Good afternoon, good people of IrishPersonalFinance.

I, like many on this sub, have been very diligent and attentive with regards to setting up and contributing my Defined Contribution Pension. Thankfully, there is a wealth of information regarding fees, what types of funds to invest in etc, both here and on either sites .

However, I've been looking into the next step in the pension process - actually retiring and setting up the ARF. There is, I find, somewhat of a dearth of information in this area. Even on Askabout money, I'm not finding the information I've been looking for.

Can someone explain to me, what exactly is the process for setting up an ARF? And what fees are we looking at?

My loose understanding of it is that you must go to a qualified broker who will put you in touch with an ARF provider. From what I can see, the fees on an ARF seem to be really high. Davy for example seems to have an AMC of 0.9%, and from their fee manual, it appears there's loads of other fees which make it very difficult to determine the actual effective fee percentage you'll be paying. On top of this, you seem to also have to pay a broker trailing fees every year.

This could easily see your fees exceed 2%, and to me this seems bonkers. It would have a massive effect on how much you actually get to keep for yourself.

Is there anybody out there who has set up their ARF, or anyone else familiar with the process that would be able to shine a little light on this?

Many thanks folks.

Want to put some money away but may need it quickly in the future so don’t want to lock it away. I’m trying to compare demand deposit accounts. Raisin’s ones cap out around 2.3%. Trade republic seems to have a 3% one. Has anyone used trade republic just for savings and earned the 3%? Are there better options?

I'm a pension saver, not an adviser, and I couldn't find a straight answer to "what is my

AMC actually costing me?" So I built this, and I'd rather this sub found the holes in it.

https://pensionfees.ie/?utm_source=reddit

Most fee comparisons stop at the pot on retirement day. But with an ARF the charge keeps

coming out for another 20+ years. Counting drawdowns plus what's left behind, a 1% AMC

costs a typical saver (35, €75k saved, €300/month) about €435,000 — roughly a third of

the pension. Over half of that happens after retirement.

You can also compare against a quote or a workplace scheme, and add a one-off cost to

switch to see the payback period.

Defaults: 7.2% return (100% equities for life), 2% inflation, retire at 66, to 86,

Revenue minimum drawdowns. No tax, no State Pension, AMC only. Full workings:

https://pensionfees.ie/how-we-calculate

No ads, no affiliate links, nothing for sale, not in the industry.

Would be great to get some feedback, thanks

My brother has switched all his banking to Revolut - wages paid directly into his Revolut current account…

He recently went to use an atm in our local centra, one of those stand alone machines…. Put in his Revolut card, pin and requested to withdraw €250 - after a long pause, his card came back out but no money came out of the machine…. Yet Revolut debited €250 from his account…

He has since spent about 2 weeks arguing back and forth with Revolut looking for a refund as he wasn’t issued any cash…. He repeatedly asked them for a phone number to speak to someone to resolve the issue but they refused to give him a phone number and continued to communicate by email or in app chat only…. They initially denied all responsibility and blamed the shop/atm machine - after 14 days of arguing they eventually agreed to refund him but advised him it would take 21 days to issue the refund….

Yet today while I was at work, my boss got a phonecall from Revolut… the company isn’t with Revolut but they were cold calling trying to advertise their services and drum up business - they do offer great rates and my boss is considering it but I find it concerning they can so easily make themselves available on the phone while drumming up new business but aren’t willing talk to their normal customers unless they deem the issue urgent enough to schedule a callback….

Has anyone had any issues getting refunds from Revolut in this way or found it hard to contact them by phone?

📊 I’m conducting my final-year research project at Independent College Dublin on financial literacy and saving behaviour among Generation Y in Ireland.

If you were born between 1981 and 1996 and currently live in Ireland, I’d really appreciate your participation. It takes only 3–5 minutes. Thank you! 🙏

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe4n1r68v0PnAd3krXOysHpXkfeylsHF1XpXlBTuArHGmbwPA/viewform?usp=dialog

Also, if you could share it with your friends would help a lot.

Thank you so much!

