Hi,

Welcome Back!

It was in my 'schedule of topics to blog about' and it seems it is timely as in the past 3 weeks only I have been asked about the above topic on 3 different occasions. In addition to that my present wife & I have just returned from a weekend city break to UK, and there is no doubt that flashing the oul' Credit Card around the place is an easy pit to fall into, hence the reason I don't currently operate a Credit Card (& hence why I use the term present wife!!).

The 3 people I have chatted to about the issue of Credit Cards in the past few weeks all have or have recently had fairly sizeable amounts owing on their cards, and all for various reasons. One was to pay day to day bills on a 1-income household and to tie them over till pay-day, another was an accumulation of expenses for house furniture and electronics, and the other was a big blow-out holiday last year. Each of them were really aware of the debt, however what was surprising was that two of the individuals were paying the minimum monthly payment only, and not making a concerted effort to clear the actual loan. Upon speaking to them this was not due to an inability to repay the debt but a lack of awareness of the cost of the debt. We are out to fix that in this week's Blog!

How Do Credit Cards Work?

Credit Cards may seem to many as a Celtic Tiger thing, when we over-indulged and purchased luxury items at a rate of knots and never bothered repaying them, only for the levels of personal unsecured debt to spiral out of control. They were, but they haven't gone away! Credit Cards are still a phenomenally profitable product for the providers, because for that very reason; many of us don't clear them each month and therefore pay really high interest on the balances and are exactly the type of customer which will generate very healthy profits for the providers. As outlined in our most popular Blog#3 we shared 5 basic principles in managing our finances, clearing debt and Credit Cards was one of them! So how not to do it?

The following are the steps involved in your being an ideal customer for a Credit Card provider:

1. You Apply For Credit Card
2. You Are Given Credit Card
3. You Buy 'Stuff' On Credit Card
4. You Repay The Minimum Repayment Amount Each Month (e.g. €10-€20 per month)
5. You Are Charged The Maximum Interest On The Outstanding Balance (15-30%!)
6. You Stay In This Pattern & Said Company Make Lots of Profit From You

If you were to follow steps 1, 2 & 3 however on step 4 you actually clear the balance the Credit Card provider will make next to nothing from your custom. Typically you can get between 30 and 60 days interest free credit on a Credit Card, which can be very handy! It is only when Credit Card users start coughing up the massive interest that the provider's gravy train rolls in!

The minimum repayment amount is a figure which will you are invited to repay on the card after a certain period of time of their being a balance outstanding on the card. Paying that amount will go nowhere near clearing your debt over a short period of time, typically it is a figure which will go towards paying the interest you owe at that point in time on the balance outstanding, plus fees. Therefore it is important to note that merely paying the minimum repayment amount is not in your best interests, if you can at all afford to pay more!

Why Get A Credit Card?

They are shocking handy! In the past they were particularly useful when we did not have Visa Debit Cards or indeed didn't use cheque books (how many of us here every wrote a cheque I wonder!?) and you needed to make purchases for items such as travel expenses etc. They quickly became a really convenient form of on demand personal loan, which is where it can get dangerous. However in today's society of 'see it- want it- buy it' the Credit Card can be a way of getting what you want without having to save for it, which in my book (not an actual book, yet!) is a habit which will erode your savings capacity and future wealth massively.

Can I Get A Credit Card Now?

After a few years of silence we now see providers back in the market of issuing Credit Cards; we are being enticed with cash-back offers, discounts on grocery bills, complimentary travel insurance and low introductory rates. We will shortly get to the latter and how it can be of real assistance to you in managing your Credit Card balance. So yes, provided you have a reasonable income and a reasonably clear credit history most providers will be open to doing business with you.

The providers are not giving these incentives for your benefit, they are profitable products and generate lots of income for them because many of us (including yours truly before I saw the light!) are often quick to purchase and slow to repay, a Credit Card provider's dream!

What Is My Credit Card Costing Me?

Every Credit Card attracts a €30 Stamp Duty fee per annum, no avoiding that one, unless you don't have one! We will run through an example of the cost of having a credit card and the interest payable on it, for illustration.

Credit Card Balance Outstanding €5,000

Rate of Interest is 23%

If you are paying €120 per month you might think that you are making progress, however it will take approximately 7 years to repay the €5,000 (assuming you cut up the card now and make no more purchases!). 7 years! Totaling just over €10,000 in repayments, €10,000!

If you decide you can pay more and repay €200 per month, you will have €5,000 cleared in just under 3 years time, a much much shorter period of time, and a much much lower amount of interest. Total Repayment of €6,900 approx. It is still a very saucy amount of interest, the typical rates of interest of 18-25% are really high and even over 3 years as above on a smallish amount can be quite difficult to stomach.

Should I Clear My Credit Card As Early As Possible?

Eh, yes! If you have the means to do so immediately then it can be a very prudent thing to do. Say you have €5,000 in the bank, and you have a €5,000 credit card debt it makes a lot of financial sense to clear that debt, and then start building your emergency, retirement, education funds etc thereafter. Purely on the basis of the prohibitive cost of the Credit Card.

Is There Another Way To Clear My Credit More Effectively?

Yes, potentially. There are 2 angles to tackle this from. The first is the good old fashioned 'ask for a discount' approach. It has been known to work in the past. If you contact your provider and ask them to reduce the rate on your outstanding balance, they may just do it!

Secondly, I mentioned above that many providers offer an introductory discounted rate, and indeed most offer 0% balance transfers. Essentially what that means is that once your are granted the card you can transfer your outstanding balance from the old card to the new card and not pay any interest on that for a period of typically 6 months. This allows you the opportunity to really pay off the actual loan of €5,000 and not just interest.

If you were to do this, and even if you don't get a better rate than the illustrated 23% on your existing card it can have a massively positive impact on the time it takes to clear the debt (again assuming you cut up the card on receipt of it so you don't use it!).

In the above example your €120 would have this new card cleared in just over 5 years instead of 7 years. Might not sound earth shattering however that is a saving of  €2,800 approx, on a debt of €5,000. Massive!

In the case of the €200 monthly payment example you would have your debt cleared in less than 2 and a half years instead of 2 years 11 months, which is a saving of €1,200 on a €5,000 debt!

I was delighted to hear in one of the cases at the start of this piece that the couple who were telling me about their need to use the Credit Card to tie them over till pay-day have managed to clear their Credit Card debt, it is a financial as well as emotional weight lifted and allows them to focus on managing their money in a proactive way and to plan for some family events and milestones which are very close to their hearts, so well done to you guys down in Limerick, you know who you are!

