A new survey from Friends Firsts shows 67 per cent have seen a reduction in income. Elsewhere, there’s an increase in the number of people in work investing in a pension.
With the number of older people in consistent poverty doubling over just one year, pensioner Gordon* explains what daily life is like for him – and how he fears for the future.
In the Pension Board’s annual report, it also criticised the poor pension administration and expressed concern about low assets for defined benefit schemes.
High commissions charged by financial advisors means there is always a conflict of interest when dealing with clients and many are far too well paid for their efforts, writes David Quinn.
How pensions work, how to read a payslip, dealing with personal taxes, how to choose and take out a loan (and how to pay it back), these should all be taught in school, writes Sinead Doherty.
The only way to ensure the long-term prosperity of our retirees without burdening our children with unfair taxes is to create a state-backed – rather than entirely state funded – pension system that is means tested, writes Aaron McKenna.
John Martin, who was behind the major OECD study published into Ireland’s pensions timebomb, says private pensions need to start sending regular letters out to people. Here’s why.
Trumpeting their success with the promissory note last week, up against the unions this week. We are not out of the woods yet, not by a long shot, writes Kieran Allen.
Politicians are just the same as other public servants – and their expenses should be reduced in line with the sacrifices being made across the country, writes Sarah O’Neill.
In a letter to Taoiseach Enda Kenny, Jack O’Connor says that introducing the 41 per cent rate on pensions over €60,000 sooner would obviate the need for certain cuts.
The reduced USC rate for some of those aged over 70 is to be discontinued, while tax relief on pension contributions will soon only subsidise pension schemes under €60k per annum.
The Budget is days away and though there has been fewer leaks than last year there’s plenty of speculation. This is what we can expect on Wednesday… definitely, maybe.
Many of the workers who lost their job when Guiney & Co closed down in September had more than 25 years service – but now their pension remains up in the air.
STUDIES HAVE SHOWN that the past year of lockdowns and restrictions on day-to-day life has distorted our perception of time, but the experience isn’t uniform.
Dr Ruth Ogden, an academic specialising in experimental psychology at Liverpool John Moores University, seized 2020 as an unprecedented research opportunity and spoke to TheJournal.ie this week about her work – and why our perception of time may have changed.
Ogden has carried out three surveys to examine the pandemic’s impact on our sense of how much time is passing, two in the United Kingdom and one in Argentina (one is available here, while the others are under review).
The results were split uniformly: 20% of people felt as though time was passing at a normal speed, 40% felt it was passing faster, and 40% felt it was passing slower.
So today, we’re asking: Have you felt time go slower or faster during the pandemic?
Areas of low clouds and fog, then sun
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Patchy low clouds and fog
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