•Irish Life paid €236m in pension payments in 2015, up from €179m in 2010
•44,205 pensions paid in 2015, with an annual average payment of €5,332
•Youngest person in receipt of a pension is just 49 years, the oldest is 102 years
An analysis of pension payments by Irish Life has shown that the company paid out €236m to its customers in 2015, compared to €179m in payments in 2010. This increase represents the changing pensions landscape, which is moving from defined benefit (DB) pensions to defined contributions (DC) plans.
In total, Irish Life made 44,205 pension payments in 2015, making Irish Life the largest payer of pensions in the country, after the Irish State.
The analysis also showed that the average annual pension payment was €5,332, highlighting the fact that Irish people are not adequately planning for retirement.
“Only 29% of people know what they need to live on in retirement*. And it is more than €5,332 a year”, said Tony Lawless, Managing Director of Irish Life Corporate Business “We need to help people to engage with the idea that they will need savings for their life after work, and that it is their responsibility to ensure they have enough money for retirement. Especially when we consider that people are expected to live longer, we have some people aged 80 and above receiving pension payments, even into their 100’s. That’s a long time to put savings by for. People need to start contributing more to their pension savings and earlier– to allow time for their pension pot to grow.”
An age breakdown revealed that just over 25% of those that received a payment from Irish Life in 2015 were 80 years or older. This was followed by 40% of pension payments to 70-80 year olds, and 19% to 65-70 year olds. Just 9% of people that received a payment were between 60 and 65 years old. The youngest person Irish Life paid a pension to in 2015 was 49 years old (7% of Irish Life’s pension payments to people younger than 60). And the oldest person in receipt of a pension from Irish Life is an impressive 102 years.**
Irish Life EMPOWER is a company pension plan that helps to connect employees to their pension plan and provides information that’s easy to understand in order to help people realise what they will need to live on in retirement. “Irish Life EMPOWER focuses on helping people understand their retirement target and how they can make a positive impact to hopefully sustain a long healthy life after work”, said Mr. Lawless.
For more information on Irish Life EMPOWER, visit www.irishlifeEMPOWER.ie
*Source Irish Life research, 2015
**Analysis of Irish Life pensions in payment for 2015
Also see:
http://www.irishtimes.com/sponsored/irish-life-empower/power-up-your-company-s-pension-plan-1.2858156 (November 2016)
http://www.irishtimes.com/sponsored/irish-life-empower/hr-managers-need-a-simplified-approach-to-pensions-1.2868630 (November 2016)
http://www.irishtimes.com/sponsored/irish-life-empower/how-nudge-theory-can-improve-pension-provision-1.2876916 (November 2016)
http://independentfinancialadvice.ie/irish-life-paid-almost-e1m-every-working-day-2015-pension-payments/ (November 2016)
https://www.businessworld.ie/financial-news/Irish-Life-paid-236m-in-pension-payments-in-2015--566459.html (November 2016)