As always I need your help and support in spreading the Informed Decisions word so please do share this with anyone who you believe may benefit from the information, and if you have yet to please do take the 4 minutes involved in completing the Annual Informed Decisions Survey.

Many thanks for your interest and for sharing the love.

Paddy.

Hi All,

This week we are sharing something a little 'off topic'!

I have been looking for an opportunity to donate this year, so for every completed Informed Decisions Survey in the next 6 days I will donate €1 to Irish Cancer Society. Given that I am doing all 'this' at no monetary gain I need to cap this at €200, so please help me get to that mark.....share it like there's no tomorrow!

Six months after the very first Informed Decisions Podcast it probably is a good idea to check-in with you 'regulars' and provide a bit of an update on how this little website is progressing! I am also reaching out to you and seeking your help; with an important invitation for you to have your say on the shape and format of Informed Decisions via a short but important anonymous Survey/Questionnaire!

If you have got any value from us in the past 6 months we would really appreciate your time (4 minutes!) in completing this and having your say. It will allow us to identify a broad profile of who is listening & reading, and importantly your preferences. Ultimately it will ensure we provide information and tips which you want! How novel an idea is that!?!

If you would prefer to jump straight to the Questionnaire you can please do so on this page here. If you would like to know a bit more about the website, how it started & how it is getting on then keep reading...............

How Did It Begin?

December 2015 during the Christmas Break I took it upon myself to start writing on the LinkedIn blog platform 'Pulse', just as a little exercise in creativity. I have a deep interest in all aspects of money management and Financial Planning and was quite fond of writing, so it was a natural thing to do! Another catalyst was that so many of my own circle of friends have a self-declared lack of interest or knowledge in this space, so I knew it would be a help to my own generation (millennials!). The feedback from these initial articles were positive, and I really enjoyed the process of creating the pieces. I was hooked!

After a bit of consideration I decided then to go about starting my own blog, one which I could manage myself instead of it being owned by LinkedIn. As you know I work full-time as a Financial Service Trainer so I approached my employer to confirm there would be no conflict of interest in me doing so. They were most generous in giving it their thumbs-up and wishing me every success, provided I clearly expressed that my views were my own, naturally enough. The scene was set! After much research and procrastination the website www.informeddecisions.ie went live in April 2016.

"What keeps me going are my original motivations; to support my fellow millennials with making informed money decisions, to exercise a creative muscle and to ultimately to make a positive difference."

Where Did The Podcast Come From?

Podcasts in the Financial Planning & Personal Finance space are rare, even in much larger countries like UK, almost like hen's teeth! They require a lot of unseen preparation and are notoriously difficult to get audiences so that probably explains why there was none in Ireland until Informed Decisions Personal Finance Podcast. Producing a Podcast seemed like a major stretch of my imagination in April 2016 but I researched the idea over the following months, and with the support of some great folks in the UK and here in Ireland it started to come to fruition. In early August we launched our first podcast, which was an exciting time for Informed Decisions, an achievement of a once galactic goal! What I have found is that I have learned so so much about an awful lot in the process, so it has been win win really.

Where Are We At Now?

Well the iTunes reviews have started coming in and the feedback has been really positive. Please do check it out here and feel free to add your own iTunes review if you are using it and feel this site has been of benefit to you here.

Writing a Blog & Podcast each week takes consistent effort which was not always my most obvious strength! Both from a research, planning and indeed writing & recording perspective there is lots to consider, not to mention the computer side of things! What keeps me going are my original motivations; to support fellow millennials with making informed money decisions, to exercise a creative muscle and to ultimately to make a positive difference.

I heard a quote recently from Shane Mulhall (RIP) of The School of Philosophy which really resonates with me "Do for the joy of doing, not for the purpose of advancement". I hope that doesn't sound too waffly but that sums up Informed Decisions pretty nicely. I am enjoying it and the feedback and value others are getting from it is real, so again it's a win-win!

Speaking of feedback, we have received lots or really positive comments from readers of the Blog and Podcast listeners. People have got in touch to say that as a result of it they have been able to take proactive action with regards to their budgeting, retirement planning, protection, goal setting etc. This makes it worthwhile for me personally.

It was not something that I had kept an eye on at all but I was recently told that the Podcast was in the Top 20 in iTunes Chart in it's category! Top 20!! I was dumb-founded and obviously thrilled to see that the word was spreading and more and more people all over the country are benefiting from it.

What Does The Future Hold?

Who knows! Many folks have asked me am I going to turn it into a business and will I do x,y or z. To be completely frank I really enjoy my role as a Trainer, and I really enjoy Informed Decisions, so for as long as both sensibly co-exist I am delighted to do both! As long as you continue to get benefit from the site, blog and podcast I will keep producing it.

My Ask Of You?

We have no way of identifying the broad profile of you, those who are actually listening or reading, nor have we any sense as to what you guys actually want from us. Therefore I have created what I hope is an attractive and quick questionnaire which gives you the opportunity to input into what we are doing and how we do it. We will compile & share the findings (anonymously obviously!) once we have sufficient responses to it. So do it now (please)!!

If you have got any value from this website then we would be so appreciative of your participation. Click here or click the image below to get stuck in.

Thanks so Much.

Paddy

Hi,

Firstly, thanks for joining us! If you are a new visitor to Informed Decisions, have a quick look over here to find out what we are all about. If not, welcome back to Ireland's only dedicated Personal Finance & Financial Planning Podcast!

Everyone has been told to do one, but 'why & how' needs to be answered first! Join Paddy as he demystifies the topic in this 16 minute audio show....

Thanks for sharing and spreading the love, the message is getting out there. Thank You.

If you prefer to read this episode then please do check out Blog #21.

Cheers,

Paddy Delaney

Hi,

A pretty influential insurance 'evangelist', Hesus Inoma is founder & CEO of WeSavvy, a Dublin-based start-up in the process of reshaping how we engage and manage our insurances.

If you have ever gotten a Health, Home or Motor Insurance renewal letter in the post or via email you will know it is not always the most rewarding experience!

WeSavvy is working to forge the future of how consumers interact with their Insurances, get rewarded and essentially earn cash-back by living healthy life-styles.

Thanks to Hesus for his time and sharing what he sees as the future of Insurance across the globe.

Thanks to you too for tuning-in!

Paddy Delaney.

