1. You’ll need an income for when you retire

Your retirement savings plan is arguably the most important savings plan you will ever contribute to. It will provide you with the security of a regular income to ensure a comfortable standard of living for the rest of your days. Your retirement could amount to as much as a third of your life! Doesn’t it make sense to save now so that you can relax and enjoy this time of your life? With people living longer than ever before, your retirement savings may need to last for up to 30 years after you finish working.

2. Tax Relief on your pension contributions

One of the best things about saving to a pension is the generous tax relief available from the Government. Some employees can still benefit from an extra 8% relief on their pension savings with any AV Cs (Additional Voluntary Contributions) they make before this year’s tax deadline. The good news is that tax relief on your pension contributions isstill allowable for all workers at their marginal rate of tax (max 41%). However, in an update to Ireland’s Stability Programme, published by the Department of Finance on 29th April 2011, the Government clearly stated that “Tax relief for contributions to existing occupational and personal pension arrangements currently based on a contributor’s marginal rate of tax will be replaced with a State contribution equal to 33 per cent tax relief.” To avail of the current tax relief allowable, start or top up your pension now. Make the most of this window of opportunity and save what you can to benefit from the current generous tax relief, while it’s still available.

3. Tax-free growth on your pension savings

Under current legislation your pension savings will growtax-free. This, combined with the tax relief available on your pension contributions, makes a pension one of best savings options available today.

4. Tax-free lump sum at retirement

You can take up to €200,000 Tax-Free from your final pension fund when you retire. This very attractive benefit is not available on any other savings plan!

5. You now have access to safer pension options

You can choose to put your pension savings in any of our secure funds such as the Protected Assets Fund. Your Pensions Adviser will explain the full range of safer and more secure options now available.

6.  Benefits of regular investing

Unit cost averaging means you invest small amounts on a regular basis. This continuous drip-feed method ensures that any growth is not dependant on having invested your entire contribution on one particular day. This aims to level out highs and lows in pricing but could also lead to missing out in particularly low prices at any given time.

7.  Investment markets now represent great value

Markets are currently at 20-year lows so your euro is buying more fund units than when the markets are performing better.

8. The earlier you start the cheaper it is

This may seem overly cautious when you are young, but thefact is, the younger you are, the cheaper it is to save for your retirement. Even a little saved regularly when you are younger can make a big difference when you retire. Just €2 per day saved could equal a €126,0003 pension pot for your retirement! Depending on your age, you can save up to 40% of your personal income into a pension and get full tax relief so even if you’re starting your pension late, there’s still time to catch-up!

9. Increasing retirement age for state pension

The age at which you will qualify for the current State Pension payment of €230 a week is proposed to increase from 2014. If you are under 50 today, you may have to wait until you are aged 68 to receive a pension from the State. If you want to retire at age 60, you could have a gap of 8 years before your State pension kicks in. That’s why it’s so important to take action now and save what you can afford. Putting plans in place now puts you in control of your own retirement date.

10. A pension is a smarter way to save

If you like saving money but hate paying tax, you will love retirement savings. Unlike a deposit account where you pay DIRT on any growth, with a pension you can actually claim tax back!
• Tax-relief on contributions
• Tax-free growth on your pension fund
• Tax-free lump sum on retirement
• Regular income in retirement, income tax-free

Geraldine and Brian

Geraldine and Brian are married with two children, Katie and Sam who are aged 1 and 3 years. Both Geraldine and Brian have worked for the public service since 1996 and are earning €57,000 and €35,000, respectively. The family will see a loss of 4.2% or €2,830 in their annual net income due to this budget.

Geraldine and Brian had a FREE review with us and we saved them money on their outgoings!

 Life Cover:   

Current Premium €175 per month       

New Premium €79 per month… €1,152 a year saving! 

 That’s €20,736 saved over the 18 year term!

Mortgage protection:  

Current Premium €46 per month

 New Premium €30 per month… €192 a year saving!

That’s €6,336 saved over the 33 year term!

Car insurance:  

Renewal Quote €1490    

Finn Financial Quote €870… €620 a year saving!

