Informed Decisions: Ireland's Independent Retirement Planning Podcast

Paddy Delaney, QFA RPA APA | Independent Retirement Planner, Ireland
  • 4.8 (5)
  • Investing
  • Biweekly

Informed Decisions is Ireland's award-winning podcast on pensions, retirement planning and financial planning, hosted by Paddy Delaney. Paddy, founder of Informed Decisions, is one of a small number of retirement planners in Ireland who work on a genuinely fee-only basis: no commission from any product provider, no products sold, and nobody but the client paying for the advice. If you are within ten years of retiring and you have built up a substantial pension, the difficult part is no longer saving. It is knowing what to do with what you have. An awful lot of people arrive at that point with a fund value and no strategy, and no clear sense of whose advice is actually on their side. That is what this show is for. Every week, Paddy works through the decisions that really make a difference: current issues in the world of finance that affect your pension in Ireland and fundamental questions that every Irish person should ask themselves when planning their retirement, f.e.: • How much income a pension can realistically sustain in retirement, and for how long • ARF or annuity: what each one actually costs you over twenty years of drawdown • Why the default fund your pension has been sitting in may not be doing what you assume • What Revenue's rules mean in practice: the Standard Fund Threshold, imputed distribution, and the tax on your retirement lump sum • PRSAs, AVCs and company pensions, and which structure suits which situation ABOUT YOUR HOST Paddy Delaney is one of very few independent, fee-only financial planner in Ireland and the voice behind Informed Decisions. He is a Qualified Financial Adviser (QFA) and Retirement Planning Adviser (RPA), also holding the APA designation, and has been publishing this podcast since 2017. His work centres on Irish retirement income planning: ARF drawdown strategy, pension structuring, and tax-efficient income for people approaching or already in retirement. New episode every week and more content on YouTube, too. 📊 Check where you stand with Informed Decisions free 10-minute Retirement Readiness Scorecard: https://www.informeddecisions.ie/pension-calculator 📅 See how we work: https://www.informeddecisions.ie WHO THIS PODCAST IS FOR Business owners, senior professionals and executives across Ireland, typically between 45 and 65, with pension and investment assets built over a career. DISCLAIMER Informed Decisions Limited, trading as Informed Decisions Financial Planning, is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. This podcast is for general educational purposes only and does not constitute personalised financial advice. Everyone's situation is different. Always speak to a qualified, independent advisor before making pension or investment decisions. Tax rules and pension regulations change; figures quoted are accurate at time of recording.

  1. 6d ago

    Up to 50% Tax Relief. What's the Catch?

    Is EIIS in Ireland a useful investment or not? The Employment Investment Incentive Scheme offers higher-rate taxpayers up to 50% income tax relief for investing in Irish SMEs, and every autumn an awful lot of people are offered it. Paddy Delaney puts the investor's questions to Stephen Tully of BVP. What Paddy went through in this episode: How the EIIS relief tiers work, and why higher relief means higher risk How long your money is really tied up, and who EIIS is not suitable for Where your money is held, what it costs, and who is paid commission for recommending it How gains are taxed, and when the tax relief can be withdrawn If you are weighing up EIIS before the year end, this episode gives you the questions to ask first before you consider investing. ⚠️ Capital at risk. EIIS investments are high risk and illiquid, and tax relief can be withdrawn. General information only, not personalised financial advice. 🎙️Full podcast episode and 📖 Blog: https://www.informeddecisions.ie/post/eiis-ireland-questions-before-investing 📊 Want to check where you are? Try our free 10-minute Retirement Readiness Scorecard: https://www.informeddecisions.ie/pension-calculator 📅 Find out how we work: https://www.informeddecisions.ie DISCLAIMER EIIS investments are high risk. Your capital is at risk and you may lose some or all of it. The shares are illiquid and normally held for at least four years. Tax relief can be withdrawn in certain cases. This content is for general educational purposes only and does not constitute personalised financial advice. Everyone's situation is different — always speak to a qualified, independent advisor before making pension or investment decisions. Tax rules and pension regulations change; figures quoted are accurate at time of recording.

    Up to 50% Tax Relief. What's the Catch?