You can join the WeSavvy movement at www.wesavvy.com

Hi, and thanks for popping in to listen to this weeks' Episode, which promises to be an interesting one for anyone who owns a car (so that represents the vast majority of us!). If you are new here please do check out this page, which will tell you a little about why this project exists and what it's aiming to do for you. Episode 21 is here:

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While some would argue that the cost of running a car hardly qualifies as a Financial Planning topic, I would beg to differ. Seeing as many of us possess one for the duration of our adult lives our choice of car represents a significant life long investment. What I am hoping to uncover is exactly how much they cost and what if any differences there are in buying a 'newish' car versus an older car!

Some of you at this point will hit the red 'x' in the top right hand corner, you like your cars, you don't care what they cost you, provided you can afford to have a 'nice' car you will continue to do so irrespective of the financial costs. I respect that, hit the red 'x', but might do you no harm to see what it is actually costing!

In the interest of being up front I will state that even before we look at the figures I have always had a strong bias towards owning older cars (6-10 years old) where the largest depreciation costs have been absorbed by a previous owner, however I am always open to correction, so lets see which option is the more informed from a  financial perspective!

Assumptions:

For the purpose of this exercise I based my findings on 2 family sized cars. The 'newish' car is a 2013 Volkswagen Passat 1.6 Diesel from a dealer, with 62k miles on the clock costing €20,450- listed on Carzone.ie at time of the research.

The 'old' car for the purposes of this exercise is a 2007 Ford Mondeo, 1.8 Diesel, 90k miles on the clock costing €4,700 from a dealer, again it's listed on Carzone.ie at time of research.

Our exercise will assume we hold the car for 3 years, before changing it again for another car. Mileage assumed at 13,000 miles per annum.

The Cost of Owning a 'Newish' Car for 3 years:

1. Depreciation: €12,450 - Buy it for €20,450. Based on the research when you go to sell a car of this type in 3 years, assuming average mileage and it being well maintained, you will get approximately €8,000. Irrespective of selling it privately or trading it in this is the approximate value achieved (even VW which historically hold value reasonably well).
2. Fuel Cost: €4,029 - This modern car will give approximately 55 miles per gallon on average. www.honestjohn.co.uk is a great website for honest mileage numbers. Using a diesel price of €1.25 per litre, and traveling 13,000 miles per annum, that's the cost over the 3 years!
3. Motor Tax: €570 - As a post-2008 car, with relatively low emissions of 109g/km motor tax will set ou back €190 per annum
4. Maintenance: €1,200 - This assumes carrying out 1 annual service and changing 2 tyres per annum, with no other major outlay on this relatively young car
5. Insurance: €1,800 - This one is a big variable dependent on the driver and his/her status and years of no claims bonus etc, however the same figure will be used on both examples
6. Total Cost = €20,049

The cost of having this car for the 3 years is over €20,000. With good fuel economy and low tax it still amounts to a fairly sizeable amount of cash! If we break that down annually it is €6,683. Per month that is €557. If you are on the higher tax bracket you need to earn €1,100 Gross Salary in order to pay for your car..........................If you earn €50,000 Gross, that is 1 week's work per month to pay for your car! Seems hefty, but lets now compare it to the alternative, a cheaper, less flashy, less efficient and perhaps less reliable motor!

Cost of owning an 'old' car:

• Depreciation: €2,220 - Buy it for €4,700. Based on the research when you go to sell a car of this type in 3 years, assuming average mileage and it being well maintained, you will get approximately €2,500. Irrespective of selling it privately or trading it in this is the approximate value achieved.
• Fuel Cost: €5,039 - This less modern car will give approximately 44 miles per gallon on average. Using the same diesel price of €1.25 per litre, and travelling 13,000 miles per annum, thats the cost over the 3 years for this car.
• Motor Tax: €2019 - As a pre-2008 car, with a 1.8 litre engine you are in for a juicy €673 per year road tax, no avoiding it!
• Maintenance: €2,400 - This assumes carrying out 1 annual service and changing 2 tyres per annum. In this instance we have included €300 per annum for ad-hoc repairs. While this could be quick a lot more or less on a car of this age and mileage this average is an industry accepted figure.
• Insurance: €1,800 - This one is a big variable dependent on the driver and his/her status and years of no claims bonus etc, however the same figure will be used on both examples
• Total Cost = €13,478

So there you go, the estimated cost of 3 years of motoring in such a car will cost you just south of €13,500, which works out at €4,492 per year and therefore €375 per month. Before tax you are looking at earning €750 Gross Salary to put this car under your back-side.

The single biggest cost differentiation between the two options is depreciation, yet this is the one factor which many many of us do not give due consideration to. We fail to include that in the cost of ownership, however it is a very real part of the cost, and in some circumstances is the single biggest aspect to the overall cost. Fact.

Many of us millennials see the shiny new shapes, we see what our peers are driving, we see the latest adverts, we see the 171's on the road and we start to feel that our 'old' car is giving a poor representation of ourselves and portrays a lack of success. I'm being somewhat melodramatic here obvously but there are elements of these emotions behind our decisions in buying 'newish' cars. I often look to the example set by Mr. Warren Buffet (3rd wealthiest man on the planet). He drives a regular joe-soap car, and seems pretty happy with it!!

Conclusion:

As always I believe you are more than capable of drawing your own conclusions from the above. As with many of our financial decisions there is more often than not an emotive drive determining the outcome. One could choose to drive an older car, and to use the 'savings' to save for the future, enjoy an extra holiday or some other experience. Likewise one may prefer to be seen driving a 'newish' car, they may like the reliability and feeling they get from a more modern car, and are happy to sacrifice the 'savings' in favour of these aspects. Likewise they may not realise the costs of owning a car, until now!

Ultimately the choice is yours of course, but at least now you have a greater sense as to what your car is costing you, and indeed if you have 2 cars in your household what they are costing you.

If you are trying to budget and manage or indeed reduce your cash outflows the ownership of cars can be one of the single biggest factors in doing so.

I have included a sample calculator which I created for you to run your own numbers here, have fun!

Thanks for reading, sharing and spreading the love!

Paddy Delaney (QFA, RPA, Coach)

Links:

MPG Information for use in above calculator:

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/realmpg/

Hi again dear listener!

If you are new here, welcome! This is a great place to begin the journey if you are a new visitor.

This is the 2nd in our 'financial foundations' series, and will further explain one of the many protection options available to us all in today's market. For the first in this series we looked at the ins and outs of specified illness cover. Click here to listen.

Income Protection, also known in some quarters as Income Continuance, Income Insurance, Income Cover & Permanent Heath Insurance. Confused yet!!? I'm gonna stick with the label of Income Protection on this one, purely because that is what it is designed to do, protect your income if yours stops!

Before we get into the basics of this potential financial foundation lets picture the following. (Disclaimer: this might seem like an old insurance sales technique but bear with me!!).

