I started that job with a guaranteed Pension…is it still guaranteed?

The retirement/pensions industry is guilty of technical jargon that baffles anybody not working in Pensions!

This is particularly prevalent in group pension schemes. If you are that person who recalls being told of a guaranteed pension many moons ago, you may well remember terms like defined benefit, 50% salary etc.

This promise of a guaranteed monthly pension has rapidly evaporated in Ireland, high profile and particularly negative stories like Waterford Crystal pension scheme is a case in point. Thankfully most are not like this, however, they are under financial strain. Group DB schemes are now asking members to consider taking a set amount from these schemes and exiting.

The simple reason is cost, it is a promise that for many they can no longer be kept. However, like anything related to money, it is rarely straightforward! There are a few key questions one needs to ask of their scheme/trustee/themselves or a financial adviser:

  • Am I being asked or pressured to take a...
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What can we learn from Warren Buffett?

 

What can we learn from Warren Buffett?

  

Where do you start with Warren Buffett? Widely recognised as the world’s shrewdest investor, the “Sage of Omaha” is now 90 years young and still doling out nuggets of advice to investors across the globe. Using his investment expertise, he had amassed a fortune of some $79 billion as of August 2020, making him the 4th wealthiest individual in the world.

Buffett is chairman and CEO of the Omaha (Nebraska) headquartered conglomerate, Berkshire Hathaway. His annual letter to shareholders is highly valued and their annual shareholder’s meeting has grown into an enormous event, attracting crowds some years in excess of 40,000 people! People want to hear what Buffett has to say.

The only infuriating factor in all of this is that he makes it all sound so simple… While of course it is not, he is guided by a series of principles that he sticks to and he regularly speaks of these through pithy and highly...

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Expert Pensions - Premier Financial join nationwide group of Pension Experts

Premier Financial have recently joined a new nationwide group of pension experts that have been set up to improve access to expert pension advice across Ireland.

The Expert Pension's belief is you need "money to retire not age". Whether you have, had or need a pension, you should get the retirement plan that gives you the lifestyle that you want in retirement.

Being part of the group we provide Pension Retirement Plans by using cashflow modelling. Our financial plan is called Premier Financial Plan.

Premier Financial Plan helps you get a deep understanding of your current financial situation, identifies your future cashflow requirements and gives you a clear plan how to achieve this.

We have an 8 step process that is designed to make preparing a financial plan for your future simple. If you want to learn more you can read more about the Premier Financial Plan on our website at this link Premier Financial Plan .

A pension is the most tax efficient asset that you...

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What to do if your retirement funding is falling short

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What to do if your retirement funding is falling short

 

Look, it happens regularly… people realise that with their current retirement planning approach, they are going to fall short of achieving the lifestyle they want in retirement. This happens for a whole lot of reasons – not having a plan, starting to save too late, not saving enough or the wrong investment strategy.

The starting point has to be getting a clear and realistic picture of where you actually stand. We can help you here, by assisting you in,

  1. Identifying the lifestyle to want in retirement
  2. Putting a cost on that lifestyle – the fund you will need to achieve it
  3. Seeing if you are on course to achieve your targeted lifestyle with your current retirement funding plan (including all sources of income in retirement)
  4. Identifying any shortfall
  5. Coming up with a plan to address the shortfall.

Let’s assume you’ve done all of this, have identified a shortfall and want to do something about...

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What's all this about Investment Behaviours?

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What’s all this about Investment Behaviours?

 

 

It’s not an easy ride for investors today, when you consider some of the actual and potential headwinds facing you,

  • Covid-19
  • GDP down 6% in Ireland in Quarter 2 2020
  • A market fall of >30% earlier this year
  • Negative interest rates on offer in the Irish banks
  • Brexit – will there be a deal?
  • US presidential elections – what will happen there?

Any one of these on their own would appear like a big deal. But all of them within one year – wow!

