Pensions

Personal Pension Plans and Personal Retirement Savings Accounts (PRSAs)

A Personal Pension Plan is a private policy where the individual makes personal contributions. You need to be earning an income or be self-employed to make contributions to a personal pension.

A Personal Retirement Savings Account or PRSA is a flexible personal pension plan. All adults under the age of 75 are eligible; you don’t need to be earning an income to start a personal retirement savings account. A PRSA pension is flexible so you can start and stop your contributions whenever you like, you decide how much you can afford to pay into it and your pension fund grows tax free. Limits apply o the amount of tax relief one can qualify for.

Employer Executive Pension Plans

With an Employer Pension Plan your employer makes a contribution, usually a percentage of your salary, to the pension. As it is taken directly from your salary you automatically get tax relief on it. Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVC) are extra contributions that you can make, many people decide to do this to boost the value of their fund and to avail of more tax relief.

Annuities and Approved Retirement Funds (ARFs)

An annuity pension is a guaranteed income during your retirement in return for a capital sum. With an annuity you can make provisions to continue the payments after you die, to your spouse for example. Annuities offer you security as you know the level of income that you will have when you retire. Approved Retirement Funds or ARFs allow you to reinvest the money from your Personal Pension Plan or PRSA. There are certain terms and conditions that need to be met in order for you to be eligible to take out an ARF.