Testing your assumptions
We take the growth rate, the charges and the retirement age you used and set them beside what your actual policy documents say. Most people find at least one of the three is not what they thought.
You have a projected pension figure. The real question is what it rests on.
A projection moves a long way on small changes: the growth rate you assumed, the charges coming off the fund every year, what you and your employer are putting in, and how many years are left. A planner can tell you which of those is really shaping your number, and what you can still do about it.
A no-obligation, free discovery call with a Pathway planner. Nothing is sold on it.
Regulated in IrelandAPFM Limited, trading as Pathway Financial Management, is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.
Qualified plannersCFP®, QFA, RPA and SIA qualifications across our directors.
Dublin 2 based20 Harcourt Street, Dublin 2, D02 H364.
Advice firstA no-obligation, free discovery call before anything else happens.
What your number is really telling you
A projection is a careful sketch of one possible future, not a forecast. It takes the assumptions you entered and runs them forward in a straight line. Real life rarely runs in a straight line, so the useful question is not whether the figure is right. It is whether the assumptions underneath it are reasonable for you.
Two of those assumptions do most of the work. Growth, because a small difference compounds over decades. And charges, because they come off the fund every year whatever the markets do. If either was a guess, the figure at the end is a guess too.
The third thing worth testing is the retirement you are picturing. A pot is only a way of producing an income. What matters is whether that income, alongside anything else you have, supports the life you want at the age you want to stop working.
How we would help
Four things we look at first when someone arrives with a projection and a question mark.
What you are really paying
Charges are rarely stated in one place. We read the policy, set out what comes off the fund each year, and show you what that adds up to over the years you have left.
Getting the contributions right
Employee pension contributions qualify for Income Tax relief at your highest rate of tax, within limits Revenue sets by age and earnings. We work out what you can comfortably afford and what the tax treatment means for you.
Turning a pot into an income
Lump sum, annuity, approved retirement fund: the choices at retirement shape how long the money lasts and how it is taxed. That is planned well before the date, not on the day.
Who you would be talking to
Pathway was built by two planners who believe advice should be clear, honest and genuinely on your side.
Paul McGrane
Director & Financial Planner
QualificationsCFP®, BBM, QFA, RPA, SIA
Paul is driven by making a tangible difference in clients' lives, and takes real satisfaction in knowing his work supports individuals and their families through decisions that are rarely straightforward.
Anthony Richardson
Director & Financial Planner
QualificationsQFA, RPA, SIA, BBS
A natural problem solver, Anthony thrives on finding the real challenge, working out how to resolve it, and putting the solution in place alongside the client.
What happens next
Three plain stages, at your pace. You can stop after any one of them.
A short call, at no cost
Twenty minutes or so, by phone or video. You tell us where things stand and what you are trying to work out. Nothing is sold on that call.
A proper look at the detail
If it makes sense to go further, we gather your pension documents and look at what you actually hold: the fund, the charges, the contributions and the projection behind them.
A plan in plain language
You get our findings written down, with the options set out clearly and what each one would mean for you. What you do with it is entirely your decision.
Questions people ask us
The ones that come up most often after somebody has run the numbers.
Is the figure the calculator gave me accurate?
It is an estimate produced from the assumptions you entered, which is exactly what it says it is. Change the growth rate or the charges by a little and the figure at the end moves by a lot. It is a useful starting point for a conversation, not a number to plan a retirement date around on its own.
Do I have to move my pension to get advice?
No. Plenty of the reviews we do end with the conclusion that the existing arrangement is fine and the contribution level is the thing worth changing. You are under no obligation to move anything, and the first conversation costs you nothing either way.
I have pensions from a few different jobs. Can you look at all of them?
Yes, and it is one of the more common reasons people get in touch. Old scheme benefits and buy-out bonds often sit forgotten with charges and fund choices nobody has reviewed in years. We map what you hold before recommending anything.
Does the projection include the State Pension?
No. That kind of calculator models a private or occupational pension only. Whether the State Pension forms part of your retirement income, and what you would need from your own savings alongside it, is one of the things worth working through properly.
What does the first conversation cost?
Nothing. It is a no-obligation, free discovery call. If we go further than that, we set out clearly what the work involves and what it costs before you commit to anything.
Talk it through with a planner
Bring the figure you calculated and the questions it raised. We will tell you plainly what we think, and what we would look at first.
Or email [email protected]
APFM Limited, trading as Pathway Financial Management, is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. Registered in Ireland No. 759815. Directors: Paul McGrane, Anthony Richardson.
Warning: The value of your investment may go down as well as up.
Warning: These figures are estimates only. They are not a reliable guide to future performance of this investment.
This page is general information about financial planning. It is not personal financial advice and does not take account of your own circumstances. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and may change.