We were humbled to have been contacted by the Irish Times a few weeks ago and asked for our opinion on life cover for an article by journalist Eithne Dunne, published in the Sunday Times on 21st May.

We wholeheartedly gave our 'tuppence-worth' on some of the things we believe are important to consider when selecting Life Cover for yourself. However it also dawned on me how big a problem exists with regards Life Cover, so we are out to quash that problem right here and right now.........in a second!

Firstly, if you are a new visitor to Informed Decisions, welcome, and have a quick look over here to find out what we are all about & why we exist! We are on a mission to bring practical financial planning & personal finance to Ireland's millennials. If not, welcome back to Ireland's only dedicated Money & Financial Planning Podcast!

What's The Big Problem!?

Life Cover, it's a product (of many sorts!) and as someone recently said to me 'everyone and their Granny sells it'. The commissions paid to the intermediaries and agents who sell it can be pretty rewarding for them. So, do intermediaries and agents be they online or face-to-face make money if you buy Life Cover from them? Of course they do! As do people from whom you buy tanning lotion, cars, carpets, jewellery, cat milk, holidays, lawnmowers, home insurance, windows, taxis, shoes and every other consumable item or service on this planet!

However it is the fact that people make money from selling it that we believe leads to a wholesale dislike and general apathy to this form of 'insurance'! And this is a problem ( oh by the way I was recently told by a reputable source that it is actually OK to start a sentence with the word 'and'!). Consumers are often therefore also sceptical of the benefits and their potential need for Life Cover, and not knowing who to trust! We may all have heard someone (or ourselves) say 'sure yer man/ yer wan was trying to sell me bloody life cover, sure I don't need that stuff, a racket!'.

Maybe you do, maybe you don't but please don't let a sceptical view be a barrier to a potentially life-changing product for your heirs! In this episode we are going to  address this problem, we are going to outline how to figure out for yourself if you actually need any Life Cover, presenting purely facts, and you decide for yourself if you need to buy some or not, and also how much Life Cover to buy if you do decide you need some!

I remember almost 10 years ago when meeting a client who insisted that he did not need Life Cover (despite having 5 kids and a wife whom were all relying on his salary!), when I probed he advised it was because "he was not going to die, ever", and he wasn't joking. That's a separate issue and not sure it's one I can address in this blog!!!

Many of us have heard of psychology, many of us have heard of positivity, yet not many of us have heard of Positive Psychology, which is an emerging science in and of itself. That's why we are bringing it to you, and looking at how we can utilise it in managing our finances.

In this episode we are delighted to host Dr. Jolanta Burke, a Doctor of Positive Psychology, a visiting Professor in Trinity College's School of Psychology, and a Senior Lecturer in School of Psychology, University of East London. Whether you are considering your budgets, planning for retirement, planning on buying life cover, or indeed nurturing your kids there is something of note in this episode!

If you are a new visitor to Informed Decisions, please have a quick look over here to find out what we are all about & why we exist! We are on a mission to help normal Irish people with practical financial planning & personal finance info. If not, welcome back to Ireland's only dedicated Money & Financial Planning Podcast!

Thanks for checking it out, if you find it any way useful please share it or review it!

Thanks,

Paddy Delaney

RPA | QFA | APA | Qualified Coach

Apparently 66% of the 70,000 'landlords' in Ireland own 1 investment property. Surely you don't want to look a gift horse in the mouth, you want to be one of these?

"Sure property prices are climbing, you'd be mad not to own at least one investment property". You buy the place and rent it out so that someone else can pay the mortgage for you, job done! Right?! Seems not long ago when this was the regular 'pub talk', however it is over 10 years ago now, and that talk is coming back (to a degree!). For a long time a bank would ring the Gardai if you went in and asked for a 'buy to let' mortgage (a loan to buy an investment property which you would rent out). They have softened, and are actually advertising these again, just google it!

Now before we jump in it's worth noting that there is a large % of our generation who are making ends meet, putting kids into creches, working hard, and paying the bills, maybe stashing a few quid each month for future and for rainy days. For this % of us a buy to let is not on the radar at all.

Having said that there are also a fair % of our generation who have quite a bit of disposable (spare) income each month, their income may be comparatively high or their outgoings comparatively low, or indeed a mixture of both (if you are really fortunate!). It is this % that may be sniffing at the idea of buying another property or moving out of their home, renting it out and buying another.

Considering a mortgage for an investment property in Ireland? In this episode we will share with you the maths behind mortgaged investment property ownership, so you can make your own mind up on whether it is for you or not! And that is the point isn't it, in owning investment property, it must be in order to try achieve some form of financial gain, otherwise why would you even consider such an investment (unless you fell into it by accident of course!).

If you are a new visitor to Informed Decisions, have a quick look over here to find out what we are all about & why we exist! We are on a mission to bring practical financial planning & personal finance to Ireland's millennials. If not, welcome back to Ireland's only dedicated Money & Financial Planning Podcast!

We all know that money is not the be all and end all.....most of us appreciate that there is more to life and more to being a decent human. We might also recognise that living a fulfilled life is not about having full bank accounts, but it sure does help to have sufficient money to make your own decisions and live the life you want!

As parents we are naturally wired to try and create positive futures for our children, that probably why we care so much, right!? As part of that for some parents it will come naturally to instill an element of financial awareness and sense into our kids, and to maybe ensure they are a bit better able to manage money than we are! This episode is going to explore just a few ways of doing that, some you may have considered and some not......including a little bit about Andy Dufresne!

Thanks for reading, don't forget to drop me a mail at if you fancy a copy of that Excel sheet mentioned in this episode.

Thanks for tuning in.

Paddy Delaney

QFA | RPA | APA | Qualified Coach

Hi All,

Why Is My Defined Benefit Scheme Closing?

What Should I Do About My Defined Benefit Scheme Closing?

What Income Will I Now Have in Retirement?

In this episode we empathise whole-heartedly, then delve and explore the options available to the many many thousands of employees who have 'lost' their Defined Benefit Pension Schemes in recent times. We go about answering the above questions. All is not lost!

Most 'normal people' out there (with the exception of financial nerds & indeed yours truly until I started working in this area 12 years ago!) have no more interest in Defined Benefit and Defined Contribution schemes than the man on the moon! It's sort of like saying to your mate, 'you know, the price of beef in Kilkenny Mart today jumped from €3.60 per kilo to €4.05 per kilo in the space of an hour!!', not really that interesting or relevant to most of us, unless of course your mate is a beef farmer! If you know of anyone who is losing or has lost their DB scheme please do them a favour and pass this on.

Thanks,

Paddy Delaney

QFA | RPA | Coach