Hey all, in this 50th episode of the Informed Decisions Financial Planning Podcast we will aim to share insights on the very best mortgage that you can get here in Ireland; whether you are aiming for your first mortgage or have a collection of them we hope to share ideas which will save you a small fortune over your life-time. We also have a short guest appearance from Seamus & Conn (future Informed Decisioners!!)....
All we ask in return is to help us spread the word, share the article with the little icons at the bottom, check out the podcast, and in general just be a huge fan of our little site! Be delighted if you checked out our why.
We shared insights a number of months ago in what still remains one of our most popular blogs in the area of over-paying one's mortgage and the impact that has on the number of years you will be lumbered with it and also the lump of interest you would have paid.
Speaking of which, if I was to offer you €38,000 of a saving over the next 20 years, and all you had to do to earn it was about 8 hours of work, and an initial outlay of €1,000 to €1,500 for solicitor fees......what would you do? Many of us might fall into the most irrational behavioural finance phenomenon and not be able to see past the cost of €1,500, but on the face of it there surely is no doubt that we know it makes financial sense, right??
Take a listen to find out what we are talking about this week!
Thanks a mill.
Paddy Delaney
QFA | RPA | APA | Qualified Coach
We are joined by Professional Coach Niall English, to uncover exactly what coaching is, how it can be of benefit to us in achieving the things we want to achieve.
We also take a look at how it might be useful if you find yourself in need of making some changes to your finances. Here at the home of unbiased financial planning in Ireland we like to bring some fresh ideas.....this is our latest!
Plus, Niall shares some practical tools we can all use in order to make some real improvements in regards to our finances.
Hopefully you enjoy!
If you do then please share, join our community and spread the word!
Thanks a mill.
Paddy Delaney
QFA | RPA | APA | Qualified Coach
Hey, welcome to the latest Episode......This week we follow-up on our promise to share with you guys how ETFs are taxed here in Ireland. Like a lot of stuff these days there is a lot of info floating around about this topic, and if any of you have gone looking to get definitive answers it can prove quite tricky. We aim to bring several years of research to you in this episode, to answer most of the common questions that arise (and accept that we will naturally miss some of the less common stuff - who doesn't!).
Now this may help some of you, and it may not help, but understanding how you are taxed on your investment, pensions, savings or nest egg in Ireland is fairly vital in making informed money decisions...speaking of which please do pop over here to find out why we exist, what our purpose is and why we are Ireland's first Financial Planning & Wealth Management Blog & Podcast. Also, if you have any questions or comments we'd love to hear from you, just drop a message to us here.
In Blog 39 we took a fairly deep look at ETFs, how they work, how to buy them and what to look out for. We also raised a rather large flag to warn potential investors of the way in which 'the revenue' here in Ireland tax any income or gains you make on profits from these investment types. We are gonna address that now. We are not encouraging people to invest based on the tax treatment of something, that's never an informed decision, but we do believe it an important factor. First lets summarise the benefits & limitations of ETFs for Irish Investors:
Perceived Benefits (see blog 39):
- Offers a transparent means to invest in a broad range of companies with 1 'share'
- Potentially lower fees in comparison to shares and other retail investments
- Typically 'sellable' on the day you want to sell and get your cash back (liquid)
- Access to invest in large geographical areas (e.g US/Europe/Asia/Global)
- Easy means of diversifying your investment within shares/stocks
Perceived Limitations (see blog 39)
- Typically only investing in equities and not other asset classes
- Generally no volatility control in place - if it falls it falls - if it rises it rises
- Confusion over how they are taxed here in Ireland
- No physical proof of ownership - no share cert - all electronic/online
- Some ETFs are 'synthetic' - opening them up partially to potential default (counter-party risk)
- Lack of understanding of what they are and how easy they can be to own
Other Investments:
We have covered it before but if you were to buy shares directly in a company, such as Bank of Ireland or any other stock listed on the Irish Stock Exchange (ISEQ) then it is all fairly straightforward:
- Buy the shares through share dealer/broker (e.g Davy/GoodBody/IG etc etc)
- Pay Stamp Duty (1%) & all other expenses of dealer (dealer collects these)
- Get Share Certificate - you now own the shares
- Pay Annual Mgt Charge (typically 1-3% per annum) & 'other fees'
- If you get dividends you declare this and pay your margin rate of tax on that income
- When the time comes you sell the shares & pay your Capital Gains Tax of 33% on any growth you achieved (above €1,270 per annum)
- Bit Messy!