Imagine for a second that you had a printer in the corner of your bedroom, every morning as you wake up you hear this printer printing out the equivalent of a day's wages for you. Because there is no such thing as work in this dream-land you survive on your printer's ability to print this money for you every morning. Having said that, like all printers on this planet yours is prone to breaking down occasionally, indeed it is also susceptible to breaking down permanently. If it does your income will stop, cease, finish. Bearing in mind it is your sole form of income would you insure this printer against such an incident, bearing in mind it is your sole form of income? If you woke up one morning and it was all flashing red lights would you feel it prudent to have a back-up plan to help pay the bills?

On the face of it it probably seems like pure gambling to not do so, yet the fact is that a huge percentage of us do not have such a plan in place. If we go back to the analogy of building a home on solid foundations, it would seem that doing so without a core foundation would be a risky approach. So why don't people have this protection in place? Personally I believe there are a few core reasons for that; cost, awareness and understanding of what it actually is! So here goes.............

What is it?

As already mentioned above, it is a type of protection which should pay you an income if you are medically unable to work for a minimum period of time due to an accident, illness or injury. As with the majority of income sources it is taxable.  (You will note that this is quite different to Specified Illness Cover which pays you a lump sum (one-off) upon diagnosis of a certain type of illness, and not related to your ability to continue to work or not).

So its Sick Pay, right?

No! Typically 'sick pay' from an employer is paid for a set period of time, for example 2, 6, 12 months, after which time the benefit stops and you are on your own. Income Protection however is designed to continue to provide the income benefit until either a)  you are deemed medically able to return to work or b) your protection plan reaches the end of its term, you can select usually between 55 and 65 years of age, at which point the benefit stops.

What about the State Disability Benefit?

Importantly receiving Income Protection, while it is a taxable income, does not immediately impact on your ability to receive your entitlement to State Benefits. The State 'Illness Benefit' is paid for a maximum of:

a) 2 years if you have at least 260 (5years) weeks reckonable social insurance contributions paid since you first started work

b) 1 year if you have between 104 and 259 weeks reckonable social insurance contributions* paid since you first started work

How much Income do I get from an Income Protection Plan?

Depends on how much your printer prints each morning! You can protect up to a max of 75% of your Gross Income with one of these plans. When/If you do claim as a result of being unable to work you make your claim, have it supported by medical evidence of you being unable to work, and the insurance company essentially become your employer, they deduct the tax payable and you get the Net Income paid into your bank account.

Example: You are 34 years of age, an Accountant, non-smoker. Your income is €50k. You put in place an Income Protection plan which will cover 75% of your income (€38k per annum benefit). You are married and 1 child. Your spouse is working also. If you were to become ill/injured/sick for a minimum of 1 week you could apply for State Disability Benefit, if successful it would provide in the region of €940 per month. (11k per annum).

How Much Does it Cost?

The above plan would cost in the region of €130 per month to put in place. Do note however that the Revenue recognise the importance of having this in place and have generous tax relief available on the cost of putting it in place, so if our Accountant above was on the 40% tax rate his actual cost would be around the €70 per month mark...........not bad for a potential monthly benefit of €3,167 if in a claim, and a claim which could last from now until he/she gets to 60 years of age!

Worth noting that the more physically perilous or manual your occupation the more expensive the cover would be for you.

Who Can Have It?

A lot of folks might want it but not everyone can get it! Typically anyone in an occupation which involved mostly driving or very heavy manual labour can have difficulty in getting an application through what is often very rigorous underwriting/assessment. But once you have it you have it! If you are not sure if your occupation would qualify you can easily check this by 'googling' income protection quotes, and they all ask you your occupation, before either quoting you or saying 'thanks but no thanks'!

Likewise, if you have previous medical history or medical/physical illnesses or conditions it may impact on you getting the cover at 'standard rates', which simply means at the price you were quoted for, and covering you for all eventualities.

Are There Any Down-Sides?

Like everything, it is important to know what you are covered for and what you are not covered for with these types of things. For example, you would likely not be covered if you were out of work due to an illness/injury suffered as a result of something you did while under the influence of alcohol, so no climbing trees or lamp-posts after a trip to the 'local'!

Another thing to watch out for, is if you intend traveling for a period of time, as in moving to another country. Most plans will only pay you for a short period of time if you are living abroad at the time of claim, so it's one to be aware of if this might apply to you. As always, read the details, be informed of all the facts.

You need to be medically certified as unable to work, if this is not the case then a company would likely refuse your application. The company covering you are charging you a price which will ensure they make a profit, pay the advisor/agent, and also ensures that other people who have the cover will get paid if they have a valid claim, so it is in everyone's interest to be upfront and honest about what is and what is not covered, and when it would or would not be paid.

Conclusion?

As always I will leave it to you to form your own conclusions on this. If your income stopping would have a massive impact on your financial, physical or mental well-being then it could be a worthwhile foundation for you. If you feel the State Benefit would not be sufficient, and you have few other crutches to support you should you be out of work for a considerable period of time, then it could be worth considering, big-time!

Please use this information in the manner it is intended, inform yourself and supporting you in creating a better financial future for yourself. Thanks so much for reading, sharing and spreading the word.

Paddy Delaney (QFA, RPA & Now Qualified Coach too- yay!!)

Hi,

Welcome to Informed Decisions Podcast #19! Thanks for continuing to listen and learn about critical aspect of Personal Finance & Financial Planning.

Specified Illness has been getting the 'Joe Duffy Treatment' for years, lets see if it is deserves it!

PODCAST HERE:

If you are new here, welcome! This is a great place to begin the journey if you are a new visitor.

Any (decent) builder would tell you that in order to build the house of your dreams, you need to put in place solid and durable foundations. While these foundations can be expensive, are no addition to the overall look of the house, and often more expensive than initially envisaged, I'm sure we all agree that they are a must have.

The same can be said of our financial lives; solid foundations will help support you if there is an earthquake, landslide, or even some mild tectonic shift! We addressed the basics back in earlier blogs and podcasts, but lets dig deeper on one of the core aspects of financial foundations, protection. Many of us in our 30's have some sort of cover in place, have been offered it or seen adverts online. What to do!? Over the next few weeks we will explore of each of the main types of protection on offer to us today, and whether they are something to consider or not!

Specified Illness Cover, Serious Illness Cover, Critical Illness Cover, Disability Cover, Income Cover, Permanent Health Insurance, Income Cover, Income Protection, Bill Cover, Inability to Work Cover......these are just a few of the names thrown around for various types of 'living benefits' (you don't have to die to claim them!) which may or may not help you financially if you are unable to work due to accident, ill-health, injury, mental or physical illness. In this blog we will dig deeper on Specified Illness Cover, aka Critical Illness Cover as it stands in Ireland today.

