Informed Decisions Independent Financial Planning & Money Podcast

Two lads were standing at the bar of a Friday night in October....their kids put to bed, they gather for their monthly 'Fischers Friday' in their local pub! Lad #1: "Hey, they're telling me I should do this AVC pension in work" Lad #2: "Whats an AVC?? Sure do you not have a pension already in work?" Lad #1: "Eh, yeah I do yeah but yer one said I should set up this other one to give me more of a lu...

OK, we were being a bit mischievous in calling it 'owning'.....but if you have one you'll know that the responsibility lies squarely on your shoulders.....so you may as well 'own' the little darling!! We are not just gonna list off the usual baby stuff, as we like to do here we are going to invite you to think about it a little differently! There are stats which say it costs €250k to raise a child...

This week we take on a subject which, while not that earth-movingly exciting, has gained in popularity over recent years in the investment industry, and that subject is rebalancing. Rebalancing, in the simplest and most honest terms can be described as taking money out of your 'winners' and putting it into your 'losers'! Please bear with us and we'll explain! With lots of lovely head-lines lately...

While it might sound a little like a project to build the next NASA space-rocket this is a fairly simple investment approach that Irish investors have access to, so strap yourself in! Before we begin may I outline that the word 'satellite' is one of those words that I really struggle how to spell.....for some reason I keep typing it as 'satelitte'.......so this particular blog might take me a whil...

It is the first thing people ask when they hear you work in the space of helping people manage money.....'What should I invest in?'. The only appropriate answer to that question, I believe is along the lines of 'it depends on what your objective is'. This answer usually isn't what they expect, they expect a pitch for a certain share or investment in a German Shopping Centre Fund! The next question...

There are many many people today in Ireland pining for their own home, looking to get onto the property ladder, sick of paying rent or perhaps living with parents or family. There are usually a one or more of the following barriers to them doing so; cannot get a mortgage large enough, cannot find a suitable home in the location they want, or they are waiting for the 'next property crash' before bu...

It's Showtime! If you swim too close to a shark it'll bite ya! If you have decent savings, investments and pensions you could be in danger of getting bitten too! We're here to help you understand if you are in danger of getting bitten, it's up to you as to whether to stay in that water or not! We are realists here at Informed Decisions and so no matter what you get done; a tap fixed, a wall painte...

Thanks for tuning in to this weeks' Episode, our 52nd, and Informed Decisions' 1 year anniversary!! We bring you something pretty special, interviewing one of Ireland's brightest talents in regards Investment Management, Will Sparks. Will tells it like it is, so it was a pleasure to have him on the show, and in addition to that he knows how to manage investments....who better to help identify some...

Hey! In a recent blog we took a look at the big 6 risks which exist when it comes to managing ourselves and our money. We had everything from ostrich risk (sticking our head in the sand!) to longevity risk (living too long!). This time around we are going to focus on practical tools we can apply to our money and savings, in order to ultimately have a more pleasant investment journey, the growth we...

Hey all, in this 50th episode of the Informed Decisions Financial Planning Podcast we will aim to share insights on the very best mortgage that you can get here in Ireland; whether you are aiming for your first mortgage or have a collection of them we hope to share ideas which will save you a small fortune over your life-time. We also have a short guest appearance from Seamus & Conn (future Inform...

We are joined by Professional Coach Niall English, to uncover exactly what coaching is, how it can be of benefit to us in achieving the things we want to achieve. We also take a look at how it might be useful if you find yourself in need of making some changes to your finances. Here at the home of unbiased financial planning in Ireland we like to bring some fresh ideas.....this is our latest! Plus...

Hey, welcome to the latest Episode......This week we follow-up on our promise to share with you guys how ETFs are taxed here in Ireland. Like a lot of stuff these days there is a lot of info floating around about this topic, and if any of you have gone looking to get definitive answers it can prove quite tricky. We aim to bring several years of research to you in this episode, to answer most of th...

When It Comes To Pension Planning We Will Get Our Just Deserts: Deserts is apparently the plural of 'desert' which is 'that which one deserves'....honestly I always assumed it was to do with the jelly & ice-cream type of desserts.....but had never given it much thought in fairness! The same is most certainly true of Pensions. It would be hard to put it any more simply than I am about to now; You w...