If you were instead to go and invest your money into a retail investment product, which a lot of the banks/brokers/agents sell, you are buying what is officially an 'Irish Insured Investment Fund'. These products offer you the option to easily invest into a variety of assets, depending on the fund it could be equities/ property/ commodities/ cash/ bonds or a combination of these. In this instance:
- Invest the money with advisor/broker/agent
- Pay 1% (Government Levy) upfront on the way in (same as with shares)
- Pay an annual management charge (typically 1.2%-2%)
- Do not receive dividends (if apply will usually be absorbed by fund manager)
- When you cash your policy in (sell) the growth is subject to a tax called 'Exit Tax' at 41% which is collected by the insurance company, you have no other returns to make
- It's simple!
How about combining the very best of both of these investments; it might look a little like this:
- Invest the money
- Pay zero upfront Tax/Levy
- Get paid Dividends and pay marginal rate of tax on them
- Pay a one transparent & low annual management fee
- When you sell your units you pay the lower tax rate of 33% Capital gains Tax
The great news is that this can sometimes be achieved with ETFs....check out full details on Blog 42
When It Comes To Pension Planning We Will Get Our Just Deserts:
Deserts is apparently the plural of 'desert' which is 'that which one deserves'....honestly I always assumed it was to do with the jelly & ice-cream type of desserts.....but had never given it much thought in fairness! The same is most certainly true of Pensions. It would be hard to put it any more simply than I am about to now; You will only get a lot out if you put a lot in. If you are haphazard about your approach to funding for retirement then it is quite likely that the benefits you get from yours may be haphazard too.
Coming at you 'live' (and sideways) from Kenmare!
Blame Your Advisor:
It may seem a bit pomp of us but your advisor (assuming you have one!) is absolutely at the coal-face of ensuring you know exactly where your level of income in retirement is headed. As we like to harp on about here 'begin with the end in mind' , otherwise what's the point in beginning!
If you find out upon retiring that your income is a million miles (or euros!) off what you were expecting, then much of that blame falls on your advisor. Now, if your advisor had been trying and trying to get through to you that you need to x,y & z in preparation for retirement yet you were only willing to do a,b & c then it's on you unfortunately!
So I Have A Pension, What Could Possibly Go Wrong!?
Imagine for a second that you are all of a sudden telegraphed onto a perfectly good aircraft. You are sitting beside an open door of the aircraft at 12,000 feet with a parachute strapped to your back. Yer man is shouting at you to jump out the door and to pull the parachute chord in 15 seconds. What is your first thought right now......................? While I have yet to test it in clinical studies I guess a lot of us think about that life-saving piece of equipment strapped to our back......will it open, will it work right, was it packed right, how fast will I descend......a whole host of concerns might enter our minds.....
Learn more about trivial pensions, and how to avoid some key mistakes when it comes to pension planning & financial planning in Ireland.
Thanks for checking it out.
Paddy Delaney
QFA | RPA | APA | Qualified Coach
The noun Faff has been defined by the Oxford Dictionary as 'A great deal of ineffectual activity'.......most financial plans are absolute faff!
So there, I said it! I said it, and the fact of the matter is that it is pretty true. Any plan worth it's salt with regards to pretty much anything will be mostly faff, in hindsight. Bear with me and we'll explain!
(You can read the full blog here)
We really want to thank Carl Richards for writing the book 'Behavior Gap' which I have re-read (again!) recently. This book looks at how to help people stop doing silly things with their money. It also inspired my thinking for this episode, about Financial Plans, and how seldom they see the light of day!
in this episode you will get an insight into:
How Do I Create A Financial Plan?
