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THE GAY TEACHER who pixellated her face in a video has won a dream wedding with her partner.
Listeners of Newstalk voted ‘Pixel’ and Caoimhe top of the entrants in the station’s #OpenToAll wedding contest.
Over 26,000 votes were cast, with the winning couple getting 33%.
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Caoimhe took to Twitter to explain that her partner didn’t show her face in the lip-syncing video as she is a teacher in a Catholic school and feared losing her job.
Section 37 of the Employment Equality Act means that religious schools are exempt from certain aspects of equality law due to their ethos and teachings.
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In September of last year, junior minister Aodhán Ó Ríordáin said he planned to advance legislation to amend this rule.
Thank you all SO much! We are a bit wobbly and shaky here, and totally gobsmacked by all the love and support. You're all deadly #opentoall
The competition was run on the Moncrieff Show, with presenter Seán Moncrieff saying the standard of the videos was “truly impressive and extremely heart-warming”.
“For a bitter old broadcaster such as myself it was nice to be reminded that love is all around,” he added.
Caoimhe and Pixel, who got engaged at Glastonbury over two years ago, will get married at Las Vegas’ Little White Chapel before going on honeymoon in San Francisco.
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What guarantees will there be on the safety/security of amounts paid into such a fund?
Will it have the same value as the current contribution based public sector pensions, or will it be eroded over time leaving people with a poor return after paying large contributions throughout their working lives?
@White Chapel: It will be like any other defined contribution pension. What it will pay out on retirement is dependant on the value of the fund. You will have a choice of funds in which to invest and, when you reach retirement age, you can take 25% of your final pot as a tax free lump sum and the remainder can be used to purchase a guaranteed income for life (an annuity – which are terrible value at the moment for a number of reasons) or you transfer it into another investment (ARF/AMRF) and just withdraw money as you need it (subject to tax).
The investment options will include everything from higher risk equity funds to 100% cash funds and everything in between.
You will get tax relief at your marginal rate on everything you put in and also get a matching amount from the employer plus a contribution from the state. In short, it is a very efficient way to save for your retirement.
@Lee King Buckett:
You’re back again with all the answers as usual, but you’ve missed my point which was about the security of the contributions paid.
The government will now be collecting the contributions of all employees (except those who don’t opt out) once they earn over €20k/year, but for some reason one cohort of contributors will remain protected from all risks (public sector) while the other will not.
I asked why will this be the case.
The rest of the info you posted is generic information which is easily accessible through pension providers for anyone who is interested.
The big deal being made by the minister about complexity is rubbish. There are similar risk categorised savings and investment products available through financial institutions so the idea is not new in any way.
@White Chapel: You’re not making much sense to me I’m afraid – what are you talking about in terms of security and taking risk?
What are you referring to about the government collecting money – they won’t be touching it at all, they are just bringing in legislation making it mandatory for your employer to provide a private pension plan, ensure a percentage of your salary goes into it along with a contribution from them – you will have a private pension with a private pension fund administrator – not the government.
For someone who says that information is freely available, you don’t seem to interested in actually reading much of it…
@Lee King Buckett:
My post was meant to provoke questions about the thinking behind this plan. Did you not understand the question or what?
The government is requiring employees to enroll on a pension scheme which will also be part funded by the state.
When the next recession or international crisis comes, these funds will be devalued to the point where they are worth nothing and both the investor and the state will lose.
Meanwhile their own pensions, and those of the rest of the public sector, will not be at risk.
The question is, why is it a good idea for the government to mandate and co-fund an investment which has no security?
And if they are to mandate such an initiative, then why isn’t it administered by the state?
@White Chapel: Again, you’re making unsupported assumptions. What makes you think that a re cession or international crisis will devalue people’s pensions?
Yes stock markets often drop in the short term as a reaction to such events but typically recover very quickly. People close to retirement should be sitting in non volatile assets (cash funds) so would not be affected, those with longer to go will see their values recover plus grow and, in the interim will pick up better value every month as they continue to invest in their funds.
Are you honestly saying that anyone who started and kept up a pension say 30 years ago is now in a worse position as 2008, Berxit, the trade wars, COVID and Ukraine have now ‘devalued’ their pensions?
In fairness, that’s absolute waffle and belies the fact that you have a very strong bias at play.
