It has now been 6 months since we launched our Service Centre, a dedicated phone line service which gives clients the opportunity to have their queries answered instantly by a Financial Advisor. No need for an appointment and no irritating hold music!

Over the duration of this 6 months, our Advisors have taken over 1,000 calls from clients with varying queries in relation to their financial plans.

Some of the most common queries we've had are;

• How is my pension / investment fund performing?
• Can I amend my plan?
• Can I book a Financial Review for myself and my spouse?
• How do I make a claim on my policy?
• My circumstances have changed, is my plan still adequate?

To discuss your Financial Plan with a Qualified Financial Advisor, you can call our Service Centre, Monday-Friday 09:00 - 17:30 on 01 8298500. We look forward to hearing from you.

Irish Pensions and Finance staff took on the Garda AFC recently in a football match in aid of St Michaels House in Westmanstown Sports Centre. 

The IPF lads put up a brave fight but were outrun in the end by the impressive Gardai! 

A great evening was had by all though with some great support from the sidelines! Looking forward to next year already!

James Burke, Anthony Dwyer and Grace Doyle from St Michaels House, presented with donation by Owen Dwyer, IPF, Patrick McElroy from An Garda Siochana and Neil McGroarty, IPF

​Irish people are living longer in retirement, but how can you make sure your finances reflect that?​

There is no reason why any of us should approach retirement with anything other than a positive outlook. The average life expectancy in Ireland has risen from 69.8 in 1960 to 82.3 in 2019*, meaning most of us will live longer and healthier lives in retirement. But for many retirement can be a gloomy prospect full of financial worries, not to mention the fear of ill-health or death. No matter what your personal outlook or financial position you can improve your retirement by taking some simple steps:

1. Plan. Decide what it is you want to do when you are retired. How much money will this cost and how much time will you need? The more detail you have the easier it will be for you to allocate your two greatest resources, time and money. Discuss with your partner to ensure they’re on board.
2. Assess your finances. Have a clear idea of the value of all of your assets, including pensions past and present. Balance against your plans above and allocate accordingly. A good financial adviser can help you gather and interpret this information. 
3. Take advice. You can lose or gain a great deal of money through good/bad financial planning. Find an adviser you trust and work with them to design the very best financial plan for your particular situation. It may cost you money but will be well worth it in the end.
4. Use buckets. You will have short, medium and long-term needs once you retire. Have short, medium, long-term buckets for your money – match investment risk to each bucket. For example, accessibility is more important than investment return for your short-term bucket, which makes a deposit account in the bank ideal. For your medium and long-term buckets, it makes sense to take on some risk as you will not need to access this money and can afford the time to both accumulate interest and recover from any potential dips in market performance. Buckets can be ‘tipped in’ to each other depending on good/poor investment return.
5. Look after yourself. Make sure you understand your spouse’s pension/financial position. You may be left with a stressful mess to sort out otherwise, should they predecease you. Also, think about life cover on your spouse/partner so that you will receive a lump sum payout to help you through a difficult period. A ‘joint-life first death’ plan is ideal for protecting both partners in this regard and reasonably priced.  

* https://data.worldbank.org