  2. Oct 19

    Should You Buy Bonds Now? Irish Investors and 5% Yields

    Should you buy bonds now? If you are an Irish investor and the bond part of your pension or ARF has disappointed for a few years, the 5% yields in the headlines may sound like good news. They are a dollar number. This episode looks at what bond yields actually mean for someone investing in euro in Ireland. In this episode, Paddy goes through these points: Why the same rise in rates that knocked value off bond funds has improved their future returns Why the 5% US Treasury yield is not what a euro investor receives, and what euro yields look like in 2026 What higher yields mean if you are still contributing, and if you are drawing down an ARF under Revenue's imputed distribution rules Why the same bond fund is taxed very differently inside and outside a pension If you hold bonds in your pension or ARF and want genuine clarity on whether they are doing the job they should, this episode is for you. 📖 Read the full blog post and watch us on YT: https://www.informeddecisions.ie/post/should-you-buy-bonds-now-ireland  📊 Want to check where you are? Try our free 10-minute Retirement Readiness Scorecard: https://www.informeddecisions.ie/pension-calculator 📅 Find out how we work: https://www.informeddecisions.ie DISCLAIMER This content is for general educational purposes only and does not constitute personalised financial advice. Everyone's situation is different — always speak to a qualified, independent advisor before making pension or investment decisions. Tax rules and pension regulations change; figures quoted are accurate at time of recording.

    Should You Buy Bonds Now? Irish Investors and 5% Yields

  3. Oct 12

    US Estate Tax in Ireland: The $60,000 Line on Your US Shares

    US estate tax is not only an American problem. If you are an Irish resident holding shares in US companies, whether through vested RSUs or your own investment account, the IRS can charge estate tax on anything above $60,000 when you die. A US citizen gets $15m. Paddy tries to shed a bit of light on the matter and goes through it here: Why shares in US-incorporated companies count as US assets, even on an Irish platform What US estate tax looks like on $750,000 of employer shares in Ireland: a bill of $235,300 Why "everything to my spouse" can be the expensive route under the Ireland-US estate tax convention The two options, reducing your US exposure or planning your estate around it, and what each one costs If a big part of your wealth is sitting in RSUs or US shares in Ireland, this episode is for you. The figures are as at the time the records were made. 🎙️ Full YT episode and 📖 Blog: www.informeddecisions.ie/post/us-estate-tax-ireland-rsus-us-shares  📊 Want to check where you are? Try our free 10-minute Retirement Readiness Scorecard: www.informeddecisions.ie/pension-calculator 📅 Find out how we work: www.informeddecisions.ie  DISCLAIMER This content is for general educational purposes only and does not constitute personalised financial advice. Everyone's situation is different — always speak to a qualified, independent advisor before making pension or investment decisions. Tax rules and pension regulations change; figures quoted are accurate at time of recording.

    US Estate Tax in Ireland: The $60,000 Line on Your US Shares

  4. Oct 7

    Budget 2027 Ireland: The €50,000 Tax-Free Investment Account

    Budget 2027 in Ireland came with the usual noise about tax bands and credits. If you are within 5 to 10 years of retiring, or already retired, those are rarely the lines that matter. In this Budget special, Paddy Delaney goes through what actually changed for Irish pensions, investments and retirement income. The new Investment Account in Ireland: €12,000 a year, the first €50,000 tax-free, 1% a year above that, from 1 July 2027 Exit tax down from 38% to 35%, capital gains tax down to 31%, and why deemed disposal is still with us What the Budget did and did not touch on pensions, including new valuation factors for defined benefit schemes under the Standard Fund Threshold And a practical example: €1,000 a month for 8 years, and the difference between €15,400 of exit tax and roughly €2,000 of account charge If the Budget has you wondering where you actually stand, this episode is for you. 🎓 Free webinar about "Your Money in 2027": Friday 9 October, 12:00, with Alan Purcell: https://www.informeddecisions.ie/webinar 📖 Full Blog: www.informeddecisions.ie/post/budget-2027-ireland-pensions-investing  📊 Want to check where you are? Try our free 10-minute Retirement Readiness Scorecard: https://www.informeddecisions.ie/pension-calculator 📅 Find out how we work: https://www.informeddecisions.ie    DISCLAIMER This content is for general educational purposes only and does not constitute personalised financial advice. Everyone's situation is different — always speak to a qualified, independent advisor before making pension or investment decisions. Tax rules and pension regulations change; figures quoted are accurate at time of recording.

