I have many times over the past 10 years sat across from clients – who work in multinationals – and marveled at how much the company provides for them. Typically they are in receipt of Salary, Bonus, Stock Options, Death In Service (Life Cover), Income Continuance (Sick Pay) and Health Insurance. That said, many in the sector will say they work hard for what they get and I would agree.
From a financial planning point of view, most is covered in the above. Where I have found Multinational Sector Staff to need advice is when they have moved company a number of times and have numerous pensions on different schemes.
These can prove difficult to manage for a number of reasons;
- Moving House – pension companies can often be the last on the list of companies to update new address info. The upshot of this is that any pension info goes to your previous address. People quickly lose track of where the pension is or how to find out
- Where to Start – if you have located your pension it can be difficult to make a clear assessment on what to do. Pension correspondence can have jargon and can be tricky to understand
- Lack of Time – sometimes you just don’t have enough time or head space to start looking at these things. Work/Social Life/Exercise/Family takes up all available time and energy
To summarise options:
Company Pensions
If you have moved to a company with a pension scheme you may (most likely can) transfer into this scheme. This can be useful to streamline your pensions and keep everything together. It is useful to do a cost comparison to see what the charges are on transfer and also in the new pension scheme.PRSA’sIf the value of of your company pension is worth less than €10,000, you have less than 15 Years service or the pension scheme is winding down, then you can transfer into a PRSA – either company or individual. It is useful to do a cost comparison to see what the charges are on transfer and also in the new PRSA.
Personal Retirement Bonds
These are lump sum transfers from a company pension and can only take one transfer/contribution/payment. PRB’s typically give greater control over the management of a pension. The policyholder has greater ability to move funds and also can access a PRB from age 50. This can be a useful contingency fund but also allows a ‘staggered retirement’ where you can drawdown different pensions when it suits you.
There are merits to all options. Please contact us today on 0877785325.