There is also the threat of poor management of the pension fund. Self-employed people normally avail of personal pension plans. The Finance Act 1999 introduced significant tax incentives for self-employed, proprietary directors, and employees who are not members of a pension scheme. Smaller companies, are by far the biggest net employers in Ireland, and because of their size are unlikely to have a pension scheme. Pension planning is thus strongly influenced by where you are employed and your earning potential.
Most large companies operate occupational schemes.
However, you always have the option to opt out of any existing company scheme and invest in a personal pension. There may be downsides in that you will probably lose the employers contribution and employers can offer perks to those who operate within such schemes. If you work for a smaller company or are self-employed you should consider setting up a personal pension. Self-employed people in years of higher income, can increase premiums to offset deficits that might accrue during bad times. One should however remember that the value of your pension on terminating payments would depend on the current or future value of annuities and ARFs.