Most ARF holders know their fund value. Most know Revenue requires a minimum annual drawdown. Very few have stopped to ask whether meeting that minimum is actually a strategy, or simply the path of least resistance.

In this episode, Paddy explores safe withdrawal rates in an Irish context: the research on real retiree behaviour, why the 4% rule is both useful and misunderstood, and why the sequence of returns in the first five years of retirement carries disproportionate weight on long-term outcomes.

He walks through a concrete sequence-of-return scenario: same starting fund, same average annual return, same withdrawal rate, completely different outcomes and shares a real-life case study of a retired solicitor whose conservative ARF mandate was quietly eroding her fund at a 7% real rate of depletion annually.

Covered in this episode:

• The US Health and Retirement Study findings on actual retiree withdrawals
• Bill Bengen's 4% rule and its Irish limitations
• Sequence of return risk and how a cash buffer changes the equation
• Three common ARF drawdown mistakes and three concrete takeaways.

The imputed distribution sets the floor. It doesn't set the strategy.

Read the full blog post at www.informeddecisions.ie/post/safe-withdrawal-strategy-arf-ireland

DISCLAIMER: This content is for general educational purposes only and does not constitute personalised financial advice. Always speak to a qualified, independent advisor about your own situation.

You've built a €2 million pension. Now here's the question nobody asked you: how much of it will you actually keep?

In this episode, Paddy runs the real numbers on what a €2 million ARF looks like in Ireland in 2026: mandatory drawdowns, income tax, USC, PRSI, and the phased strategy that could save you tens of thousands every year in the early stages of retirement.

What this Episode covers:

• Why a €2M ARF triggers a mandatory €120,000 income. Whether you need it or not
• The real net income after tax: €72,614 at a 39.5% effective rate
• How phasing your drawdown across two crystallisation events drops your annual tax bill from €47,386 to €8,088
• What happens to the deferred pot if it grows at 6% for 8 years, and how that interacts with the Standard Fund Threshold
• The couple scenario: why joint assessment changes everything
• SFT mechanics at each Benefit Crystallisation Event and where the margin gets tight

The numbers are stark. The structure matters. And getting this wrong (or not thinking about it at all) is one of the most expensive planning gaps we see.

Discover the full blog post and show notes on informeddecisions.ie

In this week's episode, Paddy tackles the question he gets asked more than any other: how much do I actually need to retire in Ireland?

Well, for an answer to that question, one should make a proper calculation beforehand, and Paddy is here to help you out by covering the key benchmarks from the Pensions Council report, what they mean in practice, and where they fall short.

Some of the specific points covered in this episode:

• Why the state pension — currently €299.30 per week in 2026 — changes the calculation significantly, and what it means for couples where both partners qualify
• The simple framework for working out your own number: current spending, minus what disappears, plus what increases, minus state pension, divided by 0.04
• Why many couples targeting a comfortable retirement need a private pension pot closer to €300,000–€400,000 than the €1 million figure people often assume
• The healthcare wildcard — private health insurance costs that the benchmarks don't fully capture
• Why the question changes completely for those with €1 million or more in pension assets: it's no longer "do I have enough?" but "how do I structure what I have?"
• The imputed distribution rules every ARF holder needs to understand before drawing down

If you're in your 50s or 60s and haven't yet put a real number on what retirement will cost you, this episode is a practical and reassuring place to start. Enjoy listening!