentially leave a legacy? Do I want a piggy-back down Everest or do I want to navigate it on my own two feet? That last sentence might seem odd but bear with me. Before I outline the considerations I believe we should make before deciding on annuity or ARF, I want to put this decision in a little context. I was speaking at a recent 'Point of Retirement' event in Croke Park. As part of my piece I compared managing one's income in retirement to climbing and descending Everest. I made the comparison that when we are in 'accumulation' phase of building and preparing for leaving full-time work we are on the 'ascent' of the mountain. We reach the peak at the time we depart full time employment - however as anyone who has ever climbed a mountain will confirm - the descent is far from easy. One stumble and it could be damaging or indeed fatal. This is a much lesser risk when we are ascending, a fall or stumble has a much lesser probability of significantly screwing-up our accumulation plan. While some could argue it is slightly dramatic, I do believe that managing our income in retirement is very similar to ascending and then descending Everest. Given the potential dangers, the impact of a stumble financially, and the significant importance of staying on track draws many comparisons. One of the attendees at the session sent me a link that very night, which was breaking news of the Irish climber who had unfortunately gone missing on the descent of Everest, only for another Irish climber to be confirmed dead a week later, again on the descent. It was obviously a pure (and really awful) coincidence but it surely hammered home the point about the dangers of descending, or in this situation, of navigating our 'spending phase'. Paddy Delaney