Pension and Retirement Options
Pension Retirement Options
Retirement Lump Sum.
When you come to retire your Pension, you may take a tax free lump sum subject to Revenue limits. The maximum amount of of Lump Sum you may take is 25% of the value of your Fund at Retirement.
If you have an Occupational Pension scheme you can opt for a tax free lump sum of 1.5 times your Final Salary. The maximum amount you may take is €200,000.
With the remaining balance of your pension fund, you have two options: Annuity or Approved Retirement Fund (ARF). Here is some information about these options.
An Annuity is a contract with a life insurance company that will pay you a guaranteed, regular pension income for life in return for you paying a fixed sum of money to an insurance company from your retirement fund. The income that you receive will be subject to income tax and Universal Social Charge (USC). At the moment, Annuity rates are very low making it unattractive to purchase. You can include a % spouse’s pension in an Annuity, but this will reduce the annuity rate further.
An Approved Retirement Fund (ARF) is a personal retirement fund where you can keep your money invested after retirement. You have more flexibility to decide your level of income that is suitable for you.
You can withdraw money from the ARF regularly to give yourself an income and, unlike an Annuity, any money remaining in the fund after death can be left to your estate or spouse.
Without appropriate planning and management, the fund in your ARF may run out depending on how much you withdraw each year and how your investment funds perform.
This is why it is so important to get professional advice when retiring your Pension.
Contact us and see how our Pension experts can help you with your retirement needs.
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- The value of your investment may go down as well as up.
- If you invest in these funds you may lose some or all of the money you invest.
- Past performance is not a reliable guide to future performance.
- These funds may be affected by changes in currency exchange rates.
- Withdrawals and switches from funds investing directly or indirectly in property may be deferred for up to 6 months.
- Withdrawals and switches from all other funds may be deferred for up to 3 months.