Personal Retirement Savings Accounts (PRSAs)

Personal Retirement Savings Accounts

  • The flexible way to save for your retirement 

>> What is a PRSA?
>> Who is eligible to set up a PRSA?
>> How do PRSAs work?
>> Benefits of a PRSA
>> Our unique approach
>> Further infomation

 

PRSAs are a specific type of personal pension, introduced by the Irish government in 2002 to encourage more people in Ireland to start saving for their retirement.

PRSAs offer more flexibility than other types of pension as they can be taken out by any individual regardless of employment status. Other flexible features of this type of pension include portability i.e. the ability to take your PRSA with you from job to job and the facility to switch from one PRSA to another without any charge.

At abm financial advisers, our team of investment experts are dedicated to helping you choose the most suitable PRSA for your individual needs. We are authorised agents for 6 PRSA providers in Ireland. This allows us to recommend the best performing investment fund managers in the country. If you desire even more choice and control over your individual investments, abm financial advisers can arrange a self-directed option that allows you to buy and sell your own securities via your own individual account with a stockbroker.

What Is A PRSA?

A PRSA is a type of long-term savings account designed to help you save for your retirement in a flexible manner. PRSA legislation was introduced in 2002 in an attempt to simplify and encourage more individuals to take charge of their own pension provision. A PRSA can be taken out by any individual, regardless of employment status – full-time, part-time, self-employed, contract worker or unemployed. A PRSA is very portable, allowing you to bring your own pension with you from one employment to another.

Who Should Set Up A PRSA?

  • Self Employed and employed individuals without an alternative pension scheme: if you are not currently contributing to a pension scheme you should consider taking out a PRSA to ensure that you will have not only sufficient funds for retirement, but also the financial freedom to pursue your post-retirement plans.
  • Employed individuals who want additional pension benefits: even if you are already contributing to a company pension, you may still choose to increase your pension contributions by making Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs) to your own individually owned PRSA. AVC’s allow for a potentially larger tax-free lump sum at retirement, access to an ARF/AMRF at retirement, or could help you to retire a little earlier.

How Do PRSAs Work?

There are two types of PRSA:

Standard PRSAs

  • Maximum charges may not exceed 5% of contributions paid and 1% per annum of the PRSA assets.
  • The choice of funds available under a standard PRSA is generally only a portion of the fund choice available under a personal pension contract. This essentially means a narrower fund choice is available when compared to either non-standard PRSA’s or personal pensions. Fund choice is however sufficient in most client specific situations.

Non-Standard PRSAs

  • Offers a wider choice of investment options
  • No maximum limit on the charging structure

 

PRSA pension funds offer the facility to invest in a mix of asset classes such as equities, property, bonds and cash deposits.

PRSA Options
As an employee, if you do not have access to a company pension scheme, your employer is legally obliged to offer you access to at least one standard PRSA. Your employer may also contribute to your PRSA but is not obliged to do so. Even if you do contribute to a company pension scheme you can also choose to make Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs) to either an AVC fund offered under your main employer’s scheme or to your own personally owned AVC PRSA.

Contributions can be made either on a regular basis or once-off payments

Benefits Of A PRSA:

√        Tax relief on your contributions (subject to certain limits) √        Tax free investment growth
√       Standard PRSA charges are capped under legislation √        Your PRSA can move with you from job to job
√       Tax free lump sum on retirement (subject to certain limits) √  You can switch from one PRSA to another without incurring any charges

Our Unique Approach

Proactivity

At abm financial advisers, we adopt a very pro-active and hands on approach to managing your PRSA. This includes:

  • Beginning with a complimentary financial review to assess your current financial situation.
  • Assessing your personal attitude to risk. This is key to the decision making process in terms of asset allocation and individual fund selection.
  • Setting ‘pension targets’ to suit your circumstances.
  • Regular evaluation meetings to review how your pension fund is performing. abm financial advisers will benchmark your fund manager performance versus the other competing fund managers.
  • No complicated, technical jargon – simple, clear and easy to follow information.

How Can I Get Further Information on PRSAs?

For further information on taking out a PRSA, email us.

Warning: The value of your investment may go down as well as up.