Home Insurance:

Renewal Quote €724       

Finn Financial Quote €418… €306 a year saving!

Car Insurance:  

Renewal Quote €610

Finn Financial Quote €425…€185 a year saving!

Yearly Saving:  €2,455      

Total Saving:  €27,072

All our financial reviews include a FREE will with one of our recommended solicitors.

Once you’ve had your Finn Financial Review, you will have saved money, we will have organised all your documents for you and we have most importantly we will have protected your family’s future!

 Helping you prepare today for a secure tomorrow 

“Finn Financial reviewed my mortgage protection recently. I was surprised to find that Finn Financial were able to save me approx 60 per month and providing additional cover in doing so at the same time. Joanne discussed income protection cover as I required some form of cover, with the savings produced from the mortgage protection I could put towards income protection cover. I received detailed cover again after Joanne took the time as an independent consultant to review the market and recommend what was best for me and my family.  The advice I received was second to none. I would strongly suggest to anyone to have Joanne review your financial and savings will be made.”

“Recently I had the pleasure in dealing with Finn Financial Services. I found Simon to be very efficient and dealt with my application swiftly and efficiently and most importantly in a very professional manner. His appointment was after working hours which suited us perfectly and he was very punctual on all occasions. I would have no problem recommending his services in the future as saving money was our ultimate aim and he was able to do this for us without any issues. We would be happy to recommend the services of Finn Financial in the future.” A Walsh.

“Just a quick note to say thanks for putting me in touch with Finn Financial, they were really easy to deal with and accommodated us with evening visits. Overall Finn financial saved us the guts of €100 per month on our life cover and serious illness cover. Finn Financial Also got me a great deal for income protection cover, which is a great comfort to have, especially being self employed.  We’ve told all our family and friends about Finn Financial. Thanks again D.O’Grady”

“Joanne Nolan of Finn Financial ervices recently performed a Free Financial Review for my both family and my business. Joanne was extremely courteous, discrete and efficient in her work. She consistently went above and beyond the call of duty in her service to me. I had some out of the ordinary requests and Joanne kept working with me until she found the ideal solution. Not only have I saved money on all my policies, but I was given a Free Will from a highly reputable local solicitor and all my financial documents have been filed in one folder with all the relevant information easily accessible in one place. Joanne and Finn Financial truly exceeded my expectations of the level of service I would receive and I would strongly recommend anyone to avail of their no obligation free financial review -what’s the worst that could happen – You might save some money! I look forward to having Joanne and Finn Financial look after my financial needs for the foreseeable future. Sinéad Nulty – Kablingy Software”

“I have used Finn Financial services recently and i saved quite a sum of money on my mortgage protection cover. Simon’s expertise and knowledge of his own business led to considerable savings whilst at the same time improving the level of cover. In addition to this I subsequently took out income protection cover appropriate to my circumstances and needs. Due to him independent status as an advisor i only received cover that was right for me. The advice I received was second to none. and I highly recommend Simon Finn to any person considering reducing there financial costs. Kind Regards Joe Kearney BERcerts.ie”

Death, illness or unemployment can ruin whatever future you have planned and it is important to have your affairs in order and to ensure that you and your family will be adequately looked after.

1. Review your protection: Your first step in safeguarding your family’s financial future should be to review your current protection. Do you have the right cover in place, and at the right price?

2. Review your entitlements: Do you know what payments you would be entitled to from your employer or the social welfare to help you cope with unforeseen circumstances? For example, if you should fall sick, do you know for how long, and what proportion of your salary your employer will keep paying you? And when this ends, how much sick pay will you be entitled to from social welfare? If you are self-employed, you may not realise that you may not be entitled to social welfare.

3. Reassess your life cover:  If you recently took on extra borrowings or added to your family, you may need to increase it. If you own a house, it is likely that you already have some form of life cover, but is this sufficient? The Amount of life cover you need differs from person to person, but it should be enough to completely pay off any debts and maintain your family’s lifestyle after someone dies.

4. Review your pension: Looking into your financial future also means considering whether or not you are adequately provided for on the pension front. Given the generous relief available for those paying tax at the higher rate, you may find that you can significantly increase your monthly contributions without too much pain.