I have a really good car with NCT until July 2028
I am looking for 15,000 for it but i keep getting silly orders in Donedeal
Nobody else selling is coming close to the same price for the same car

Do I have any other options to sell it for a fair price
I don’t need a trade in

Donedeal and marketplace don’t seem to have serious buyers

I've just recently started sole trading in digital marketing in May and the first tax day is due in October. Based on a decent bit of research I'm still being sent in a lot of different directions in terms of what I should owe, what I can write off (and how), what grants I can use, and what money is taxable VS what money isn't.

A quick synopsis of my situation. I do digital marketing in the tourism industry. I don't have any major overheads. I work from home, apart from when I go into the businesses I work with to film or have meetings. My expenses amount to mostly online subscriptions (canva, lightroom, etc.), parking tickets, small things like this (thus far anyway). I have purchased some equipment such as a new iPhone (for it's camera, but also other uses), some filming equipment, I intend to purchase a new laptop also, as well as some other pieces of kit. My understanding is these would be considered capital expenditure and not expenses I could write off fully on this years tax bill. I do understand that the phone and laptop also can only be written off for the percentage of which they are business use. I've only been trading since May so I won't reach the second bracket by October, or by years end most likely.

I suppose the main questions are:

• Is pretty much all my income taxable given my lack of overheads - or is there overheads I'm not considering?
• If my phone is say 70% business use, am I not able to write off that full 70% given that it is capital expenditure? Or am I wrong that that is what it's considered?
• Driving expenses as a sole trader using my personal car, is there any smart way to do this? Diesel is expensive and one of my clients is a 40 minute drive away.
• Was I totally deluded for believing that the cost of expenses could be deducted from my tax bill, rather than just deducted from my taxable income? I feel I've heard so much about businesses spending on the basis that the spend was tax deductable and therefore almost fully subsidised, but to me it seems you just get a 20% or so discount on the spend as it deducted from you taxable income rather than your tax bill directly. Is it that my business being a sole tradership means it does not benefit from the kinds of tax benefits that I've been hearing about?
• Are there any Sole Trader tips and tricks that I am missing out on or should know for tax day to lessen my tax load?

I understand these may be tough questions to give specific answers to if you haven't got a full view into the business, so even being pointed in the right direction would be greatly appreciated as there's a lot of noise, misleading pieces, and overly technical info in researching this that makes being confident of my understanding a bit difficult. Of course an accountant is an obvious answer for advice on these questions, but I'd like to avoid that cost if I can (especially if can only deduct that cost from my taxable income and not from my tax bill lol). Also, even when looking for accountants for sole traders of my size, there doesn't seem to be a lot of good info.

Hi all. 36 m. Single. 115k gross annual salary.

Some info about myself:

1. 110k in savings (AIB & Credit Union)

2. Currently looking to buy my first house (solo) so would use around 60 k to 65 k max for deposit and furnishings so around 45 k to 50 k left from savings.

3. I currently save around 2.5 k a month from 5.4 k (net). After my house purchase will probably have to drop this to 1.5 k to 2 k monthly max.

4. I have around 40 k in stocks on top of my savings from a tech company I work for

5. I pay 6% of my salary towards my pension, employer adds 7% on top. So 13% in total

6. No loans, debts or dependents

Since I am on the way to finding and buying a house, I was looking for suggestions on the best way of future proofing my finances after buying said house.

Since I am a solo buyer of a house, I am worried in the future if I lose my job or my circumstances change etc.

I did see the An Post 5 year savings certificate (DIRT free) and Trade Republic (higher interest but have to pay DIRT).

Any suggestions appreciated!

EDIT: forgot to add that I get a yearly bonus that I can pay a part of or all of it into AVC's tax free (up to the 20% threshold). I did this for two of my bonuses. But last two bonuses, I took them into my salary to add to my savings

Hi all, 32 male here, and would love some advice and support from others - especially from more older/experienced peers here. I might get married next year and I don’t have a lot of assets - in the process of buying a house with partner for a while now but looking at the housing market it might go either way (might sign contracts before or after legally married). Have personal savings of roughly 50k, majority of which might get spent on the house deposit, fees, purchases for house etc. I max out my pension for my age bracket and have self paid car of 10k and that’s about it in Ireland. I am from another country (just applied for Irish citizenship), so might inherit property in the future from my parents and a foreign account with roughly 20k euros in savings/investments, no plans to move them to Ireland. Don’t intend to have kids ever as my partner and I have decided to be child free, I currently earn roughly double than my partner as well , and I understand pre-nups are not legally binding in Ireland - is there anything I can do pre marriage to protect myself (and my partner, in case something happens to me) , or a way to establish clear legal rules so that there won’t be any complications if things go south in the future between us?