What is A Financial Plan?
Why Do I Need A Financial Plan?
Why DO Financial Plans Go Off Course?
Among others!
Thanks for listening...
Paddy Delaney
QFA | RPA | APA | Qualified Coach
Hey, and welcome to another episode of Informed Decisions Financial Planning podcast here in Ireland.
If you have ever asked yourself:
What are ETFs?......
How Do I invest in ETFs?.......
How Do ETFs actually work?.....
Are ETFs Risky?..................Then this episode will hopefully give you some useful information.
This time around we are taking a look under the bonnet of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) in Ireland and determining how they may or may not be something you want to get behind the wheel of as part of your portfolio.
ETFs are well documented at this stage, having grown in popularity for investors over recent years. They now estimate that ETFs account for 25% of all stock market transactions (in the US anyway - Ireland is a little behind those guys!). Whether you do or don't know about them there is no doubt they are popular and more and more of us regular folk are asking about them here in Ireland!
Thanks for listening. Full written version here.
Paddy Delaney
QFA | RPA | APA | Qualified Coach
If you are a new visitor, welcome! Please do pop over here to find out why we exist, what our purpose is and why we are Ireland's first Financial Planning & Money Podcast. Also, if you have any questions or comments we'd love to hear from you, just drop a message to us here.
Apparently Noah's Ark was made of 'cypress wood' and was in the region of 500 feet long. It was said to have been quite a boat, large enough to hold 125,000 sheep if those were his orders! Anyone familiar with the story will know however that he was instructed to bring on only 1 mated pair of every animal that walked along the ground, and his own family. Poor Noah was given only 7 days in which to build this behemoth, and to ultimately save the animal kingdom, before the great flood arrived, no pressure!
If we were to relate this to our own financial lives it's fair to say that, unless you yourself are on the cusp of retiring, you have more than 7 days to build your own ark and save yourself from the flood when you stop working!! Let's discover a little more about Approved Retirement Funds (ARFs), and how they might be your ark when your own great retirement flood comes! There is no doubt it can be a really useful tool in your retirement and pension planning here in Ireland. Indeed anyone I have met with Pensions here in Meath has been a big fan of the ARF!
If you are a new visitor, welcome! Please do pop over here to find out why we exist, what our purpose is and why we are Ireland's first Financial Planning & Money Podcast. Also, if you have any questions or comments we'd love to hear from you, just drop a message to us here.
What is an ARF (Approved Retirement Fund)?
Other than sounding similar to an ARK, it too can be a real saviour when you do stop working and your income from employer/business stops! Ultimately an Approved Retirement Fund is a vehicle in which you can park some or all of your pension fund into when you decide to retire.
How Do I Get Into An ARF?
We outlined in blog 15 & blog 16 exactly how you can get access to an Approved Retirement Fund when you decide to retire. Broadly speaking if you are in a pension which you have set up and contribute to yourself (Personal Pension or PRSA) or are part of a pension through your employer (Occupational Pension Scheme) then you typically will have access to a glorious and lifesaving ARF. Check out blog 15 & 16 for the low-down!
How Much Do I Need To Get Into An ARF?
Providing you meet the basic income requirement as outlined in Blog 15&16 you can invest funds in an ARF. Imagine you are 35 years of age, with no pension put in place up to this point, you have always felt that pensions were for old people, they are a crock, the charges are outrageous or that you will never retire! Whatever the reason you haven't done one previously. Having listened to the Informed Decisions Financial Planning Podcast you decide that the time is nigh, you don't want to be left out in the flood!
For illustration if you were to manage to invest €400 per month into a pension plan for yourself. We will assume you increase this by 3% per year in line with headline inflation rate. So in year 1 you pay €400 per month, in year 2 you will pay €412 per month and so on and so forth!
If you were to achieve a net return of 7% per year average growth (you will need to find a pension with low charges and go heavy on equities- staying invested when things get rocky- which they will- see here!).
If you were to do that, and to achieve that long term plan, you would have €796,681.27 of a fund when you get to 68! The bones of €800k!
