Donnellan And Co. » Financial Planning

Financial Planning – Pensions & Retirement Planning

Shane Donnellan — Wed, 08 Apr 2015 08:05:06 +0000

We will all be retiring later, or so the government propose anyway. There is also the prospect (if you are an employee) of being auto-enrolled into a pension scheme, whether you like it or not.

Thinking about this and much more about pensions, it made me wonder about the amount someone might want/need in retirement and how you should plan for this.

At present the state pension is approximately €12,000. Say prior to retirement you are earning €44,000 and you want a 50% pension i.e. you want your pension to be 50% of your final salary. Then your number or your income requirement in retirement becomes €22,000. So you have an entitlement to the state pension of €12,000 (assuming this remains untouched by government into the future).

So your requirement for income is €10,000 per year until you die. So we now add in some other factors. Your age, lets say you are 48 and you will retire at 68 you have 20 years to provide for the €10,000 income requirement.

Now we have to work back. What amount of money in 20 years time will give you an income of €10,000 per year. This depends on many factors. Your investment choice, tax rates, your life expectancy. Say we take it that the fund will be put on on deposit and the interest rate net of tax (at 41%) will be 1.18%. Say in this example the individual is male and at 68 an average male has a life expectancy of 20 years (CSO) so hopefully we need to provide for (at least) 20 years of this income. Taking the 2014 inflation rate of 0.20% (CSO).

The required lump sum to be put aside to meet the above criteria is €185,321. So this is the amount you would need in 20 years time.

How do you accumulate this amount? Well in this example at age 48 you have 20 years to accumulate the fund. Assuming you do not have any existing pension. The amount you would need to save is €685. per month.

Taking a slightly higher return of say 3% net of charges (no taxation as say it grows tax free in the pension fund), then you need to put aside approximately €564 per month.

So hopefully this simple example will throw some light on how to quantify your income requirement. If you want to start planning for your retirement and need some help, please contact us today to make an appointment.

The post Financial Planning – Pensions & Retirement Planning appeared first on Donnellan And Co..

Life Assurance Offers

Shane Donnellan — Fri, 12 Jul 2013 09:51:09 +0000

ZURICH LIFE ASSURANCE DEALS

Zurich Life are currently offering special deals on their life assurance products. In an environment of increasing prices and government charges getting discounts or offers of this magnitude is well worth considering.

€10,000 CANCER COVER for 1 cent

The first offer is on their new Cancer Cover product. When someone takes out at least €100,000 of Guaranteed Term Protection, Zurich will provide €10,000 of Cancer Cover for only 1 cent per month. Click here for previous blog on this cover.

10% DISCOUNT OFFER ON LIFE ASSURANCE AND MORTGAGE PROTECTION

Not being content with this Zurich are offering a separate offer of a 10% discount on all life assurance and mortgage protection policies. If you are considering taking out life assurance it is now a good time to get a quote and see how reasonable the life assurance cover is.

The post Life Assurance Offers appeared first on Donnellan And Co..

Mortgage Interest Rates – ECB to Cut Rates?

Shane Donnellan — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 09:59:53 +0000

This is a link to an article by Charlie Weston in todays Irish Indpendent about the possible cut in interest rates by the ECB which could happen in the summer given the European countries underperforming economies. Click here for the article.

Anyone on a tracker mortgage should benefit from any rate cut, however for those on variable rates any rate cut depends on whether the financial institution they hold their mortgage with passes on that rate cut. Let’s hope the ECB do their bit first!

The post Mortgage Interest Rates – ECB to Cut Rates? appeared first on Donnellan And Co..

Financial Planning – NCA Baby Steps Booklet

Shane Donnellan — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 16:47:43 +0000

This is a guide produced by the National Consumer Agency about planning for the expenses that baby’s bring! It goes through all the details of the effect of the costs attached to having children to the effect it can have on a mothers pension / retirement plan and more.

Very comprehensive guide and worth a read for all those planning to have children.

Click on the link to the booklet here.

The post Financial Planning – NCA Baby Steps Booklet appeared first on Donnellan And Co..

Financial Planning – Personal Insolvency

Shane Donnellan — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 14:56:49 +0000

Previously, if you were insolvent, that is, you were unable to pay your debts or meet your liabilities, bankruptcy was the only formal mechanism available for you to settle your debts and get protection from your creditors. Bankruptcy proceedings are taken in the High Court and can be expensive.