What is Specified Illness Cover?

As it's name suggests when you are medically diagnosed with a specific illness, injury, ailment or condition you would receive a tax free lump sum payment. It is for that reason that i always refer to this as Specified Illness Cover, because it's claim is dependent on whether is was one of the specified illnesses.

When you apply for this cover you will/should be given a clear list of the illnesses, the definitions of each, and the severity of which you must be diagnosed in order to be considered valid for a claim under any particular illness. If you suffer from something which is not on this list, or is not of 'sufficient severity', or does not meet the 'definition' you do not get your claim. If it does you do.

What sort of illnesses are covered by Specified Illness Cover?

Every serious life company in Ireland offers Specified Illness Cover under one title or another, each one will largely cover the same illnesses, however some have different definitions and severities under different illnesses. This is where it can get a bit murky and subjective in terms of which route is best. It's important to research this yourself, as well as taking the input from the providers, in order to make an informed decision on which is most appealing to you.

Irrespective of that, all providers will cover the 'Big 2'; so if you are diagnosed with having had a Heart Attack (of specific severity!) or Cancer (of specific severity!) you will be covered.

There are also another approx 50 less common, more bizarre illnesses covered by the various providers. For example surgical removal of an eye is a regular on the list, indeed diagnosis of flesh-eating bugs is another more recent addition by one provider! Hmmmm.

What definition must be met to claim my Specified Illness Cover?

Here's an example of the definition involved for claiming on a cancer diagnosis under specified illness by one provider, as of Jan 16. Worth noting that not many of the providers make the definitions available online. Doesn't inspire trust does it! Here's the high-level definition for Cancer:

Any malignant tumour positively diagnosed with histological confirmation and characterised by the uncontrolled growth and spread of malignant cells and invasion of tissue. The term malignant tumour includes leukaemia, sarcoma and lymphoma except cutaneous lymphoma (lymphoma confined to the skin).

So there you have it, if you had Specified Illness Cover and were diagnosed with a form of cancer, that is the definition your condition needs to meet in order for you to have a valid claim. If it doesn't currently meet that definition then you don't get your cash. If it does then you submit your claim, backed up by medical evidence from a medical professional and you can await your cash payment.

While no official figures can be found to show how many Specified Illness Claims there are every year from all the insurers I gather there are in the region of 2,000 claims each year in Ireland. That is just under 8 individuals in Ireland each and every working day either being diagnosed with a specified illness, sending in their claim, or receiving their claim cheques. That again is scary. The average amount each individual claims is estimated at €60,000.

What would you do with the money? What's the point in laying this foundation?

As a result of us being 5 to 6 times more likely to suffer from one of these illnesses than we are to die before 60, it is therefore in the region of 5 times more expensive than life cover. As a key element of our financial foundation it ain't cheap, and it is because it is statistically so likely to happen, unfortunately.

Consider if you were in the situation of being diagnosed with a cancer which displays levels of 'uncontrolled growth and spread'. It's scary, it's hard to picture, however many of us will have had first or second-hand experience of this.

What sort of an impact will it have on you and your circumstances? Will it impact on your ability to work, to earn your current income? Will your partner need to take time out of work to support you or replace you in some way? How will you pay for medical treatments? Will you be under financial pressure to return to work as soon as possible as opposed to taking time out? What impact will it have on your financial goals? Will you have to rely on loved one's to support you? Will you have financial concerns?

If you answer 'yes' to any of these then having some level of Specified Illness Cover may be appropriate to you. The level of cover you should have will depend on many factors, among them; what emergency fund you have in place, what impact a diagnosis will potentially have on you, what your income is, what your affordability allows and ultimately it will boil down to how big a problem you feel it would be if it did happen.

Irrespective of how much there is no doubting that for many of us it is prudent to have an element of it in our financial foundations, no question. In conjunction with some of the other foundation protection types we will discuss over the coming weeks it can help keep your house intact while you overcome the earthquake.

Whatever you do or do not do with this information at least make sure that you make an informed decision with regards your financial foundations.

Thanks for reading, liking, commenting and sharing the love!

If you prefer you can follow the link below to listen to the podcast, or subscribe to the podcast via iTunes.

Thanks,

Paddy.

Hi All,

Thanks for visiting the Informed Decisions Blog.

The last few Blogs have been focused on informing you on how you can access money from your Pensions, both Personal Pensions and Employer Company Pension Schemes, when that time comes.

If you are a new visitor you can check these out here and here!

For many of us I am conscious that the single biggest financial mountain to climb is one's mortgage. This can often lead, and I'm sure has done for some of you, to the question;

"Should I invest and save for the future, or focus on getting rid of my mortgage."

You can access the full show notes below, or jump in here:

I had the very same question put to me by a friend recently, he had a large lump sum of money which he had been managing for several years, rolling it over in various accounts, the interest rates constantly falling. He was considering throwing it at the mortgage, bring down the term left. What should he do...................................................What would you do?

Listeners to the Informed Decisions Podcast will recall Episode 8 (listen here) where we saw the massive impact a relatively small change in mortgage repayment can have on the term of one's mortgage. This Episode was hugely popular and the Pro's below outline why.

For completeness sake lets look at some Pro's and Con's of 'Clearing my Mortgage' instead of 'Investing my Money For the Future'

Clearing My Mortgage – The Pros…(not exhaustive)

• Guaranteed Return on Investment: If you invest your money in clearing your mortgage you are guaranteeing your return on that investment, there is no danger that the mortgage could come back in future if markets got rocky! You achieve the immediate return of eliminated interest expense.
• Save on Interest Costs: As above it can save you tens of thousands in interest, which you would have been paying had you not cleared the mortgage.
• Peace of Mind: This is probably the single most obvious and rewarding one, the fact we now own our home can be a great source of peace of mind for the future, irrespective of what might happen your income.
• Reduced Cost: By removing the mortgage payment from your monthly outgoings you are reducing your costs, and for some it's big-time!
• No Need for Mortgage Protection Insurance: If you have no mortgage loan the lender does not need you to have Life Cover on that loan in order to repay it if you die, another cost reduction.
• Satisfaction: Many of us will remember forever the people we meet who tell us they have 'no mortgage'. It's akin to meeting a celebrity, it is that highly revered! Not necessarily justifiably so, yet it is a primal instinct in us to own the roof over our heads. Achieving that can result in a great sense of satisfaction.