Under current rules you could take €200,000 of that tax free for yourself and go nuts! You would have an option to put essentially the remaining 600k into an ARF and access it as you need it. How bad!?
You could then take funds from this 600k as you wished! Imagine you took the minimum 4% of this per year, equating to €24,000 per year, which in addition to the State pension would bring your total income to the €36,000 territory. This would mean you pay essentially minuscule tax on your total income....all totally above board and legitimately done.....so if anyone is telling you that pensions are a crock just tell them this!
Please check out our full blog here if you would like the show notes!
Thanks for listening...You're a Legend!
Paddy Delaney
QFA | RPA | APA | Qualified Coach
Needless to say it is a bit of a coup to have a Fintech Legend that has 9 million monthly listeners to his hit radio show 'Breaking Banks' in New York come on our show!
An Australian based in New York, he has taken a circuitous route to being a Global thought-leader in the FinTech World.
Paddy invited Brett to share his thoughts on the near future of how we will interact, invest and behave with our money. Ever thought about how our experiences will change when we venture even to our local shop?
Thanks for checking out Ireland's only dedicated Financial Planning & Money Podcast. Be delighted if you share and spread the word......be great if we could keep in touch with you directly here.
You're a Legend!
Paddy Delaney
QFA | RPA | Qualified Coach
PCP ('Phencyclidine' - not sure how that is pronounced!) was introduced in the 1950's as an anesthetic but was shelved in the 60's due to it's potentially lethal hallucinogenic effects. It was this hallucinogenic effect that made it so popular with recreational drug users and they have been producing it under the title of 'Angel Dust' since! It's chocka with Ketamine and apparently is the bees-knees if that is your idea of fun!
Another PCP, Personal Finance Plans, are on the scene now! This and other forms of consumer borrowing have rocketed in recent years, with experts saying the access to these loans is driving the new-car sales figures hugely, almost to hallucinogenic levels!
New Car Sales Figures for 2016:
Ireland 150,000
UK 2.7million
USA 17.5million
We love cars here at Informed Decisions, we don't necessarily spend lots of money on them however! We did a blog and podcast a while back to shed light on the true cost of cars, this proved really popular with many of you. We don't mean to suggest we have anything against cars, nor PCP Finance, but we do believe we should all understand the impact of what we are doing, so lets do the same with PCP Finance.
Before all that please do pop over here to find out why we exist, what our purpose is and why we are Ireland's first Financial Planning & Money Podcast. If you are looking for info on how to save or invest, protect your income, replace it when you retire or how you spend it in the meantime then this site is a useful resource here in Ireland! Also, if you have any questions or comments we'd love to hear from you, just drop a message to us here.
What is PCP Finance?
In Ireland, all we see to care about is mortgages, any time we have mortgages mentioned in our blogs/podcasts they are always the most listened to and most downloaded episodes, we just can't get enough of that wonderful stuff!
As always on this site we try to take a different view of things in order to help make it more practical and accessible to all, so we are going to 'mortgagise' PCP finance to try and make sense of it all!
To achieve this we will deep-dive PCP Finance, we will replace PCP Finance with 'mortgage' and 'car' with 'house'! See how you like that!
How Does PCP Work?
Most people have a good sense of it at this stage but let's have a brief over-view before we look at the figures. If you are thinking of buying a new house you can do so via PCP contract in your local dealer (pardon the pun!!). You select your house, pay a deposit in the form of cash or a trade-in house. You agree to a certain monthly payment for a certain period of time, typically between 3 and 5 years. At this stage you also agree the Guaranteed Minimum Future Value (GMFV), which is the final and largest payment you need to make in order to own the car at the end. This figure is based on the mileage, condition and estimate the dealer puts on the future value of the car after the 3-5 years.
What Happens At The End of The PCP Contract?
If you want to actually own the house at the end of the contract you must pay the GMFV as well as any 'completion' fees that may exist on the contract (you don't own it until you pay this by the way!).