Bankruptcy also placed certain restrictions on doing business in the future and from taking up certain positions within companies and government.

Three new debt resolution mechanisms are being introduced in 2013 for people who cannot afford to pay their personal and mortgage debts. The Insolvency Service of Ireland will oversee these debt resolution processes. The new system is being set up under the Personal Insolvency Act 2012.

The rules on bankruptcy will also change when the Personal Insolvency Act is fully in effect.

Below is a handy summary table on the old and new regimes. The table is taken from the Citizens Information website www.citizensinformation.ie which has loads of other useful information.

These new mechanisms are not yet available. The Insolvency Service of Ireland will inform the public when it is ready to accept applications, expected to be in June 2013. When the mechanisms are available, you can apply as below:

For a Debt Relief Notice, your application must be made through an Approved Intermediary (AI). The Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) plans to launch its Approved Intermediary service during 2013.

For a Debt Settlement Arrangement or a Personal Insolvency Arrangement, you must apply through a Personal Insolvency Practitioner (PIP). The Insolvency Service of Ireland will be responsible for authorising various categories of professionals as PIPs.

Summary of mechanisms

Arrangement	Type of debt covered	Value	Duration	Apply through
Bankruptcy now	Unsecured and secured	At least €1,900 (1 creditor) or €1,300 (combined creditors)	12 years	High Court (voluntary declaration or else creditors can petition)
Debt Relief Notice (DRN)	Unsecured (and secured in certain cases)	Up to €20,000	3 years	Approved Intermediary (AI)
Debt Settlement Arrangement (DSA)	Unsecured	No limit	5 years (+1)	Personal Insolvency Practitioner (PIP)
Personal Insolvency Arrangement (PIA)	Unsecured and secured	No limit on unsecuredUp to €3m secured (though cap can increase if agreed)	6 years (+1)	Personal Insolvency Practitioner (PIP)
Bankruptcy in future	Unsecured and secured	€20,000	3 years	High Court

Note: You cannot apply on your own for a DRN, DSA or PIA. You must apply through an Approved Intermediary (for a DRN) or a Personal Insolvency Practitioner (for a DSA or PIA).

The post Financial Planning – Personal Insolvency appeared first on Donnellan And Co..

Financial Planning – Cancer Cover

Shane Donnellan — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 11:25:45 +0000

Cancer is a word that instills fear in everyone. Cancer is the term used to refer to all types of malignant tumours. A malignant tumour usually grows quickly, often invades surrounding tissue as it expands and can spread via the bloodstream or lymphatic system to form more growths in other parts of the body.

There is a high incidence of cancer in Ireland. In an analysis of life cover claims in 2011 by Zurich Life, 47% of all claims related to cancer.

For serious illness cover claims by clients of Zurich Life in 2011 over 81% of females claims were cancer related. For males the serious illness cover claims for 2011 were 61% cancer related.

The most common cancers in Ireland in an Irish Cancer Society report in April 2012 showed the following breakdown:

Males

Non-malignant melonoma 42%

Prostate 29%

Bowel 14%

Lung 11%

Melonoma Skin 3%

Testicular 1%

Females

Non Malignant Melonoma Skin 36%

Breast 30%

Gynae 11%

Bowel 10%

Lung 8%

Malignant Melonoma Skin 5%

Cancer is covered in serious illness policies as a listed illness. However many people believe that serious illness is not affordable or that the amount they require is not affordable. With this in mind Zurich Life have developed a new product which just covers the risk of being diagnosed with cancer.

The product will pay out a lump sum on the diagnosis of cancer as defined in the policy document.

The definition of cancer by Zurich is as follows:

“Any malignant tumour positively diagnosed with histological confirmation and characterised by the uncontrolled growth of malignant cells and invasion of tissue.

The term malignant tumour includes leukaemia, sarcoma and lymphoma except cutaneous lymphoma (lymphoma confined to the skin).”

For the above cancer definition, the following are not covered:

All cancers which are histologically classified as any of the following:

pre-malignant
non-invasive
cancer in situ
having either borderline malignancy; or
having low malignant potential.

All tumours of the prostate unless histologically classified as having a Gleason score greater than 6 or having progressed to at least clinical TNM classification T2N0MO.

Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia unless histolgically classified as having progressed to at least Binet stage A.

Any skin cancer other than malignant melonoma that has been histologically classified as having caused invasion beyond the epidermis (outer layer of skin).

There are some partial payments that will be made on diagnosis of certain conditions as follows:

1. Carcinoma in situ – Oesophagus, treated by specific surgery

2. Ductal Carcinoma in Situ – Breast, treated by surgery

3. Low Level Prostate Cancer – with Gleason Score between 2 and 6 – and with specific treatment.

The partial payment amount that will be paid out on the diagnosis of the above 3 cancers is as follows:

50% of the Cancer Cover Sum Insured in force for that life, or
€15,000

For Cancer Cover the following are some examples of the Cancer Cover Cost:

Male Cancer Cover (€100,000 benefit)

Age Premium

25 €11.53 p.m.

35 €22.37 p.m.

45 €50.28 p.m.

Female Cancer Cover (€100,000 benefit)

Age Premium

25 €11.53

35 €22.37

45 €50.28

The above quotes are based on non smoker rates over a 20 year term. Subject to underwriting. Rates are quoted as at February 2013.

For more details and any queries contact me today at 087-1202405.

The post Financial Planning – Cancer Cover appeared first on Donnellan And Co..

Financial Planning – Protection 5% Discount

Shane Donnellan — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 12:36:22 +0000

The 5% discount being offered by Zurich Life on their protection products is coming to a close this week. Anyone interested in finding out more about this offer let me know. New Ireland are also offering a similar discount.

Irish Life are offering €25,000 worth of life assurance for free for a year for parents with children under 13 and where the parents are 55 and under. There is one medical underwriting question to complete to qualify. There are only about 350 places left so sign up soon.

For any information on this please contact me at 087-1202405.

The post Financial Planning – Protection 5% Discount appeared first on Donnellan And Co..

Retirement Planning – AMRF Changes in Finance Bill 2013

Shane Donnellan — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 12:04:11 +0000

The AMRF limits (Fund and Guaranteed Lifetime Income) for AMRFs have been

reduced. This is a new addition and not previously flagged in the Budget 2013. This

will allow more people to access AMRF Funds and Vested-PRSA AMRF funds rather

than waiting to age 75 (when AMRFs become ARFs).

The current limits for post Finance Act 2011 AMRFs (i.e. since 6th February 2011)

are €119,800 and €18,000 p.a. and these have been reduced down to the previous

limits of €63,500 and €12,700 for a limited period – for 3 years from the passing of

the Finance Act 2013, which we expect to be early April 2013.

To ensure that individuals who were affected by the higher limits in the period since

the passing of Finance Act 2011 (i.e. since 6 February 2011) are not disadvantaged,

provision is also made that:

• Where on or after the date of the passing of Finance Act 2013 such

individuals have specified income of at least €12,700, any AMRF they have

immediately becomes an ARF, and

• Where on the date of the passing of Finance Act 2013 such individuals have

specified income of less than €12,700 then, to the extent that the original

capital amount that they placed in the AMRF exceeded €63,500, the excess

of that capital amount above €63,500 immediately becomes an ARF.

The post Retirement Planning – AMRF Changes in Finance Bill 2013 appeared first on Donnellan And Co..

Financial Planning – 5% Off Life Cover

Shane Donnellan — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 11:25:23 +0000

Another offer on the market at present (apart from Irish Life’s free cover – see previous blog) is the 5% discount on offer from Zurich Life on life cover, mortgage protection, serious illness etc. on premiums up to €250 per month.

So now is a good time to be reviewing your life cover should you need to do so.

The post Financial Planning – 5% Off Life Cover appeared first on Donnellan And Co..

Financial Planning – Free Life Cover

Shane Donnellan — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 10:08:47 +0000

A free offer doesn’t come along that often so I wanted to tell you about something that Irish Life are doing to increase awareness about the importance of life assurance for parents with young children.

Irish Life are offering free cover of €25,000 per parent for parents with children under 13 and where the parents are under age 55. The application is simple enough and is going to run until the 20,000 spaces are taken up.

Click here and follow the instructions.

If you have any queries on life cover or protection or any aspect of financial planning contact us today for a consultation at our expense.

The post Financial Planning – Free Life Cover appeared first on Donnellan And Co..