    Budget 2027 Ireland: The €50,000 Tax-Free Investment Account

  5. Sep 28

    Before You Retire in Ireland: 5 Decisions You Can't Undo

    It's good to know which decisions can never be undone, before you retire in Ireland. Most of a pre-retirement checklist can be changed next year. Four or five items cannot. In this episode Paddy Delaney, independent retirement and investment planner, takes them door by door: the €200,000 lifetime limit on tax-free lump sums, the annuity decision, the tax year you crystallise near the Standard Fund Threshold, the pension tax relief that stops with your last payslip, and the order you do it all in. This episode is for anyone a year or two from retirement who wants to know which doors close for good. What you'll learn: Why the €200,000 tax-free retirement lump sum in Ireland is a lifetime limit across all your pensions, not per pension Why an ARF can become an annuity later, but an annuity can never go back How the Standard Fund Threshold rising from €2.2m to €2.8m makes the tax year you crystallise matter, and why growth can erase the saving (fictional case study: Maggie, 61, €2.6m) How much pension tax relief you can still use at 55 to 59 and at 60 and over, before your last payslip If you're approaching retirement with a significant pension and want clarity on which decisions to slow down on, this episode is for you. 🎙️ Access all our podcast episodes and our blog 📊 Want to check where you are? Try our free 10-minute Retirement Readiness Scorecard  📅 Find out how we work DISCLAIMER: This content is for general educational purposes only and does not constitute personalised financial advice. Everyone's situation is different. Always speak to a qualified, independent advisor before making pension or investment decisions. Tax rules and pension regulations change; figures quoted are accurate at time of recording.

    Before You Retire in Ireland: 5 Decisions You Can't Undo

  6. Sep 21

    Trust in Financial Advice: Why Ireland Scores 49 Out of 100

    Trust in financial services in Ireland sits at 49%, against a global average of 63%. Paddy Delaney goes through the 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer research on financial services, where Ireland ranks, and what sits behind the number. Edelman surveyed almost 34,000 people across 28 countries and publishes a separate report on financial services. Ireland comes in 23rd of 28, inside the distrust band, below the developed-economy average of 53% and well below the global figure. In this episode, Paddy goes through the following: Where Ireland ranks for trust in financial services, and which countries sit above and below Why trust in financial services runs at 73% in developing economies and 53% in developed ones Which sub-sectors are trusted least, and why banks score higher than financial advisers What the tracker mortgage scandal actually cost, and why it is far more recent than most people remember The one question to ask any adviser about how they are paid, and what the answer tells you If you are weighing up financial advice in Ireland, particularly with significant pension or investment assets behind you, this episode is about how to judge who is worth listening to. 🎙️ Full podcast episode and 📖 Blog: www.informeddecisions.ie/post/trust-financial-advice-ireland 📊 Want to check where you are? Try our free 10-minute Retirement Readiness Scorecard: https://www.informeddecisions.ie/pension-calculator  📅 Find out how we work: https://www.informeddecisions.ie  DISCLAIMER This content is for general educational purposes only and does not constitute personalised financial advice. Everyone's situation is different: always speak to a qualified, independent advisor before making pension or investment decisions. Tax rules and pension regulations change; figures quoted are accurate at time of recording.

    Trust in Financial Advice: Why Ireland Scores 49 Out of 100

  7. Sep 14

    Prize Bonds Ireland: What the New 1.5% Rate Actually Pays You

    The Prize Bond prize fund rate rose from 1.00% to 1.50% this month, the first State Savings increase in about three years. Almost every write-up has described that 1.5% as a return. It is not one. It is the size of the prize pool spread across the whole €4.4 billion in issue, and what an individual holder receives is decided by a draw. In this Episode, Paddy works through the NTMA's own published figures and puts a realistic number on what Prize Bonds are actually worth to a normal holding, then lines them up against what the same State will pay for certainty. What you'll learn: Why the 1.5% prize fund rate is not interest, and what it actually describes What the odds look like in practice: 0.067% per bond, and a 59% chance of a year with nothing on a €5,000 holding The new State Savings rates: 1.96%, 2.29%, 2.33% and 2.66%, all tax-free, and the one product that pays DIRT How to compare any bank rate properly by dividing the gross rate by 0.67 Why the State Savings guarantee has no €100,000 ceiling, and who that actually matters to The trap in locking a 10-year rate, and why "eaten bread is soon forgotten" belongs in this decision  If you are holding Prize Bonds, State Savings or cash on deposit in Ireland and want to know what those balances are really doing, this episode is for you.  🎙️ Full podcast episode and 📖 Blog: https://informeddecisions.ie/prize-bonds-ireland-what-the-rate-means/ 📊 Want to check where you are? Try our free 10-minute Retirement Readiness Scorecard: https://www.informeddecisions.ie/pension-calculator 📅 Find out how we work: https://www.informeddecisions.ie DISCLAIMER This content is for general educational purposes only and does not constitute personalised financial advice. Everyone's situation is different: always speak to a qualified, independent advisor before making pension or investment decisions. Tax rules and pension regulations change; figures quoted are accurate at time of recording.

