Informed Decisions Independent Financial Planning & Money Podcast

In Blog 61 we mentioned Section 72 plans and said the following....These are creations of the Financial Services industry endorsed by the Revenue and are sold to people as a means to reduce or indeed eliminate a potential Inheritance or Gift Tax Bill down the road. They cost money and I am told are not as much fun nor rewarding as giving the money to loved-ones while you are alive! Having said that they can work very well for some people in building an effective Financial Plan and planning their inheritance in a tax effective manner, particularly if the estate is of a size and time is against them in gifting enough in the time left! We will devote full episodes to both these types of plans in the near future. So, as promised a few weeks ago we now going to try explain what exactly a Section 72 is, and isn't, and how to ensure that, if this is something you are thinking is for you, how to ensure it does what you want it to do for you, to achieve the goal you have in mind. Speaking of goals, that is what we are on a mission to do here at Informed Decisions, to help you achieve the goals that are important to you. I completely empathise that our industry doesn't always make it easy to see the wood from the trees but that is our mission, to help you get whatever it is that is important to you. You can join our community here, and please do share this with anyone you feel may benefit from it. Boom! If you can't or don't want to spend the money or give it away before you die then a Section 72 plan may very well be a really useful and cost effective last resort to help cover the tax bill that inherently (no pun intended!) arises when someone dies with too much money. The very worst case scenario is that a vast swathe of the estate is handed over to the revenue, this might just be a means to protect against that fate. Thanks. Paddy Delaney QFA | RPA | APA | Qualified Coach

Optimism is the madness of insisting all is well when we are miserable. These words are reported to have come from Voltaire, the acclaimed French writer and philosopher. I am neither a Frenchman or a philosopher but I would like to put forward the suggestion that Optimism is actually the only way! When backed by concrete evidence it is the only rational belief to have, particularly so when it comes to investing your money over the long term. This piece aims to convey the rationale for such a belief whether you are savings €100 per month into a savings or pension plan, or have €10 million invested in a well diversified equity portfolio. This is not a debate about the virtues of owning equities over commodities, or for indeed property. Developing and nurturing this belief is the single most important attribute to have in achieving long term investment success. We can't predict the future values of equities, nobody can. The future is always uncertain, however it is rational and human to base our expectations and beliefs on what has gone before. Firstly please allow me to confirm that optimism does not equate to sentiment. The Consumer Sentiment Index hit a 17-year high in January of this year. This suggests that as a nation we feel confident about the outlook for the economy, right now. This sentiment is a fickle thing which changes constantly based on our environment, it is not an over-arching belief. Optimism, in this instance is an over-arching belief. It is a belief based on evidence. This evidence shows long term growth of the 'equity market' is upward only in its trajectory. While our industry might like to mystify and complicate things the 'equity market' is nothing more than the value of the World's profit-generating companies. The basis for this belief is supported by a vast ocean of evidence. One recent piece of credible and researched evidence to refer to is 'The Rate of Return on Everything, 1870 - 2015, produced by five economists including Oscar Jorda of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and Katharina Knoll from the Deutsche Budesbank - examined the return on all asset classes in 16 developed countries over that 145-year period. It found equities returned 10.75% a year over that time. That is, more than 10% annual growth every year, on average, for almost a century & a half. There were, of course, years where the return was negative 20-40% over that time period. Investors must learn to accept this fact, for it is these temporary declines in values that deliver such impressive returns for the investor who does stay the course. Those who cannot stay the course in the face of these temporary declines ultimately pay the price for their pessimism. Enabling you to stay the course is where a credible financial advisor can pay for themselves many time over, their value far exceeding their cost, but only if that relationship is build on mutual respect and trust! History has shown that over the long term a well diversified equity portfolio has delivered far in excess of inflation, which is ultimately the curve most investors strive to stay ahead of, otherwise they are losing money. If the world's companies is your investment of choice then there is much to be optimistic about based on current trends. According to the World Bank 42% of the world's population was defined as living in extreme poverty in 1990. As of 2016 the World Bank suggest the percentage in extreme poverty has fallen to below 10%, meaning 90% of the ever growing population now have more disposable income, and can purchase the produce and services they desire. Who benefits from this expenditure? The companies of the world who provide them with goods and services. The same companies form the 'equity market' which investors can be owners of when they purchase a well diversified equity portfolio. In addition, research by Brookings suggest that 140 million people are exiting poverty and entering middle-class each and every year on this planet. That's nearly 3million people per week with ore disposable income. There will be another equity market crash, the evidence has shown that volatility is part and parcel of the journey. A period of temporary market decline is never more than a few years away....but learn to accept that, to welcome it, to see beyond it, and recognise that the 'markets' reward those who believe that declines are temporary, nothing more and nothing less. The 10% returns mentioned earlier were achieved despite many global crises, many dark days, many wars, and many self confessed experts predicting that this time the world really was going to end! Please excuse me if I conclude by contorting Voltaire ever so slightly and suggest that.......madness is insisting that all is miserable when all is well!! Optimism is the way....