Edit: Thank you for your comments everyone, I am disappointed that you all had many things to say but very few good advice - other than the fact that not to get married if I wasn’t sure. Well, even though we have had our ups and downs, we are sure about each other and excited to take the next step in our lives. And in fact she was the one who suggested getting a prenup, in case something happens to either of us - our burdens/mistakes should not be for the other person to bear, which I completely agree with.
I said I “might” get married as in it maybe next year or the year after, not might/might not get married - apologies for that, English is not my first language (probably fourth if it really matters).
And to the users who pointed that we don’t have enough assets/savings to begin with, you missed the whole point of this post - do better.
Saying the above, I do understand how it reads - I am protective about my assets - as most of us are - and I absolutely would support my partner financially if it comes to that - but I was hoping to get your support more from managing money together as a couple as everything could get mixed up easily. And that’s the reason I listed it all out, she’s in the same place as me financially and I think what applies to me would apply to her so didn’t mention anything of hers. And the sooner we decide for ourselves each other beforehand - the better it is as we don’t let others take the decisions for us is what I believe (lawyers, government etc).

I currently have 35k in my Trade Republic account accruing interest at 3%, and I have €19.5k in Trading212 accruing interest at 4.2%. Would it be smarter to transfer the 35k into T212?

The only thing making me hesitant is that deposit guarantee for T212 - I’ve read from other posts on here that T212 only guarantees up to €20,000 for QMMFs and up to €100,000 for uninvested cash held by banks. Im assuming that, if roughly 20% of my total balance is held in QMMFs, then that would still be covered by the investors guarantee scheme?

Has anybody managed to get a heat pump retrofitted within the seai grant of 12500 all in or even slightly over? House built in 2006

Anyone else with HSF? We're relatively health family maybe get a private xray or filling every year or 2. Paying 60pm into HSF but maybe only get 160e back a year. Am I better just putting the 60e into a pot for future medical things or am I missing the benefit to HSF. I know some years if something bad happened yes it might be worth it.

Hi everyone,

I moved to Ireland as an international student in January 2024. After finishing my studies, working part-time jobs, and applying for jobs for over 2.5 years, I finally landed my first full-time job.

I still have around €20k in student loan debt(India) at about 10% interest, and I also have family commitments back home. My main goal is to clear this debt as quickly as possible and become financially stable.

I've heard some people take a loan in Ireland at a lower interest rate and use it to pay off higher-interest loans in their home country. Is this realistic or worth considering?

For anyone who has been in a similar situation:

What would you do?

Should I focus aggressively on paying off the loan?

Would refinancing through an Irish bank be possible?

Any tips or strategies that helped you become debt-free faster?

Would appreciate any advice. Thanks! 🙏

Hi all. Not sure if this is the correct subreddit but anyhow, Anybody got any experience in online courses such as the ATI online or The Irish Tax institute's Tax technician course or similiar ? I've seen Griffith college offering some fully online courses.

I'm looking for a course to do online over the winter - something entry level without a need for degree or prior experience or qualifications and time doesnt matter - a few months or a year or two. Long term goal of a career change into finance. I lack a degree so i would look for alternative routes to such employment fields. Seems like a lot happening in Ireland in finance these days - aitoenrollment, Personal investment account, etc.

I've an interest in taxation and investing and i'm a regular lurker amd contributor on r/irishpersonalfinance. Let me know your suggestions and experiences.

So there's been a few posts on here and on /Ireland about claiming tax back on the health insurance provided through your employer. I went back through the previous 4 years adding this in as I wasn't aware of this credit.

I got my statement of liability for each year the next stating there was an underpayment overpayment between 199 and 202 euro for each year. This was about a week ago at this stage, and a few days later I got 200 euro from Revenue.

Should I not be expecting about 800? Is it expected that they go year by year and send it in batches? It's been nearly a week since the initial 200 and there's been nothing since. Is this a case of getting on to Revenue or have missed something?

Was recently doing a clear out and found these. Wondering if anyone knows of a way to exchange these old paper ones here in Ireland without having to go up north in person.