    Prize Bonds Ireland: What the New 1.5% Rate Actually Pays You

  8. Sep 7

    Inheritance Tax in Ireland: Gift Now or Leave It? - with Mairéad Hennessy from Taxkey.ie

    Inheritance tax in Ireland is charged at 33% on anything above €400,000 passing from a parent to a child. The question most families never properly work through is whether to move assets during their lifetime or leave them until the end. And that decision changes the bill, the timing, and who ends up paying it. Paddy is joined by Mairéad Hennessy of Taxkey, a firm of independent tax consultants, for a practical conversation about passing wealth on in Ireland. What you'll learn in this episode: • Why the tax question is the wrong place to start, and what to work out first • How the €3,000 small gift exemption works, what makes it fail, and why it is worth far more over time than the figure suggests • How capital gains tax paid by a parent can be credited against a child's inheritance tax bill and the two-year condition attached to it • What a business transfer needs in place in the ten years before it happens, and why the child has to be in the room • Family partnerships: how they work, who they suit, and what they cost you in privacy • The US Federal Estate Tax exposure sitting in Irish households through employer shares, and the $60,000 threshold behind it We recorded this just as the roadmap for the taxation of private investments was published; it therefore also provides an initial outlook on the investment account to be introduced in 2027 and its implications for notional disposals. If you are approaching retirement with a business, property or a portfolio that will have to move at some point, or you are in line to inherit and would rather understand it in advance, this episode is for you. 🎙️ Full podcast episode and 📖 Blog: www.informeddecisions.ie/post/inheritance-tax-ireland-gift-or-inherit  📊 Want to check where you are? Try our free 10-minute Retirement Readiness Scorecard: www.informeddecisions.ie/pension-calculator  📅 Find out how we work: www.informeddecisions.ie  🔗 Mairéad Hennessy, Taxkey: www.taxkey.ie  Book mentioned: Self Employed – The Forgotten Community by Dan O'Donoghue: https://buythebook.ie/product/self-employed-the-forgotten-community/  DISCLAIMER This content is for general educational purposes only and does not constitute personalised financial or tax advice. Everyone's situation is different: always speak to a qualified, independent advisor before making pension, investment or estate planning decisions. Tax rules and pension regulations change; figures quoted are accurate at time of recording.

    Inheritance Tax in Ireland: Gift Now or Leave It? - with Mairéad Hennessy from Taxkey.ie
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About

Informed Decisions is Ireland's award-winning podcast on pensions, retirement planning and financial planning, hosted by Paddy Delaney. Paddy, founder of Informed Decisions, is one of a small number of retirement planners in Ireland who work on a genuinely fee-only basis: no commission from any product provider, no products sold, and nobody but the client paying for the advice. If you are within ten years of retiring and you have built up a substantial pension, the difficult part is no longer saving. It is knowing what to do with what you have. An awful lot of people arrive at that point with a fund value and no strategy, and no clear sense of whose advice is actually on their side. That is what this show is for. Every week, Paddy works through the decisions that really make a difference: current issues in the world of finance that affect your pension in Ireland and fundamental questions that every Irish person should ask themselves when planning their retirement, f.e.: • How much income a pension can realistically sustain in retirement, and for how long • ARF or annuity: what each one actually costs you over twenty years of drawdown • Why the default fund your pension has been sitting in may not be doing what you assume • What Revenue's rules mean in practice: the Standard Fund Threshold, imputed distribution, and the tax on your retirement lump sum • PRSAs, AVCs and company pensions, and which structure suits which situation ABOUT YOUR HOST Paddy Delaney is one of very few independent, fee-only financial planner in Ireland and the voice behind Informed Decisions. He is a Qualified Financial Adviser (QFA) and Retirement Planning Adviser (RPA), also holding the APA designation, and has been publishing this podcast since 2017. His work centres on Irish retirement income planning: ARF drawdown strategy, pension structuring, and tax-efficient income for people approaching or already in retirement. New episode every week and more content on YouTube, too. 📊 Check where you stand with Informed Decisions free 10-minute Retirement Readiness Scorecard: https://www.informeddecisions.ie/pension-calculator 📅 See how we work: https://www.informeddecisions.ie WHO THIS PODCAST IS FOR Business owners, senior professionals and executives across Ireland, typically between 45 and 65, with pension and investment assets built over a career. DISCLAIMER Informed Decisions Limited, trading as Informed Decisions Financial Planning, is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. This podcast is for general educational purposes only and does not constitute personalised financial advice. Everyone's situation is different. Always speak to a qualified, independent advisor before making pension or investment decisions. Tax rules and pension regulations change; figures quoted are accurate at time of recording.

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