@White Chapel: you’re clearly talking to a qfa or pension expert so just admit defeat you’re “just asking questions” is a nonsense , if you don’t have questions don’t ask them you can look this stuff up yourself .
Private pension invested related to your appetite to risk
@Seán O’Sullivan:
Great contribution there Seán, well done.
Maybe you’ve never noticed, but he’s an expert on everything in these forums.
No questions raised here about pensions in general, just the government plan to mandate private pensions.
If you can’t keep up then stay out of the conversation
@Lee King Buckett:
What unsupported assumption?
This is exactly what happened to many people in Ireland after the crash in 2007 when their professionally managed pension investments totally collapsed ahead of their retirement. That’s what makes me think this could happen again. It’s hardly inconceivable.
It’s true that gains are made over time like you say, and should make considerable gains over their lifetime. 30 years ago was the beginning of a period of considerable growth, particularly in Ireland, but as I said before many people were failed by managed pensions in the crash. The record speaks for itself.
You say I have a bias at play? Maybe you might say what you mean there.
My point is that the government should take an active role in any scheme I mandates. It’s not unreasonable to expect something in return for a 6% personal contribution while p.s employees pay a fraction of that for guaranteed benefits in retirement.
That’s all
@White Chapel: Show me a pension fund that collapsed in 2008/2009 and didn’t recover afterwards?
People think its alright to just repeat falsehoods like this and don’t care about the fact that they are putiing other people off making a really important decision by constantly repeating something that simply isn’t true.
As I have said before, the only way a pension fund would have seen value wiped out and not recovered is if you were retiring in 2009 – if that was the case then in 2008, your fund should have been in cash so it would not have fallen in value.
Anyone who’s pension was exposed to markets in 2008 would have had 5 years or more to retirement so their fund value would have not only recovered but also increased in value by the end of 2010.
Now, please name a fund as asked or stop repeating incorrect information.
I dont know the names of failed funds and I think you know that. Cases were widely reported in the media in Ireland and abroad at the time of the crash where people had invested in pensions that were based on property and shares in financial institutions.
Property values have only recently recovered to pre crash levels, but the value of shares in the financial institutions have not.
You’re obviously well up on this, but all funds were not managed in the ideal ways that you have described. You are correct in saying that those near retirement should have had their funds secured in cash, but this didnt happen in numerous cases where funds managed by professional brokers and agencies were left badly exposed to losses. This is a fact and was headline news at the time.
You’re claiming that the crash only had a minimal short term impact on investments, but those people who were in their late 60s and early 70s in 2007/08 who were retiring had no time for their funds to recover.
The truth is that the crash happened and it impacted negatively on the prospects of retirees and it could happen again. That’s a reality.
I have pensions and investments different to what’s being offered here and it’s my view that where the government requires people to contribute 6% of their income for a period of 30 years, there should be some assurances from the state.
Anybody is free to disagree is they want but Its not true to say that I’m posting lies here to discourage people from investing in a pension and it would be wrong of me to do that.
@Seán O’Sullivan: not true, low risk assets like banks took a massive hit in 2008 about those who had shifted their pensions to these assets last out massively. Questioning forcing people to gamble with their hard earned cash is very valid
6% of gross in the end up? That’s a fair chunk of a person’s wages. Imagine being on 30k and paying that, pension is great and all but you might have kids to feed, mortgage to pay….
If you earn €30k a year it’s €1800 a year or €34 a week
If you earn €60k a year it’s €3600 a year or €68 a week
Etc.
However, it comes out pretty tax so will reduce your tax liability (the amount of tax you pay, so the net cost on €34 a week really only means you’ll be down roughly €20 a week.
And your employer and the state will also contribute so it’s really effective saving.
My own employer contributes 10% of my gross to my pension (in addition to my own contribution), on top of paying me.
This is FREE money to me. That contribution is not taxed until I retire, and then the initial 25% is tax free.
@Sequoia: this is meant to get low pay workers in pension system. They don’t pay much tax so won’t get tax back you obviously don’t work in Planet ISME. No add on benefits ie health care pension shift allowance. Ect
@Sequoia: I have no idea how you came up with those figures – they are wrong by a multiple of 4x.