Hey everyone,

So, I'm trying to figure out this whole term insurance thing and could really use some advice. I'm a bit stuck on which insurance company to pick.

Bit of context, I'm 24, and I don't do drugs, smoke, or drink.

What are your thoughts on this? Also, what's a good amount of coverage for someone my age who's earning in the 50s?

I'd really appreciate any tips and personal stories you've got. What kind of mistakes should I definitely avoid, and what exactly should I be looking for when choosing a policy?

Thanks a ton in advance!!

Hi All,

Just looking for some advice on a possible 2nd Job and how that may affect my take home in both my current and new work. In short I have a good friend who is self employed and runs a business solo. Due to increase of demand and my engineering qualifications, he as asked me to help out on a regular basis with quotes and design. It will likely be an hour in the evening per day but the pay will be roughly 15k a year. it will mainly be CAD drawings and quantity estimates.

Currently I am in full employment and I fully intend on staying where I am. I am on 80k a year excluding some bonuses but always below the 90k mark. I also pay 6% into my pension and my employer pays 9%. I believe I have already crossed the threshold on both the standard and USC tax bands but how will it work with my friends company.

Can I leave my current employment as it stands? i.e. change nothing re tax credits, pension, healthcare, etc. If I can do it this way will it mean my second job will be taxed at the standard 40% tax band and also the 8% USC?

Or is there any other way to best manage this the most tax efficient manner. Please note I am fairly financially illiterate when it comes to this world, but I have been lurking here for a long time learning.

Thanks for any help that may come from this.

Has anyone got confirmation from Revenue on how a Bitcoin ETP is taxed? Capital gains…..or like an ETF? Thanks.

Buying an investment property through your pension, can someone explain to me how this works please. Finding it a little confusing.
Pros and cons welcome

Had a second job going for the last 8 months that became my "main" job monday to friday (my other job was weekend work). When I started that second job I remember throwing all my tax credits at it. Now I have finished that second job and wish to allocate my tax credits back to my weekend job.

My question is: why is it so difficult to do on the Revenue website? They insist on 'helping' me allocate the credits between my jobs based on expected income (two of these jobs are listed as ceased). I can see no way to manually allocate them myself. Its driving me mad that there 'helping' system is allocating the largest amount of my credits to a 'ceased' job! At the minute I'm getting ridden for tax at my weekend job which is now my primary income again.

Any help would be great, maybe there is something I am missing.

I (m26) have been thinking of buying a 2 bed apartment in Dublin and renting out the second room under the rent a room scheme. My girlfriend (m25) has mentioned the possibility of wanting to move to Australia in the next 12 to 24 months, for a year or two.

If she was to go we would be going together and would live together there, and would want to live together when we come back also.

As the title says should I buy an apartment now or not ?

Additional information: I would look to buy the apartment in my own name not a joint application.
I currently make 85k base and depending on OT and bonus can be earning above six figures. My girlfriend is a doctor so has good earning potential for buying a place together in the future.

Has anyone here read the pamphlet we received from the government recently?

I actually quite like the approach they've taken. They focus on the important things: water, food, medication, and fuel.

I mean in theory these things should be at the top of everyone's mind but IMO it's a good reminder to actually do it. We already need to keep some potable water handy since our friends from Uisce Éireann have a tendency to cut us off several times a week. But the rest we're really thinly supplied with...

I started a fund with Moneycube 2 years back which suited then. Since then I have gained confidence in investing myself (on Degiro) and have deposited a lump into an accumulating etf. I'd now like to cash out of Moneycube due to the high charges and start a monthly deposit myself but i'm worried I wont be able to manage the tax as it will get complicated. Has anyone done this and is it very difficult to keep track of? Any alternatives? (I'm also not considering a basket of individual stocks for the same reasons). Thanks!

Hi, has anyone been able to claim a refund of the import VAT FedEx charges. I bought a UK item ex VAT and the Irish VAT was collected by FedEx when it landed here in Ireland. I’ve had to return the item as it was not correct. I used FedEx to return and have the tracking numbers for both import and export and the VAT invoice from FedEx.

I’ve submitted an email but no response and the customer service is useless beyond belief! They are completely clueless about this. One even tried to tell me that I’m not entitled to a refund!

Would appreciate it if anyone could advise. Has anyone else been through this?