Clearing My Mortgage – The Cons…(exhausting!)

So there are lots of really great 'Pros', but before we write the cheque lets look at the full picture, this side is somewhat technical, so brace yourself!

• Low Return on Investment: If you invest your money into clearing your mortgage you could be signing up for comparatively low returns on that money. Why? A mortgage is likely the cheapest money you will ever borrow. The rate on majority of mortgages in existence today is in the 3-4% region. You are essentially signing up to that rate with the investment you are making to the loan. Consider for 1 second that in the 1980's when our parents were in the same position the rates were upwards of 20%! There would be no debate in those circumstances!
• Savings Are in Lower Future Value: All the monetary Pro's were in future savings, meaning they need to be adjusted for inflation. This has a large impact. For example, let’s assume you pay off your mortgage in 25 years instead of 30. Using this Investopedia present value calculator, you’ll see that €1,000 in 25 years time is only worth €423 in today’s terms at a 4% inflation rate. In other words, you have to discount all savings by inflation because the payments you avoid will be in this lower future value. Takes the sheen off slightly?
• All Eggs in One Basket: Investing all your funds into clearing your mortgage (property) flies in the face of logical and informed Investing.
• Make Money by Owing:  If you have a Tracker Mortgage or indeed a very good deal on a fixed rate it could in time be lower than the prevailing inflation rate. Inflation rate is currently hovering around the 0% but if it were to rise you could literally be earning by borrowing, in real terms (after inflation), even though you’re paying interest every month. If your mortgage rate was 1.5% and inflation was 1.6% you essentially make more by owing than by owning. If you clear your mortgage you give away that potential financial advantage.

As you have deduced by now, the 'Pros' to clearing your mortgage are fairly obvious and appetising to most of us, however the 'Cons' are somewhat more murky and financially complex, reliant on long term inflation effects and discounted present and future values!

Debate:

If you sought advice on the matter many Financial Advisers may will quickly highlight to you the long-term historical returns for a given investment product of 6-8% per annum. When this is compared to mortgage rates of 3-4% it seems there is no debate. Common sense would also suggest the following:

Investment returns via such a vehicle are highly variable, they can have periods of double digit growth which far outstrip mortgage rates, and indeed periods of double digit downside (losses) where even paltry mortgage interest rates represent a far superior return on your investment.

As we all know the future is not the past and returns will vary, but mortgage interest saved is a bird in the hand. It is important to acknowledge however that suitably chosen investment funds have more often than not outperformed mortgage interest rates over the term of an average mortgage (20-30 years).

While the mathematics may well point to the fact that investing for the future should provide the investor a greater return in the long term than clearing the mortgage it really is a personal decision. This decision will usually be driven by one's motivations and by how they want to feel, and that to me is proper, provided it is an informed decision.

Thanks for tuning in, please do share, tell your friends, and support Informed Decisions in becoming the leading personal finance podcast in Ireland.

Paddy Delaney. QFA, RPA

Happy New Year! It's Officially 2017, and I genuinely wish you every success in whatever you are aiming for in the coming year.

How can I take my Pension? The first part of the answer to this question was launched last week (click here), and this week we tackle the second part to this, getting our money from pensions we have 'through work', most often known as company schemes or occupational pension schemes. So, how do I get my money from my company pension you might ask, we here we go, and yes we are going to 'cakify' it again!

Trustees:

When you are drawing from a Personal Pension as we saw in Blog# 15 you are tied to the Revenue 'rules' when accessing it at retirement. However in the case of Company Schemes you are most often tied to the 'rules' as set out by the Individuals who generally oversee and manage that particular pension scheme. These Individuals are known as 'Trustees' and more often than not they are experienced in this space, have to compete 'Trustee Training', and are bound to act in accordance with the pension scheme 'mandate' which sets out how it should be managed. So the 'trustees' are acting in the interests of the people who have 'cake in the oven'!

What is a Defined Benefit Pension Scheme & How Do They Work?

If you work with a company that is promising to pay you x % of your 'final salary' when you finish, and the x is based on the number of years you have worked with the company at that point then you may well have a Defined Benefit Pension, yeeehaaaa! They are generally a great thing to have as the size of the cake at the end is largely dependent on how long you serve in the scheme instead of how much ingredient you yourself add to it!

If you have a DB here is how you can most often access your cake.

1. You can take a slice of cake immediately upon retirement up to a max equivalent to 1.5 times your final annual gross salary. If you have worked between 20-40 years in that scheme you may qualify for that max slice of cake. You do with this what you wish, happy times!
2. You are then drip-fed cake each month until you/your spouse passes away. As noted above the amount of cake which you are drip-fed will depend on the number of years you have been in that pension scheme as an employee.

Typically these schemes pay you 1/60th of your final year's salary for every year you have served. So if you were 20 years in the scheme you may expect to get 1/3 of your final salary as your gross income for the rest of your days, separate to any State Pension entitlement. Not too shabby I'm sure you'll agree! These are a dying breed, the cake requires a huge amount of ingredients and the burden can often be too much for employers to bear, they then stop cooking this particular cake and direct employees into the next and often less favourable type of pension cake!

What is a Defined Contribution Pension & How Does It Work?

You will know you are in a 'DC' cake if you are told that you need to put ingredients in, your employer may or may not put ingredients in, and that the size of the cake at the end will be subject to how well the cake gets on in the oven, there's no promises made from the employer.

In short the only thing defined with a DC scheme is the contribution you are making, hence the name! Unlike the DB above you are not told 'do x years here and you will get x every year when you retire'. In many ways a DC scheme is very similar to a Personal Pension as we heard about in Podcast 16.

How Do I Access My Money From a Defined Contribution Company Pension Scheme?

Almost everyone in a Defined Contribution Company Pension will have the choice of the following methods to access their funds.

Drip-Feed Cake Method:

1. Take up to max of 1.5 times annual final salary immediately and eat that slice as they wish
2. Give the remaining cake to a Life Insurance Company and they will drip feed you a small slice of cake each year until you/your spouse pass away (as taxable income)

Your Own Cake Tin Method:

1. Take 25% of the cake at retirement as tax free slice
2. If you have guaranteed €12,700 of cake each year from other source you can do any of the following a) pop the remainder in your own cake tin, and access it as you need it (can be very tax efficient and enable high control over your own cake) b) Give the rest to a Life Company and they will drip-feed you a slice each year c) take it all as a taxable lump sum
3. At retirement if you do not have guaranteed income of €12,700 you must lock away €63k of your cake until you are 75. If there is any left over at this point you can pop this into your own cake tin and eat as you like as per #2

So there you have it, pheewww! There is a lot to how we claim our pension funds. This and the previous blog have been an introduction to it, to informing you as to what the finishing line looks like currently.