Workings: 30k * 1.5% = €450p.a. or €37.50 per month. Marginal rate of tax on 30k is 20% so the hit to your take home pay is €37.50 * 80%; i.e. €30 per month, not per week.
Marginal rate of tax on 60k is 40% so the formula is 60k * 1.5% / 12 * 60% = €45 per month.
When the contribution rate increases from 1.5% to 6%, this brings the €30 and €45 up to €120 and €180 respectively. Again, this is the reduction in take home pay per month.
@Kevin Collins: what are the contributions for some one on 20000 a year. They have no spare cash to be paying in to a pension. A 10r a week is a lot of money on that wage.
@Francis: €20 per month after tax. Rising to €80 per month after tax after 10 years (*if* you are still on the same wage level).
However, I expect that anyone on 20k will be eligible to opt-out of the scheme altogether and I’d imagine that many in low wage jobs will indeed do so.
@Peter: No this is separate to the state pension so it’s not a fixed amount. You should get more than €30 though due to employer contribution + government contribution + investment returns.
Don’t worry about it, they’ll just keep upping the retirement age so that the money is only resting in your account for when they need to dip in again.
@Derek Power: there is no state pension money on any account of any person , they are spending it all straight away thus why they keep extending retirement age.
@kevin mc cormack: Except you get much more from it than what you would get from a state pension if you start it early. You, your employer and the state all chip in. Their example was someone on 40k retiring with a pension pot of 650k. 20 years on the state pension is around 264k. Also PRSI payments paid throughout your working life are small for what you get back in the way of the current state pension.
If I were to start paying into this scheme would my retirement age be guaranteed? I have no problem with this pension scheme but I would not appreciate my exit date being moved further out every few years. If I’m paying into this I should be allowed to draw my state pension at 65. If working folk a paying we should be allowed to retire a a fair age.
@Mr Light:
The minimum age for the state pension has already increased to 66 and was due to increase to 67 last year.
It’s likely that this will increase again especially after the public sector are not required to retire now until age 70.
Hard to see how you’ll be retiring at 65 based on that
@White Chapel: my apologies I meant that if we were to pay in over our entire adult like 65 seems like a fair age. This may have a positive effect on our states pension deficit(marginally…) so maybe this is a conversation we could have as a country. Personally I wouldn’t want to work until I’m 70 as it would be nice to enjoy life a little before I expire. I might not have a choice in that matter in the long run though.
@Mr Light:
Well there are people who are currently paying into pensions for their entire working lives and are still required to work until 66. If it was fair, then the retirement age would not have changed in the first place.
I agree that working until 70 isnt desirable. With average life expectancy in the low 80s, it doesn’t leave people with much time. Most people are now committing the majority of their lives to the workforce
If you have a private pension occupational scheme you can access it from aged 50, if its a PRSA you can access it from age 60. The state pension is payable from age 66
@Lee King Buckett: yes – people often confuse “retirement” age as the age to get the state old age pension. The retirement age at which you can collect a pension to which they have contributed tax free without having to pay tax on the fund value is 50 so technically one can retire and collect a pension at 50, just not the state old age pension.
The original poster explicitly states that those paying into this scheme should have a fixed retirement age, and to draw the state pension age of 65.
This is incorrect as the state pension age is now 66.
There was no reference made to any pension other than the state pension in these comments and I never said otherwise.
What if you already have a private pension scheme separate to your employer? Will you receive top ups for your payments into that scheme? Or will you be forced to have an occupational pension as well as your private one?
@Handsome McWonderful: I would have thought your employer would already be matching your AVCs. Pretty poor pension your employer is providing if its not.
@Handsome McWonderful:
I thought an earlier version of this article said you can only have 1 pension.
That you would have to close your own private pension to access this state run one…
@Geraldine O’Riordan:
Apologies.
It was The Independent that had that info.
“A person with a private pension will be required to exit their current plan if they want to enter the Government scheme.”
@John Joseph Barry: Think it’s pretty common with SMEs. My company contributes nothing to my private pension, nor to the occupation pension offered through the company. That’s why I went private to the first place, to avail of the cheaper fees between the two options at the time.
Ok, excuse my ignorance, if I am in a Company scheme and therefore do not join the Government scheme, am I still getting my state pension in a few years time? Will it be reduced because I’m not in it for the last few years of my working life?
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