Podcast117: A Wolf In Sheep-Clothing.....You've Been Warned!
Informed Decisions Independent Financial Planning & Money Podcast
Release Date: 12/10/2018
The Most Consistently Underclaimed Tax Break for Irish High Earners - Pension Tax Relief Explained
Informed Decisions Independent Financial Planning & Money Podcast
Most Irish high earners are claiming roughly half the pension tax relief available to them. Not because the rules are complicated, but because the contribution percentage set years ago has simply never been revised. In this episode, Paddy walks through the age-related contribution limits (15% to 40%) the €115,000 earnings cap and what it actually means in practice and a real worked example of a director, age 56, on €180k — who could be claiming €16,100 in tax relief every year but isn't. He also covers the year-end October timing window (you can still reduce last year's tax bill with...
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Is your ARF built to last? - Safe Withdrawal Strategies
Informed Decisions Independent Financial Planning & Money Podcast
Most ARF holders know their fund value. Most know Revenue requires a minimum annual drawdown. Very few have stopped to ask whether meeting that minimum is actually a strategy, or simply the path of least resistance. In this episode, Paddy explores safe withdrawal rates in an Irish context: the research on real retiree behaviour, why the 4% rule is both useful and misunderstood, and why the sequence of returns in the first five years of retirement carries disproportionate weight on long-term outcomes. He walks through a concrete sequence-of-return scenario: same starting fund, same average...
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€2M ARF in Ireland: What You'll Actually Keep — And How to Keep More
Informed Decisions Independent Financial Planning & Money Podcast
You've built a €2 million pension. Now here's the question nobody asked you: how much of it will you actually keep? In this episode, Paddy runs the real numbers on what a €2 million ARF looks like in Ireland in 2026: mandatory drawdowns, income tax, USC, PRSI, and the phased strategy that could save you tens of thousands every year in the early stages of retirement. What this Episode covers: Why a €2M ARF triggers a mandatory €120,000 income. Whether you need it or not The real net income after tax: €72,614 at a 39.5% effective rate How phasing your drawdown across two...
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How Much Money Do You Need to Retire in Ireland?
Informed Decisions Independent Financial Planning & Money Podcast
In this week's episode, Paddy tackles the question he gets asked more than any other: how much do I actually need to retire in Ireland? Well, for an answer to that question, one should make a proper calculation beforehand, and Paddy is here to help you out by covering the key benchmarks from the Pensions Council report, what they mean in practice, and where they fall short. Some of the specific points covered in this episode: Why the state pension — currently €299.30 per week in 2026 — changes the calculation significantly, and what it means for couples where both partners qualify The...
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Is One Million € Enough to Retire? - Real Income from Savings
Informed Decisions Independent Financial Planning & Money Podcast
In this week’s podcast, Paddy talks about what a €1 million pension can actually generate in retirement—and why the headline number doesn’t always match the reality of income. The tax-free lump sum explained You can take 25%, but only the first €200,000 is fully tax-free. The rest may be taxed, reducing what you actually receive. ARF income isn’t as high as you think A €750,000 ARF might generate around €30,000 per year—but after tax, that’s closer to €25,000 net. The State Pension makes a big difference Adding the State Pension can bring total income to roughly...
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Best Deposit Rates in Ireland What to Know in 2026
Informed Decisions Independent Financial Planning & Money Podcast
In this week’s podcast, Paddy talks about why leaving your cash in a current or low-interest account is quietly costing you. Your savings could earn more Demand deposit accounts now offer around 2% and fixed-term options near 3%, so idle cash loses ground to inflation. Use the right tools The CCPC comparison tool helps Irish savers easily compare domestic and international deposit accounts. Rates vary widely Foreign platforms often offer better rates than Irish banks, but terms matter—don’t just chase the headline numbers. Tax makes a difference DIRT takes 33% of your interest, so...
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Financial Advisor Commissions in Ireland: What Are You Actually Paying?
Informed Decisions Independent Financial Planning & Money Podcast
Most people with significant pension assets have no real idea what their financial advisor earns from their money. Not because the information is illegal to share — it isn't — but because the system is designed in a way that makes it genuinely difficult to see. In this episode, Paddy looks at how commission structures work in Irish financial advice, why the difference between a percentage and a euro figure matters enormously, and what a truly transparent client-advisor relationship should actually look like. Key points covered: How initial and trail commissions work on Irish ARFs,...
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The Silent Thief: What Inflation Is Doing to Your Cash Savings in Ireland
Informed Decisions Independent Financial Planning & Money Podcast
In this week's episode, I welcome Aaron to the podcast before diving into a timely topic for Irish savers and investors: how inflation quietly erodes cash savings over time. I look at why holding too much cash can damage long term purchasing power, why fear often keeps people on the sidelines, and why a diversified, low cost investment approach has historically offered a stronger path for long term wealth. Key points: • Inflation reduces the real value of cash, even when your account balance stays the same • Too much money on deposit can weaken long term wealth and legacy outcomes • A...
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Financial Independence, Property, and the Reality of Retirement with Michael Houghton
Informed Decisions Independent Financial Planning & Money Podcast
Michael Houghton returns to the Informed Decisions Podcast seven years after his first appearance to share how his thinking on money, work and property has evolved. Michael is a personal finance writer, former software developer, FIRE advocate, Irish Independent columnist, and now an active property investor building income and wealth through rental property in Ireland. In this conversation, Michael explains why financial independence is really about choice, not simply giving up work. He shares how he and his family went from extreme saving and FIRE to a more flexible life built...
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Who Looks After Them When You Can't? Trusts & Wills with Elaine Byrne
Informed Decisions Independent Financial Planning & Money Podcast
In this week's podcast, Paddy is joined by specialist solicitor Elaine Byrne to demystify trusts and explain why they're one of the most powerful — and underused — tools in Irish estate planning. From discretionary trusts for young children to protecting a family member with additional needs, Elaine covers the types of trusts, the tax implications, how to update your will, and what it actually costs to get it done right. If you've been putting off your will or wondering whether a trust is relevant to your family — this one's for you. I hope it helps.
info_outlineWelcome back to Ireland's independent & award winning Financial Planning Blog & Podcast. We don't claim to be perfect but we have been creating and sharing ideas here on the podcast for the past 2 years and are on a mission to help people of Ireland (& beyond!) to make decisions which benefit them in the long-run. All we ask is that if you like what we are doing that you'd tell a friend or loved-one about us and see if it can be of any use to them!
Speaking of long-run we are hugely grateful for your ongoing support, readership and listenership, if the few thousand of you who listen every month didn't do so we wouldn't still be producing the show, so thanks for that, we love it! I know I say 'we' but it is really only me, but for some reason it seems right to me! Maybe we will be a we in future! Last week we tackled Entrepreneur Relief, and had some interesting emails from some entrepreneurs who have learned a thing or two as a result, which is cool!
This week I have to vent a little, not for my own good but as a bit of a warning or war-cry for us all. It is pretty disappointing that people still need to be warned about what I am talking about today but it is a fact, and an important one at that. What I am talking about is a charging structure that I witnessed on a retail savings product recently, that was being promoted on a state-funded website by an 'advisor' with national media coverage. It also ties-in with my announcing that I have recently become Ireland's first Ambassador for the Transparency Task-Force. This is a voluntary group/movement based in several countries, with a few hundred members, and a dozen or so ambassadors. As the title suggests they exist in order to encourage more transparency and improved provision of information in financial services industry. I hope to interview the founder Andy Agethangelou in January so we'll have more for you in a few weeks!
Paddy Delaney
QFA | RPA | APA | Qualified Coach