It can be difficult to remain calm with all this swirling around. But that is exactly what’s needed here – to remain calm. And it’s our job to help you do that. We’ve seen these situations before, where the sense of needing to take action, even any action at all seems to be right course. But it’s not, instead it’s important to follow the well-worn path of staying focused on your plan. Here are a few thoughts to help you to...

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The purpose of insurance is to pay claims when needed

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The purpose of insurance is to pay claims when needed

As we emerge from lockdown and the world is getting back to some sort of normality, unfortunately for some people the pandemic has had quite a significant impact on their income. We’ve had a small number of queries from clients in this situation who are looking to reduce their expenditure. Some are pausing savings plans and other regular investment products. One or two people have queried whether they should cut back on their levels of life assurance and specified illness cover. 

While we look at each individual case on its specific circumstances, generally we try to guide clients towards making savings elsewhere. We hope they will read our other article this month on that very topic! We remind these clients that these insurances are in place for when that enormous life changing event happens to them and their families. The purpose of these products is to pay claims when needed, so it’s important to have...

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Is it time to review your spending?

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It's time to review your spending?

A huge amount of the time we spend with our clients is spent building an understanding of your goals in life and developing a financial plan to help you achieve your objectives. A lot of attention goes into your retirement strategy, your investment approach and other such important areas.

 

One area we never forget about though is the other side of your financial picture – your expenditure. After all, this impacts your level of saving and investment in your future. This has come into sharp focus in 2020, particularly as we emerge from lockdown due to Covid-19. For some people, reviewing this makes sense as they have simply gone through a period of much lower spending than normal. For others who are facing a loss of job or a reduction in income, it is out of necessity. For everyone, there’s an opportunity to save more into the future.

 

Here are 10 areas which we believe are worth investigating to see if there are...

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The Importance of Employee awareness in the Redundancy Process – what you as an Employer can do

Redundancy isn’t the most pleasant topic to discuss, but it is important.

Both Employers and Employees face making difficult decisions, sometimes these decisions have to be made within a very short timeframe and unfortunately, in the current climate it is becoming all too common that people are losing jobs and finding themselves plunged into the uncertainty that comes with this.

Employees who find themselves being made redundant can feel that they are in a lonely place and have nowhere to get information or advice. Employers have a duty of care and an obligation to ensure that all employees understand the redundancy process and know what their entitlements are. However, Employers may struggle to find a solution to how best address the needs of their employees at this difficult time.

We in Premier Financial have developed 4 online educational courses specifically tailored for Employees facing redundancy. This suite of products provides a cost-effective means of providing a...

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Is it time to rethink the importance of money?

As economies around the world start to cautiously emerge from their various states of lockdown, people are also stepping back into the light albeit gingerly and carefully. Some shops and services are open for business again, others have a while to wait still. Some activities that involve mass gatherings such as sports events and concerts face a quite uncertain future for some time to come.

The last few months have been a time of great uncertainty for all of us. Apart from the threat to our health, most people’s work lives have undergone significant changes. For some, this has been a very difficult period with businesses closed and jobs gone for a while, or in some cases for good. Others have experienced reduced income as a result of the Covid-19 restrictions. Some lucky people have not really been hit in the pocket; they have just had to adjust to a different way of working.

We’ve all had quite a bit of time to think, both about the present and also what the future might...

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What do your money and the coronavirus have in common?

A recent phone conversation with a client triggered this article, as we were discussing the volatility in markets over the last few months. This was a relatively easy conversation, as this particular client has a very measured view to managing her pension fund and her investments. She doesn’t make rash decisions, she maintains a long-term perspective and doesn’t fret over every movement in the markets.

Our conversation then moved to on to the impact on all our lives of the Covid-19 restrictions – this is a topic coming up in every single conversation we’re having these days! As we chatted through the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, we came to the conclusion that there are a lot of similarities between the worries caused by money and those caused by the pandemic. Let me explain…

 

It’s very easy to lose perspective

When the markets take a big hit as they did from the middle of February to mid-March, it’s very easy to lose perspective....

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