Another option at the end is to hand back the house and walk away (where you would be walking to is another issue). Be aware that if the house isn't in agreed condition and wear & tear as set out at beginning of the contact then you may be subject to more fees.
The 3rd option is to roll into another PCP contract. The deposit you paid on the first house is not carried into the next contract, that's been and gone! If the actual market value of the house at the end is greater than the GMFV then you may have some equity to put to the new house you are looking at.
So that's a 'mortgagised' view of PCP contracts here in Ireland. Fairly straight-forward and sounds pretty simple. And we must try to remember that that is exactly how the dealer wants you to perceive it, the simper the better as more of us are likely to buy the produce!
How do the Financials of PCP Finance work in Ireland?
If you google 'PCP Quote' the first search is the Competition & Consumer Protection Commission This is a crackingly useful (not sure that's a word!) site with lots of information for us consumers to inform ourselves, worth checking out.
The next few are car manufacturers offering you the option to quote yourself for PCP. Having done this it still seems pretty easy and straight-forward, as they want it to be!
Let's take an example of a Hyundai i40 Tourer. A decent car by all accounts. There is an 'Executive' version of this 'house' for just over €29k, this is the base model of this house, so why it's called executive is a wonder. Seems a reasonable buy though, decent mileage and service etc.
Based on the illustrations on their site (and the rest are similar btw!), if you have cash deposit or a house to the trade-in value of €10k then you could be 'eligible' to 'qualify' for their PCP package! Yeah, congratulations! You could select the 2 to 4 year package, let's say you opt for the 3 year package to try get it paid off sooner rather than later. So you are in the house and all for €10k. Not so bad......
Your payments will be fixed at approximately €300 per month, based on a rate of 5.9%. You decide that this, along with the mortgage and the child-minding and whatever other expenses you have, is just about manageable to you.
The GMFV agreed (based on doing no more than 15,000kms per year) is just over €11,000 in 3 years time. That is what the dealer is telling you it will be worth in 3 years time provided the wear & tear is average and that the mileage is as predicted.
If this really were a house you are agreeing to pay a deposit of 30%, then agree to pay 6% interest on the repayments, which are over 3 years, and that the value of the house is going to fall from €29,000 to €11,000 in that 3 years, at which point you will then exercise one of the three options outlined above......really!!!??
You can the pay the €11,000 to own the house You can hand back the keys and walk away (provided it is in good nick). Or, you can trade it in against another house and pop some more PCP into you!
And therein lies the nugget here. PCP really is a bit like the drug in that once we get on it we may find it hard to get off it! What it does do is help us to really easily hallucinate and forget about the depreciation we are paying over the term. That amounts to €20,000 in this example, over 3 years.
If it was a house we just wouldn't buy it, PCP or no PCP! Who buys a large asset which will cost you €20,000 over a 3 years period, in depreciation alone!? It seems that lots of us do, that lots of us see the simplicity, see the easily manageable monthly payments, see the easily achievable max mileage and forget about the largest yet least obvious cost. Stop hallucinating!
Is PCP an illegal or unethical product? We don't think so, but we do think you need to know what they hell you are doing!
But hey, that is what makes the area of our behaviours, biases and what some would call our predictable irrationality around money so interesting!! You have the information now, what will you do with it?
Please share this article and check out the podcast while you're at it!
Thanks so much for listening. You're a legend.
Paddy Delaney
QFA | RPA | APA
Welcome to Episode #41 of the Informed Decisions Financial Planning Podcast, still the only dedicated resource here in Ireland.
In this episode Paddy speaks with Stephen Browne, who is owner and distributor of Voyant here in Ireland. There are several providers of this type of software for Financial Advisors and Planners, such as Truth, however Voyant is a leading player in the Financial Planning/ Financial Forecasting Software industry.
Stephen shares insights with listeners on what is it, what it does and importantly how financial panning software might benefit you in the long run.
While the software is generally only used by Planners, for their clients, here is a link to Voyant Ireland's website if you want to check it out.
Thanks for sharing...
Paddy Delaney
QFA | RPA | Qualified Coach
Last week we explored what will happen when the next crash comes......and importantly how we will react. It is the volatility of things which causes us to react, not the risk!