The noun Faff has been defined by the Oxford Dictionary as 'A great deal of ineffectual activity'.......most financial plans are absolute faff! So there, I said it! I said it, and the fact of the matter is that it is pretty true. Any plan worth it's salt with regards to pretty much anything will be mostly faff, in hindsight. Bear with me and we'll explain! (You can read the full blog here ) We rea...

Hey, and welcome to another episode of Informed Decisions Financial Planning podcast here in Ireland. If you have ever asked yourself: What are ETFs?...... How Do I invest in ETFs?....... How Do ETFs actually work?..... Are ETFs Risky?..................Then this episode will hopefully give you some useful information. This time around we are taking a look under the bonnet of Exchange Traded Funds...

If you are a new visitor, welcome! Please do  pop over here  to find out why we exist, what our purpose is and why we are Ireland's first Financial Planning & Money Podcast. Also, if you have any questions or comments we'd love to hear from you, just drop a message to us  here . Apparently Noah's Ark was made of 'cypress wood' and was in the region of 500 feet long. It was said to have been quite...

Needless to say it is a bit of a coup to have a Fintech Legend that has 9 million monthly listeners to his hit radio show 'Breaking Banks' in New York come on our show! An Australian based in New York, he has taken a circuitous route to being a Global thought-leader in the FinTech World. Paddy invited Brett to share his thoughts on the near future of how we will interact, invest and behave with ou...

PCP ('Phencyclidine' - not sure how that is pronounced!) was introduced in the 1950's as an anesthetic but was shelved in the 60's due to it's potentially lethal hallucinogenic effects. It was this hallucinogenic effect that made it so popular with recreational drug users and they have been producing it under the title of 'Angel Dust' since! It's chocka with Ketamine and apparently is the bees-kne...

Welcome to Episode #41 of the Informed Decisions Financial Planning Podcast, still the only dedicated resource here in Ireland. In this episode Paddy speaks with Stephen Browne, who is owner and distributor of Voyant here in Ireland. There are several providers of this type of software for Financial Advisors and Planners, such as Truth, however Voyant is a leading player in the Financial Planning/...

Last week we explored what will happen when the next crash comes......and importantly how we will react. It is the volatility of things which causes us to react, not the risk! Volatility is not risk, risk is not volatility. I'm not trying to be profound (it's not one of my strengths!). In today's world the two are thrown together, interchanged in conversations, media and advertising, yet they are...

Regular readers & listeners will by now know that Informed Decisions isn't in the space of trying to predict the markets, we leave that to the fortune-tellers of this world! We don't see any benefit in dissecting the daily news-feed and trying to interpret what that means for our investments, pensions, property prices etc. Nobody can do that with any degree of accuracy. Also, what difference does...

We were humbled to have been contacted by the Irish Times a few weeks ago and asked for our opinion on life cover for an article  by journalist Eithne Dunne, published in the Sunday Times on 21st May. We wholeheartedly gave our 'tuppence-worth' on some of the things we believe are important to consider when selecting Life Cover for yourself. However it also dawned on me how big a problem exists wi...

Many of us have heard of psychology, many of us have heard of positivity, yet not many of us have heard of Positive Psychology, which is an emerging science in and of itself. That's why we are bringing it to you, and looking at how we can utilise it in managing our finances. In this episode we are delighted to host Dr. Jolanta Burke, a Doctor of Positive Psychology, a visiting Professor in Trinity...

Apparently 66% of the 70,000 'landlords' in Ireland own 1 investment property. Surely you don't want to look a gift horse in the mouth, you want to be one of these? "Sure property prices are climbing, you'd be mad not to own at least one investment property". You buy the place and rent it out so that someone else can pay the mortgage for you, job done! Right?! Seems not long ago when this was the...

We all know that money is not the be all and end all.....most of us appreciate that there is more to life and more to being a decent human. We might also recognise that living a fulfilled life is not about having full bank accounts, but it sure does help to have sufficient money to make your own decisions and live the life you want! As parents we are naturally wired to try and create positive futu...