Andy Hart is one of the UK's highest profile Financial Planners. He hosts his own Podcast, runs a successful Financial Planning firm, and is the organiser of the what is rapidly becoming UK's premier Financial Advisor & Planner Conference (Humans Under Management). And to top it all off he has invited me to share some ideas at his upcoming Dublin Conference.....so I'm super excited about that......We chat with Andy Hart of UK Financial Planning firm Maven Advisers to discover what exactly Financial Planning is, how it benefits clients, and how he saves them from themselves! As you will know we are on a mission here at Informed Decisions to help improve the financial futures of our listeners and readers. We have been voted Ireland's #1 Finance Bog & Podcast in Ireland, and are on a mission to keep the boot down and get the message out to as many people as we possibly can.....your help in sharing this with your friends, family & colleagues helps spread the word (and keeps me motivated!), so please do share the love! While you are at it we'd love to have you join our wee community here. Drop me an email here with any questions or ideas for future episodes you would like covered. You're a Legend! Paddy Delaney 'Chief Informer' QFA | RPA | APA | Qualified Coach

Recently we had a few questions from people who were saving for deposits for their first homes. This week we had another, from Daniel (surname not shared for obvious reasons!), who having read our piece about the impact of inflation on deposit values over the medium term has been moved to get in touch and ask us what are the alternatives! Did you partake in our 2 minute survey yet?? If not then please please do, we would really value your opinion and help us shape what we cover on the blog & podcast. It's just here.....thank you. This is timely, seeing as this week we have also been contacted by Louise McBride, journalist with The Sunday Independent. Louise was seeking our take on what alternatives are available for people who are not content with deposit. While we will cover low volatility investing options in more detail soon I am keen to try to answer Daniel's question. If you are new here then please do check out our 'Why' and we'd be delighted to have you join our wee community of Informed-Decisioners here! We are on a mission to enable individuals to help themselves with their financial futures, and to help them get whatever they want. In this episode we will explore specifically Daniel's question which was.....'I plan to save for 5 years then buy BUT if the purchasing power of my money could lose 10% (5 years * 2% inflation) am I better off investing in a 'safe' fund with some (almost) guaranteed level of return?' Full Blog Here

Regular readers of the Blog and listeners of the Podcast will know that we are on somewhat of a vocation here at Informed Decisions! We are striving to help people get what they want, to take control of their own financial futures. We are not doing this for the applause (though that is nice to get it when it comes!). We are doing this to make a meaningful and positive difference in the lives of those we touch. We aim to connect meaningfully with you. We could of course just blindly go and do whatever we think is the right thing to do here, but we feel it more worthwhile to seek your feedback, your input and your say on what would be of use to you. We are absolutely not the best in the world at all things financial, but we do try our best to create things of use to other people.............as Seth Godin might say 'we are shipping our art'! Some will benefit and some will not. We are hoping to be of benefit to as many as we can. So this week we have something a little different, we are asking your opinion. Long term listeners will recall that we asked something similar of you in 2017 when we asked you to complete a short survey. Almost 200 of you beautiful people duly obliged! In turn we donated a few hundred euro to Irish Cancer Society. This year we have created a short 2-minute feedback form that we would love you to complete. Whether you are read the blog/podcast religiously or checked it out one or twice we really would value your feedback. If you have never read or listened to our stuff then it's probably not relevant to complete the form! So Whats In It For Me?? This year we are going to offer €100 One4All Voucher, and we will donate €100 to the charity of the winner's choice. Even if you do not wish to enter the draw we would really appreciate your feedback. How To Enter? In order to be entered in the draw when you complete the feedback form please leave your name in the comments section of the Facebook post on the Informed Decisions Facebook page. This way we can keep the feedback anonymous but also be able to pick a winner! If you are not on Facebook just drop me a quick mail here to let me know you have completed it and I will add you to the wheel of fortune for the draw! When Do I Win?? We will run the survey until 12th March, or until we reach 200 responses, whichever is sooner! Thanks We are always keen to have your input on what we create and do, and we definitely appreciate all our readers and listeners, and the support and encouragement we have received since we started this 'crusade' almost 2 years ago!! You're a Legend! Paddy Delaney.