Volatility is not risk, risk is not volatility. I'm not trying to be profound (it's not one of my strengths!). In today's world the two are thrown together, interchanged in conversations, media and advertising, yet they are 2 completely different things. It's sort of like interchanging chalk and cheese in conversation:
Hey, did any of you students take the cheese I was using to write on this black-board? (showing my age there!)
Hey, would you like chalk on your ham & turkey sandwich?
Makes no sense, just as it doesn't to mix risk and volatility, yet we all do it, and I am as guilty as the next fella/gal!
Now this may help some of you, and it may not help, yet it is a critical aspect of retirement planning, pensions, investing and savings of any sort here in Ireland, it is vital to understand the difference between the 2, particularly if you want to make informed money decisions...speaking of which please do pop over here to find out why we exist, what our purpose is and why we are Ireland's first Financial Planning & Money Podcast. Also, if you have any questions or comments we'd love to hear from you, just drop a message to us here.
Regular readers & listeners will by now know that Informed Decisions isn't in the space of trying to predict the markets, we leave that to the fortune-tellers of this world!
We don't see any benefit in dissecting the daily news-feed and trying to interpret what that means for our investments, pensions, property prices etc. Nobody can do that with any degree of accuracy. Also, what difference does it make if the price of something which you intend holding for 10, 20, 30 or 40 years fluctuates by 0.1 or 1% this week??
And that is what this week's shortish blog is out to address, our human inclination to do something stupid at the absolute wrong time! It will be a real test of our Financial Planning here in Ireland, so listen to this podcast episode to be as well prepared as possible not to do the wrong thing when that time comes!!
Thanks for listening and sharing.
Paddy Delaney
QFA | RPA | APA | Qualified Coach
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
Risk. The Oxford Dictionary defines risk as 'the possibility of something unpleasant or unwelcoming happening'! It is therefore not a word which most of us are that much inclined towards.
There are many forms of risk which many of us don't really think of until it happens! In this episode we will unearth these risks, and indeed share ideas on what one can do to manage them (if possible!).
On a related but separate note we are delighted to tell you that we have written & launched our first ever quick-guide resource for you guys!
This was based on your feedback to our Financial Planning in Ireland Survey a few short months ago. We want you to download your own complimentary copy of the '4 Principles Guide' to Investment Success; simply click the pop-up or head over here and add your email, we'll mail it directly to you, for keeps, at no charge at all........limited time offer!
Flick over to the written version if you prefer to read this episode!
Thanks,
Paddy.
QFA | RPA | Qualified Coach
Some of us (yours truly included!) have been accused in the past of putting remuneration before romance! As if!! Many of us may be planning on 'going down the aisle' in the coming years or have done so in recent years, this is for you! Why? There is little doubt that clarity around how this impacts on our taxes is not that easily got, until now of course!
What is the best way to manage my taxes in Marriage/Civil Partnership?
What is the impact of Civil Partnership/Marriage on my Taxes?
All answered here on Ireland's only dedicated Financial Planning resource for millennials.
Before we begin, if you are new here please do check out this section to find out why Informed Decisions exists and what we are doing for our generation.
This episode (read the blog version here) will aim to share with you the impact of marriage on your tax assessment, what that means in money terms, and what your options are to maximise any opportunities which arise (from a financial perspective obviously!). If you haven't already then do check out Blog #28 where we shared the basics of Income Tax......a lot of this episode will make zero sense if not!
Please share and help some others out, they might buy you a drink!
If you haven't then do make sure to join our mailing list here, you'd be mad not to!
You're a Legend,
Paddy Delaney
QFA | RPA | Qualified Coach
Welcome to Episode 31 of The Informed Decisions Financial Planning Podcast.
This Podcast Episode took all of my efforts, Tax is not a subject I especially enjoy but you are worth it!
In this episode we explore how Income Tax works, what other tax is generally taken at source, and how to manage the levels of tax we pay. when we approach out Financial Planning in Ireland it can be so important to ensure we are paying the right amounts, and no more!
