FJ Hanly & Associates

23/09/2026

Less than one week to go!



Next week marks an exciting milestone as our Limerick office officially becomes Gallivan Financial



After almost two years as part of the Gallivan Financial family, we're taking the final step in bringing our Limerick office fully under the Gallivan Financial name.



While you'll soon see a new name and a fresh look across our office and communications, the things that matter most remain exactly the same:



The same people. The same relationships. The same commitment to our clients.



This rebrand reflects the way we've already been working together as one team, focused on delivering trusted financial advice and helping our clients plan confidently for the future.



We're looking forward to revealing our new look and celebrating this next chapter with you next week

16/09/2026

One team. One business. One brand.



Since joining the Gallivan Financial group in November 2024, our Limerick team has become an integral part of a growing business built on shared values, collaboration and putting clients first



Over the past two years, we've seen the benefits of working as one team - combining local expertise with the strength, resources and knowledge of colleagues across the wider Gallivan Financial network



Now, the brand is catching up with the way we already work.



In just two weeks, FJ Hanly & Associates will officially become Gallivan Financial.



While the name above the door is changing, the things that matter most are staying exactly the same... the people you know, the relationships we've built and the trusted advice and service you've come to expect.



This is an exciting milestone in our journey, and we're looking forward to the future together.

10/09/2026

Since November 2024, we’ve been proud to be part of the Gallivan Financial family.

Over that time, we’ve continued to grow, collaborate and strengthen the service we provide to our clients. Now, we’re excited to take the next step in that journey…

01/09/2026

Regular financial advice nearly doubles how confident people feel about their money.

Standard Life's 2025 research found that 58% of regularly advised adults feel positive about their finances, compared with just 34% of those without advice.

In Munster, where cost-of-living pressure is the highest in the country, that kind of clarity is worth having.

Read more: https://www.fjhanly.com/retirement-readiness-and-money-worries-in-munster/

19/08/2026

Most people think retirement planning ends with the pension pot. It doesn't.

Here's the part that catches Irish families out:

Your children, not you, pay the tax on what they inherit. It's charged at 33% on anything above €400,000.

On a €550,000 home left to one child, that's a bill of nearly €50,000. Too often, families end up selling the very asset they were meant to inherit, just to pay the tax on it.

A Section 72 plan fixes this. It's a Revenue-approved life policy, and the proceeds used to pay the inheritance tax bill are themselves exempt from tax. Your family keeps what you intended them to have.

Don't leave them to find the money under pressure. Plan for it while you have the choice.

Read more: https://www.fjhanly.com/using-a-section-72-plan-to-protect-what-you-leave-behind

13/08/2026

Most SMEs treat the company pension as a cost. That's a mistake.

The latest national research (Amárach, 2026) found a stark gap between large firms and SMEs:

Pension schemes: 74% vs 50%
Retirement planning programmes: 61% vs just 16%
Access to professional advice: 70% vs 46%

Meanwhile 77% of employers say financial problems reduce productivity, and only 31% think their staff are ready to retire.

Auto-enrolment now means every business contributes something. But it's a floor, not a ceiling. Handled well, your company pension does two jobs:

Retention: a benefit people value is a reason to stay.
Succession: when staff can see their retirement income, they retire on their terms, and you can plan the handover.

For directors, it's also the most tax-efficient way to fund your own exit.

Stop treating your pension as a cost. Start using it as a tool.

Contact F J Hanly & Associates for a review.

https://www.fjhanly.com/smes-and-directors-why-your-company-pension-is-a-retention-and-succession-tool

22/07/2026

Every retirement plan rests on one assumption: that you keep earning right up to the day you choose to stop.

Half of people expect to work past their intended retirement age for income reasons. Working longer by choice is a plan. Working longer by necessity is not.

If illness or injury stopped your income tomorrow, Statutory Sick Pay covers 5 days. State Illness Benefit pays a maximum of around €254 a week, and the self-employed do not qualify at all.

Meanwhile your pension and AVC contributions stop dead, at exactly the point your fund should be growing.

Income protection replaces that income until you recover or retire. Premiums qualify for tax relief at your marginal rate, so a €100 monthly premium can cost around €60 for a higher-rate taxpayer.

Protect the engine and you protect the plan.

Read more: https://www.fjhanly.com/working-longer-by-choice-not-necessity-protecting-your-income-on-the-way-to-retirement

14/07/2026

If you're in your forties or fifties and suspect you're behind on your pension, the most efficient catch-up tool in the Irish system is probably already available to you: the Additional Voluntary Contribution.

Two features make AVCs powerful for late starters:

-Tax relief at your marginal rate. For a higher-rate taxpayer, every €100 contributed costs just €60 after relief.

-Age-related limits that rise as you get older. From age 50 you can claim relief on 30% of earnings (up to €115,000), rising to 35% at 55 and 40% at 60.

A 52-year-old higher-rate taxpayer putting €500 a month into an AVC sees a real cost of around €300 out of take-home pay. The full €500 lands in the fund and grows tax-free until retirement.

The 45 to 55 window is when goals-based planning has the biggest impact. A late start doesn't have to mean a late finish.

Read more: https://www.fjhanly.com/behind-on-retirement-savings-how-avcs-can-close-the-gap-before-you-stop-working/

24/06/2026

Your pension statement shows you one big number. What it almost never tells you is the thing that actually matters: how much will it pay you each month when you stop working?

A new 2026 study found this is now the single biggest barrier to a confident retirement in Ireland. People are saving diligently, yet 79% feel financially unprepared for retirement and 52% worry their money won't last. The issue isn't willingness, it's clarity.

The good news? Turning a pension pot into a clear monthly income figure is an entirely solvable problem. Between your State Pension, an annuity, and an Approved Retirement Fund (ARF), there's a route that fits your life. You just need to know how the pieces work together.

We break it all down, including the 2026 figures, in our latest article.
Read more 👉 https://www.fjhanly.com/what-will-your-pension-actually-pay-you-turning-a-statement-into-a-monthly-income/

17/06/2026

Most people put more thought into planning a two week holiday than into planning a retirement that could last 25 years or more.

That is the idea behind this piece by Jonathan Guthrie, and it is hard to argue with.

Retirement planning has never been more difficult. The certainties our parents had, defined benefit pensions and guaranteed annuity income, have largely gone. The investment risk now sits with the individual, and the unknowns are significant.

Two of his points cross the Irish Sea cleanly:

1)People consistently underestimate how long they will live, and how much they will need to fund it.

2)Treating the minimum contribution as "enough" is one of the most expensive assumptions a saver can make.

The UK has run auto-enrolment for over a decade, and its clearest lesson is that the default minimum was never designed to deliver a comfortable retirement on its own.

That lesson lands at an important moment here. Ireland's auto-enrolment scheme, My Future Fund, went live on 1 January 2026, and an estimated 750,000 workers have had nothing beyond the State Pension to rely on.

Auto-enrolment is a strong start. It is rarely the finish line.

If you want to know whether your own plan is on track for the retirement you actually want, that is the conversation we have with clients every week.

Read the FT article here:

Pension planning is less straightforward than it used to be — data can help when uncertainties abound