As always when the time comes for you to put plans in place to give yourself the retirement you want you can refer to these and they should help you on the road to making informed decisions.

Thanks for engaging and sharing.

Paddy Delaney

Join Our Weekly 'Informed Decisioners!'

Recommended Reading:

Firestarter Sessions- Danielle LaPorte (Great Read/Listen!)

http://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Health-Personal-Development/The-Fire-Starter-Sessions-Audiobook/B007SY96II

Actual Book! (Could not find it online on any of the Irish Books Sites)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_2_20?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=firestarter+sessions&sprefix=firestarter+sessions%2Caps%2C206&crid=2ZIF7TQPS5V7S

Hey,

We are almost at the very end of 2016, much like all the years before it there was lots happening for everyone. If you had plans for the year you probably have reviewed them and identified what you want out of 2017. Or perhaps you didn't have plans, which probably accounts for many of us.

Stephen Covey coined the phrase 'begin with the end in mind', meaning we should focus on the end goal of whatever it is were are doing, this will keep us on track, accountable, moving forward, and progressing in the right direction.

I'm always conscious of this when we in the this industry tell people they should be preparing an income for themselves in retirement. Irrespective of whether that is through pension, estate planning, alternative assets or indeed sheep (check out blog #13) unless we know what we are aiming for, what the end goal is, it's really difficult for us to engage in anything. That's what this blog is going to address, how do I get my money from my pension in Ireland, when I finally reach that point? Podcast Episode 16 (here) focused on the ages at which we can retire in Ireland, this is going to focus on the 'how'!

Pensions are technical, there is no avoiding that fact. Another fact, we almost all love cake! So I've set myself the challenge of helping you understand all this through cake terminology, just to keep you all sweet.....!

Imagine that as we work we are contributing 'ingredients' (money) to our giant 'cake' (pension fund). The more ingredients we put into this cake, the bigger it will get. Provided we keep the 'temperature' & 'cooking time' (risk & volatility) to a manageable level for the size of cake then we should end up with the cake that we had planned for, just as the 'recipe' (your financial plan) had outlined! Simple yes!?

Key Point #1: "When I get access to my cake (retire) can't I just take the cake out of the oven and devour it?" Not that simple I'm afraid. There are rules as to how you can eat your cake, just as there were rules as you were adding ingredients and cooking it over all those years. Irrespective of which type of pension (cake) you have there are 4 methods of accessing it, your circumstances at the time of retirement and the type of cake you have will determine which options are open to you. They are:

1. Take a decent slice tax free immediately, and eat it!
2. Hand the cake to an insurance company and they will send you a small portion of the cake each year until you die (can be taxable)
3. Put the cake into the press and take a slice as and when you need it (can be taxable)
4. Put the cake into a sealed container until you get to 75, only having access to a tiny slice each year until reaching that age.

There are 2 main types of pensions which the majority are members of, either personal pensions (Personal Pensions and PRSAs), and secondly members of company pension schemes (Occupational Pension Schemes).

In this post I will focus on the following; How do I take my money from a Personal Pension or PRSA (Personal Retirement Savings Account)?

#1: Congratulate yourself on reaching retirement

#2: Take 25% of the cake as a 'tax free slice', and do with it as you please

#3: Provided you have enough cake from another source (min €12,700 per annum guaranteed income) you are allowed to put the rest of your cake into the press and take a slice of it as you wish, you control it and the full cake remains in your name. (This is called an ARF). There is a minimum % of cake which you must take each year either 4 or 5 per year, but you can take more if you wish. You pay Income Tax, USC and PRSI (if applicable) on the cake that you take at this point.

#4: If you do not have the minimum guaranteed income from other sources you can still do #2 above, but #3 changes for you. Instead of putting it into the press and taking it as you need, the revenue insist that you place just over €63k of it into a sealed container (AMRF) until you are 75. This is a requirement apparently in order to stop you leaving yourself with nothing in later life! After doing that, if you still have cake left over, you can put that amount then into your own press and take it as you want it, as above.

Pardon the pun but this may all seem very spongy, so lets stop trifling around and bring this to the plate! For example, you accumulate a PRSA with €200k value at age 68, happy days, a nice lump of cake you might say! Using #2 you take €50k tax free and do with as you wish. #3, assuming you have the minimum income sorted via State Pension (€12k approx) and another small guaranteed annual income, you can then put the rest of your cake into the press (ARF), manage it and take out (for example) 4% which would give you €6,000 Gross, per annum. If you lived for a long time then the cake could run out, or if you didn't eat all the cake before you passed away then the cake goes into your estate and passes to your beneficiaries.

Lets run the same example, but this time you do not have enough cake to allow you do the 'pop it in the press' option. You take the €50k tax free and live it large. You then have to put just over €60k of the remainder and lock it away until 75. You have just under €90k of your cake (less than 50%) which you can 'pop into the press' and take slices as you need. If you were taking the minimum 4% of this it would provide a shade under €3,500 per annum.

So there you go, that is the 'end in mind'. If you 'have a pension' and believe it to be 'enough', consider how much cake you might like to have when you get to that point of your life. If you feel you need to make your cake a bit bigger or smaller then speak to a professional, find out how exactly you will be able to get your hands on your cake, and then you bake it accordingly.

Next week we will look into accessing money from Company Pensions, Occupational Schemes and the likes. More cake analogies are in store, I hope you like cake!

Thanks for sharing and spreading the 'informed decisions' word, please keep the shares going!

Your're a legend,

Paddy.

Hey!

If you have ever wondered about any of the following:

What age can I get the State Pension?

When can I access my other Pension Funds?

How much will the State Pension Provide me with?

If your answer to any of these is 'yes' then this episode is right up your alley!

Next week we will look into how one goes about getting one's money from a pension, but that's for another day!

Hopeful that this is an informative episode for you.

Thanks for listening and sharing.

Paddy (QFA, RPA, APA, BBS).

www.informeddecisions.ie

Hi,

Whether you are a first time buyer or are an existing mortgage holder Paddy Delaney (QFA, RPA, BBS) shares some useful information on how to take control of your mortgage, and the benefits of doing so.

A recent survey suggests that a large portion of us millennials don't care about the future, merely about the 'now'!

Indeed we can often be in a rush to secure our mortgage that we take an eye off the terms we agree to, and we then forget all about it and get on with our lives.

However it can have a significant impact on our lives if we take control of our money, our borrowing, and make it work for us for a change!