It is fierce common lately to hear the financial industry give out about the rates of interest available through bank deposit accounts and to recommend that you should invest your money into XYZ Fund (which just so happens to generate a nice chunky commission for whoever is doing the recommending!). It's funny, they weren't saying the same when equity markets were falling 30% per year and deposit rates were up at near 5% per year! (although they should have been!) We will explore in this episode whether deposit really is a good place or not to keep your funds over the long term. Welcome to Ireland's #1 Financial Planning Blog & Podcast. We're on a mission to share straight-forward ideas and information to help you get whatever financial life you want to have. We rely on feedback to help us improve the impact we have on our readers and listeners, so drop us an email, leave an iTunes review, and share the article if you feel it's of use to others. Access Full Blog Version Here

This week we get to chat with a guy who is making quite a name for himself. He is advocating for greater investor education, in particular with regards to the long-running debate on the value of Active Fund Management versus Passive or Index investing. This is the latest episode in Ireland's only dedicated Financial Planning & Investing Podcast.....available on iTunes, Podcast Stitcher, Podcast Addict and all other podcast players. If you find our podcast or website of any use then we would really appreciate your support, ideally as a iTunes review! We are on a mission to help our readers and listeners to get what they want in their financial lives. Why not subscribe to our community to get access to the latest information once it becomes available. Robin Powell is an award-winning journalist, blogger and content marketing consultant, based in the UK, with specialist expertise in the investing industry. He works primarily work with asset managers and advisory firms at improving outcomes for the end consumer. He also campaigns for better investor education and for greater transparency in global asset management. As well as The Evidence-Based Investor, he edits Adviser 2.0, a blog which explores the changes taking place within the financial advice profession. He is the producer of two highly-acclaimed online documentaries about investing — How to Win the Loser's Game and Index Funds: The 12-Step Recovery Program for Active Investors.

Welcome to Informed Decisions' very first 'Business Success Series'. Our main focus over the past 18 months has been Financial Planning and all aspects of Personal Finance. By all means have a look at our back-catalogue here. We have a huge interest here too in the success of others, and in business successes. For that reason we will bring you 5 or 6 Business Success stories over the course of 2018, to hear how they succeeded and the financials behind their success. This week we are joined by Paddy O'Connell of Paddy O's Granola, who have been growing from strength to strength since it's beginnings a few short years ago. If you feel you have a great story to tell and would like to join us then please drop us an email here. Hope you enjoy the interview, and thanks again to Paddy O for joining us. Thanks, Paddy Delaney Helping Others Get What They Want QFA | RPA | APA | Qualified Coach

It is fair to say that the Financial Advice industry in Ireland has a reputation for forcing products on people, only making money when they sell 'policies'. The truth is that advice has so much more to offer, if it is done right! That is where Financial Planning seems to come into play. A Financial Planner can still sell you policies I guess, however the onus of a Financial Planner (if they are really behaving like a Financial Planner) should be on exploring your future plans, and helping you determine a clear way forward, that maximises outcomes for you. Family Home Relief is one such thing that Financial Planning can help people be aware of......so here goes! This week we'd like to introduce you to Jack. Jack is in his 40's, and his parents, Frank & Sharon are both in their late 70's. Frank & Sharon had worked hard their whole lives, and through effective Financial Planning were able to retire at 62 with their desired lifestyles intact (nice cars, meals, clothes, holidays and hair & make-up!). They have been living the proverbial dream for the past 15 years, and are now in pretty rough health, given their indulgences on meals and relaxation! Frank & Sharon have spent the vast bulk of their retirement funds at this stage (as was planned), and have assets now of €50,000 low volatility investment fund, a car valued at €20,000, and their home, valued at €600,000. Sadly, and in order for this blog to make any sense, they both die, first Frank and then shortly afterwards Sharon. Their entire assets are left to Jack, who is obviously very emotionally distraught, but has now inherited their assets! Full Blog Here

According to Central Statistics Office the average salary in Ireland (2016) of a full-time employee was a 'grocery-shop' more than €45,000. Knowing that figure might make you feel that you're doing well or it might make you feel like making progress on the income you are bringing in. In reality this is the main thing for many of us as we go through our careers ,our own sense of value and worth can unfortunately rest squarely on the amount of money we are paid to do a job for someone else! It's totally cock-eyed but for many people in ireland's society this is what they judge their success on. It's something that I am passionate about changing over the years, I just haven't quite figured out how yet (answers on a post-card please!). Anyway, as 'things' pick up in our economy, there are more and more jobs for people to move to, more and more salary increases happening, in comparison to 2008-2013 at least! While it is not being achieved by everyone there are at any one time many people getting salary increases, be that as a result of promotion, moving to a different employer on a higher salary, or hitting targets when they had not been in the 'rough times'. Welcome back to another edition of the Informed Decisions Blog, Ireland's #1 Financial Planning Blog & Podcast! This week we will explore some of the common things that people do with salary increases, and share a few ideas to ensure you don't do the same! Full Blog Here. Cheers, Paddy Delaney Leave an iTunes Review......