5. Protect your income: Protecting against a loss in income should be at the top of your agenda. Income protection pays out if you lose your income due to an accident or long-term illness and provides you with a replacement income should you find yourself unable to work. The payments continue for as long as you are unable to work because of your illness or disability, or until you die or you reach the age of 55, 60 or 65, depending on the policy. Income protection premiums are eligible for tax relief. Another option is to get a critical illness policy, which would pay out a significant tax-free lump-sum if you were diagnosed with a serious illness.

6. Protect your mortgage repayments: If redundancy is your big fear, you should consider mortgage payment protection. This policy pays out if you can no longer afford to make your mortgage payments due to illness, accident or compulsory redundancy.

7. Get Saving: One way of easing the worry about losing your job or suffering a further loss in income, is to build up a substantial rainy-day fund.

8.Get protected: Following a review of your entitlements and current level of protection, you may find that you have significant shortfalls in certain areas, and you may need to take out additional insurance policies.  A good independent Financial advisor will advise you which insurance policies are necessary, specific to your needs, and recommend the best value products available. `

9. Make a Will: Making a will is essential, all our full financial reviews include a free will service.

10. Contact us:  We specialise in protecting your families future, our motto is: Helping you prepare today for a secure tomorrow!

We are always shouting about our FREE Finn Financial reviews on facebook and twitter…and to anyone that will listen, but what is involved in a Finn Financial Review?

Step 1- You Need to let us into your house for an hour

A Friendly face from Finn Financial will call out to your house or any place you choose, at a time that is convenient to you.  We do evenings and weekends!

What do we do when we are at your house?

We will talk to you about yourself and your family and have a look at any policies that you already have.

What do we need you to do in preparation for our visit?

Pull out any Financial and insurance documents you have, Put on the kettle and open the chocolate digestives.

How long will this take?

This usually takes between an hour and an hour and a half (depending on how many cups of coffee you give us)

Step 2- we go away and have a look at all the information we have and arrange a follow up meeting with you for a week later.

Again, please stick the kettle on and crack open the chocolate digestives, this meeting is a bit more intense than the first one.

Why are we back?

This time we are going to chat about what our recommendations are, this could include:

* Switching providers for policies that we can save you money on.
* Cancelling policies that you don’t need
* Getting rid of everything and starting again- lots of people have unsuitable cover in place and might need something completely different.
* Explaining any new policies to you that we have identified you need.

OK, enough chatting, what next?

If you are happy with our recommendations we will fill out the paperwork for you, this includes all the application forms, so all you have to do is sign your  name.

Sounds good, what next

When your new policies are ready to issue, we will write to your bank and old insurance providers for you to cancel your old policies and direct debits.

Great, so is that the end of the financial review?

No, all our financial reviews include a FREE will, so we will put you on touch with our recommended solicitor and you can sort out an appointment in your own time.  Just tell him to send us the bill!

Am I going to get a new mountain of paperwork in the post now?

Step 3- we’re back

No, we will call back out to see you one last time (until your next review), this time we will be quick, so no coffee or biscuits required.  We will give you a new file to maintain full of all of your new policy documents and booklets, so that you can clearly see what you have, and easily access the required information in an emergency!

That’s it, you’ve had your Finn Financial Review, you will most likely have saved money in the process, we’ve organised all your documents into a nice new file for you (you know the ones that are stuffed in various drawers at the moment) and we have most importantly protected your family’s future.

Mary Murphys Wedding Story

When I got engaged on Christmas Day in 2007 I was ecstatic! I was especially excited to start planning my dream wedding!

A date was set! The 5^th January 2010, that gave me 2 full years to plan every detail with precision, on what was sure to be the most amazing day of my life.

Fast forward to July 2009, my dream wedding was getting closer, I was cool, calm and collected, all of the plans for my perfect wedding were in place. Church, venue, photographer, chauffer driver all booked and deposits paid. Dress picked and paid for, 80 invitations printed and ready to be sent! This was going to be the wedding of the century.