Here are the links as promised:

Budget Tool: http://www.informeddecisions.ie/blog3-stepping-stones/

God Give Me Patience: http://www.informeddecisions.ie/patience-right-feckin-now/

Grateful for you all for listening and sharing, and hopeful that some of you take control of your borrowing and see the benefits of it.

Paddy.

Hi All,

Thanks for tuning in again, this time to Episode 14.

Paddy Delaney (QFA, RPA, APA, BBS) outlines the top 7 reliefs, allowances and benefits to claim your full tax benefit, and get the money you are due into your bank account!

Below are some links to further useful information.......enjoy!

Paddy Delaney. Your Personal Finance Informer!

www.informeddecisions.ie contains all the links to all personal finance blogs and podcasts to date, so please do check it out.

Here's a link below to the revenue website with further info on all allowances:

http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/it/reliefs/index.html

Here's a link to the first Informed Decisions Pension Podcast:

http://www.informeddecisions.ie/episode-5-intro-to-pensions/

Hi There!

Life Cover, Life Insurance, Life Assurance......call it what you will, the fact is that there are many ways we can put this in place, and many different types of cover to choose from.

Which is the best Life Cover for me? In this episode Paddy shares information regarding the most common types of cover available, and some of the key differences between them, to enable you make an informed decision on your Life Cover and Family Protection.

You can sign up for weekly email from InformedDecisions.ie by visiting this page: http://www.informeddecisions.ie/spreadtheword/

Thanks for tuning in, and for sharing this on Facebook & LinkedIn.

Paddy

www.informeddecisions.ie

Hi there!

Investments can be ferociously complex things, and made even more complex by some, for their benefit and not yours!

This episode of the Informed Decisions Personal Finance podcast shares some basic insights to the 5 main Asset Classes, giving you a working understanding of what they each are and what sort of volatility they each tend to carry.

Valuable listening whether you are a newcomer to the world of savings, investing or pension planning in Ireland, or are a seasoned regular.

Please visit the website www.informeddecisions.ie for access to all of our blogs and podcasts.

Thanks for listening and sharing.

Paddy.

Hi Guys,

Thanks for tuning in to Episode 11 of the Informed Decisions Podcast. In this episode we will share with you one of the largest and most unknown potential tax that cohabiting couples can be faced with, and a few pointers on your options to help ensure it's never an issue for you.

Please continue to share on social media and spread the word, our listener numbers are increasing every month, meaning we are getting this info out to the millennials of Ireland, who seemingly want it!

Thanks all,

Paddy.

www.informeddecisions.ie

Link to Revenue Website and further info regards the Family Home/Dwelling Relief:

http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/cat/leaflets/cat10.html

Hi,

Thanks for tuning in again!

In previous episodes we have discussed the basics of emergency funding, clearing debts and having awareness of where our money goes. Assuming that you have those things in order (or on the way to being in order!) here is a useful podcast episode sharing the key things to consider before you invest for the medium or long term.

While we will delve into 'asset allocation' in more detail, this episode is an introduction to the 4 key things to consider when doing an Irish Investment.

If listening via iTunes etc. please visit the website www.informeddecisions.ie for all other blogs and podcast episodes

Thanks for tuning in.

Paddy Delaney.

Episode 9 of the Informed Decisions Podcast introduces Physical Health expert Andrew Hageman of Meath-based A&S Fitness. We discuss links between Financial & Physical health, reasons to pursue both and some really useful tips to get on the path to physical (and subsequenty financial) wellbeing.

Andrew shares his story, his vision for giving ourselves the best chance to perform, and some really practical ideas on how to go about it.

We would be delighted to hear your comments, see your shares, and please do send it to a friend who you feel would benefit from listening.

As always, thanks so much for listening, and do check out the website.

www.informeddecisions.ie

Paddy.

Discover the benefits and indeed the savings to be had from clearing your debt early. While it is not something everyone can aim to do, there may be scope for many to make small changes to save lots of interest, and to be free of debt earlier than expected.

Please continue to share the love, and don't forget to subscribe to the weekly email update. Magic!

Thanks as always for tuning in.

Paddy.

One of the other core foundations to an effective Financial Plan is to have a back-up in case you aren't around to see it through,Life Cover can play a part in that!

Many folks in Ireland wonder if they need it, what does it really do (seeing as they won't be around to benefit!), and how much really is enough.

Here's a shed-load of ideas on how to begin to work that out for yourself. This is the first of a series exploring the different ways to protect the protectible, easy!

Thanks for sharing, listening and continued support of the cause.

Enjoy.

Paddy.

Hi All,

Paddy & John shed some light on what is the best way to go, rent your home, or take the plunge and buy it with the help of a mortgage. Both have experience from a personal & professional perspective and share their thoughts on how best to consider this question......plus some other stuff!

Enjoy,

Paddy.

www.informeddecisions.ie

Hi All,

Colm McCarthy (our esteemed Irish Economist) recently said "retirees don't eat equities and bond for their breakfast, they eat rashers and eggs and bread and stuff".......meaning we need cash to survive and feed ourselves in retirement, not funds and technical products.

Paddy & John discuss why this matters and how we can begin to consider catering for our retirement.

Recorded in a busy pub, there is a nice background ambience to compliment the lad's dulcet tones!

Thanks for tuning in!

Paddy.

Many of us deal with budgets in a work environment, everything revolves around budgets. Yet for many the thoughts of budgeting our own finances seems alien!

Paddy & John discuss the merits and the ways to approach budgeting, and most importantly WHY bother!

A large emphasis is on identifying your own personal Financial Goal, then and only then will budgeting be an activity you'll be motivated to actually do.

Thanks so much for listening, you're a legend!

Paddy.

Available on iTunes and Podcast Addict. Just search for 'Informed Decisions'.

For more check out www.informeddecisions.ie

For many establishing an emergency fund may seem like an unnecessary hassle, or indeed an impossible mountain to climb. Your new co-host, and Paddy discuss the ins and outs and ways to get started on this journey.

This is the first Podcast the 2 guys have embarked on together, so go easy on them!

Thanks for tuning in.

Paddy.

Now available on iTunes for iPhone, and Podcast Addict for all Android.

Or visit the site for more info....

www.informeddecisions.ie

Hi There!

Many folk think that Financial Planners and Advisors have all the answers, the truth is that YOU have the answers, and we provide the technical advice & the tools to get you to where you want to go.

Plus, a basic overview of the 6 key foundations to financial freedom.

Plus, some dodgy singing!

As always, thanks for tuning in.

Paddy.