You can check out the full written version of this show here.
We are aiming to have all regular visitors to join our mailing list. If you are not on it please do so here. Email & first name is all we ask and we will send you a weekly exclusive update on what's happening at Informed Decisions.
You're a legend!
Paddy Delaney
QFA, RPA, APA, Qualified Coach.
Welcome to Episode 30 of The Informed Decisions Financial Planning Podcast.
In this episode I am going to open the can on Financial Advice full stop! I am going to outline why you don't need any initially, and how you can help yourself.
For the past 2 weeks our Podcast featured Dr. Daniel Crosby and discussed how we can enable ourselves to make more informed money decisions. One of his key principles was that 'we cant do this alone'. In this he outlined that all the research goes to support the idea that as investors we will do a lot better if we have the guidance of a competent financial advisor/coach. This point also related to the management of ones funds.
However on this show we are also conscious that a lot of us won't yet have accumulated large assets/investments, and that is who we are supporting in this weeks' episode.
You can check out the full written version of this show here.
We are aiming to have all regular visitors to join our mailing list. If you are not on it please do so here. Email & first name is all we ask and we will send you a weekly exclusive update on what's happening at Informed Decisions.
You're a legend!
Paddy Delaney
Welcome to the latest Podcast in Ireland's only dedicated resource on Financial Planning for millennials. In this episode we bring you Part 2 of the Dr. Daniel Crosby Interview (New York Times Best-Seller might I add!) as well as the results of our Annual Listener Survey. I promise to be as concise as is feasible!
If you are a new visitor to Informed Decisions, have a quick look over here to find out what we are all about and why this blog & podcast exists in Ireland. If not, welcome back! As always, you can check out our Podcast, Ireland's only dedicated Personal Finance & Financial Planning Podcast for millennials.
Thanks for checking us out!
Paddy Delaney
QFA, RPA, APA, BBS, Qualified Coach
It is not too often that we get to speak to a New Your Times Best Seller, so we are so chuffed to speak to Dr. Daniel Crosby, a specialist in Behavioural Finance. If this term is new to you then you are in for a treat. If you are familiar with it you are also in for a treat!
Join Paddy on Part 1 of this special interview to learn his fully researched strategies for managing your financial decisions for maximum results.
If you have not then you really need to join our exclusive mailing list here!
You can find Daniel's book here.
Thanks so much for tuning in and sharing what is Ireland's only dedicated personal finance and financial planning podcast.
Paddy Delaney
(QFA, RPA, BBS, APA & Qualified Coach!)
In this episode Paddy follows up on last week's show and shares the main ways of saving for education. Importantly it will highlight the main pros and cons of each and give you a sense of realistic growth expectations from each. If you would like to see the blog version of this episode you can get it here.
If you are a new visitor to Informed Decisions, have a quick look over here to find out what we are all about. As always, you can check out our other episodes in Ireland's only dedicated Personal Finance & Financial Planning Podcast.
If you have found this piece of any benefit whatsoever we would be super chuffed if you would share it with someone you know who might be in the same boat as you.......and of course make sure you join our exclusive weekly mailing list here. Ah Go On, do it here....
You're a Legend!
Paddy Delaney
Informed Decisions Financial Planning
In this episode Paddy shares the main costs of education so you can begin planning, but importantly will open your eyes as to 'how' to achieve the fund necessary to cover such costs! In Part 1 we share illustrations to show you what is involved in getting to your goal. Part 2 (next week) will delve into the pro's and con's of the different products and avenues available. If you would like to see the blog version of this episode you can get it here.
If you are a new visitor to Informed Decisions, have a quick look over here to find out what we are all about. As always, you can check out our other episodes in Ireland's only dedicated Personal Finance & Financial Planning Podcast.
If you have found this piece of any benefit whatsoever we would be super chuffed if you would share it with someone you know who might be in the same boat as you.......and of course make sure you join our exclusive weekly mailing list here. Ah Go On, do it here....
You're a Legend!
Paddy Delaney
Informed Decisions Financial Planning