Or so I thought….

Disaster started to unfold when I was made redundant 4 months before the wedding. Luckily all of the big wedding expenses had already been paid, so being made redundant was not going to come between me and my big day! phew

I threw myself into the final last minute wedding plans, I wasn’t letting anything get in the way of me and my special day!

A month before the wedding I paid a visit to the dress shop to check if my dress had come in yet, only to discover that the dress shop had closed down and ran off with all of the deposits and promptly turned into a kebab shop. I couldn’t afford to shell out for a new dress, I still didn’t have a job, I only had one option at this late stage…. I had to wear my mothers old wedding dress from 1977. My Beautiful silk dress with pearl beading was a distant memory.

The show must go on… nothing else could go wrong at this stage…could it?

With 1 week to go to the big day, I was excited to see the hotels name flashing up on my mobile phone…that must be the wedding coordinator ringing to finalise numbers! WRONG. It was the hotel ringing to tell me that there had been an outbreak of swine flu, they were closing and I would have to find somewhere else to hold my wedding.

This was a disaster! One week before the wedding I had to find a new venue, I couldn’t cancel the wedding, I would lose all my deposits and I couldn’t afford to pay for everything again! The wedding had to go ahead.

Luck was on my side, I found a venue that could squeeze us in, a quaint country house up a winding country lane that seemed to go on forever, it was miles away from anywhere else in the beautiful picturesque open countryside! I had fallen on my feet. The wedding photographs would be amazing!

The first week of January 2010 brought the ‘coldest winter on record’. Roads were impassable, everyone was housebound, the guest list for my wedding halved.

The wedding HAD to go ahead. I was not letting €20,000 go down the drain.

4^th January- Things were going smoothly, I went with Joe to the suit shop to collect his suit. Halleluiah, the suit fitted perfectly! We were all set to walk down the aisle the very next day.

But it was not meant to be…

Joe walked straight out of the suit hire shop in front of an on coming cyclist and promptly broke his ankle. The wedding could not be cancelled at this late stage, everything was paid for!!! Joe would have to be wheeled into the church in a wheel chair and we could scrap any ideas we had about our first dance.

It was the day of my wedding, nothing else could go wrong. So there I was, hair curled, make up applied, wearing my mothers 1977 wedding dress waiting for my Rolls Royce to turn up and take me to the church….the Rolls Royce never arrived.

I still hadn’t managed to find a job, I couldn’t afford to pay another €250 for a new wedding car, I would have to drive myself.

So there I was, in my mothers 1977 wedding dress, driving myself to the church in my 1998 Toyota Starlet. This is not the dream wedding I had spent 2 years planning and shelled out €20,000 on.

The church ceremony went without a hitch and I wheeled Joe out to the Toyota starlet and drove us to our country venue, where our 37 remaining guests navigated the treacherous icy country roads to celebrate the happiest day of our lives with us.

The day went without any more hitches, the photographer got some great comedy snaps of me wheeling Joe around the dance floor. We were looking forward to seeing the wedding album!

A week after the wedding we got a call from the photographer, I was excited, he must have the photos printed ready for us to view. No such luck, the photographer was ringing to tell me that there had been a fire at his studio, the photos of our special day were destroyed.

Two full years of careful planning what was supposed to be the most amazing day of my life and €20,000 later I had no record of the disaster that was my wedding day! For better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health!

If only Mary had taken out wedding insurance, from as little as €49, she could have cancelled and rearranged, and had the dream wedding she had been planning! Wedding insurance: its a small price to pay for peace of mind leading up to your big day!

Read what some of our clients have to say about us this month!

Sinead: Thanks for all the work you put in when re-pricing my policies. Now just have to decide what to do with the money I’ve saved

Joe: Finn Financial saved me hundreds on my mortgage protection and provided independent professional advice in other areas. I highly recommend Finn Financial!

Mandy: Who wouldn’t be happy with saving €200 per month on life policies and income protection. Fast, efficient and friendly service whom I will certainly recommend to family & friends.

Gemma: I recommend Finn Financial to all my clients as they provide a very personable and tailored service that will save my clients money!