Chapel Lane Financial Planning

15/01/2026

The Tuam Herald - 15/01/2026

As the new year begins, Certified Financial Planner Brian Burke of Chapel Lane Financial Planning is encouraging people to use the moment to take stock of their financial wellbeing.

“Many people mistakenly assume that financial advice and planning is only for the wealthy, but nothing could be further from the truth”, he says.

“I find that some of my most meaningful work happens with individuals and families who are struggling or have very limited resources. I offer a free, no‑obligation initial consultation, so the worst that can happen is that you get some expert financial guidance and queries answered at no cost.”

Brian believes January offers a natural pause point to assess, review and analyse. “Many people”, he says, “drift along on ‘autopilot’, holding pensions, protection policies, mortgages, savings and investments without a full understanding of these products. Because of the way the Irish financial services industry is structured, consumers are obliged to engage with a financial adviser and regulated intermediary at certain moments.”

“For example, I regularly meet people approaching retirement age who have pension benefits accrued from previous jobs. They are often surprised to hear that, under revenue rules, they could actually have accessed that pension from their 50th birthday. Has they known, it could have made life far easier for them over the previous 10 or 15 years.”

“My job is to guide clients along their financial journey. I help customers to build a coherent financial strategy which allows them to sleep soundly at night knowing that unexpected future events won’t be made worse by financial uncertainty.”

For Burke, every financial journey begins with a single step—and taking that step in the right direction makes all the difference. “It’s much easier to reach your destination when you start out facing the right way,” he concludes.

Welcome to Chapel Lane Financial Planning Tuam, Co. Galway. I'm Brian Burke, Certified Financial Planner™ I help clients achieve their financial goals Brian Burke, B. Comm., MSc, QFA, RPA, SIA, CFP® Get a Free Consultation There is no charge for an initial informal meeting so why not get in touch...

08/09/2025

A blast from the past!!

Does anyone remember these bags?? Ronan on The Live Wire found this while going through old stuff in his home house!

26/08/2025

Pensions feature in The Tuam Herald.

29/05/2025

Welcome to Chapel Lane Financial Planning Tuam, Co. Galway. I'm Brian Burke, Certified Financial Planner™ I help clients achieve their financial goals Brian Burke, B. Comm., MSc, QFA, RPA, SIA, CFP® Get a Free Consultation There is no charge for an initial informal meeting so why not get in touch...

30/01/2025

Nice ad in this week's The Tuam Herald - apart from the ugly guy in the photo!

03/05/2024

diabetesie.enthuse.com/pf/team-faye

18/04/2024

You’re working hard to save your money but is your money working hard for you?

Irish households hold € 153 Billion in deposits, according to recent Central Bank figures. We tend to be very diligent savers, currently putting aside over 10% of our disposable income according to CSO data.

Over 90% of household deposits are earning an average interest rate of 0.12% and 96% of money in banks is earning a return of 1% or less.

As we are all painfully aware, inflation has surged over the past few years. The inflation rate over the past three years has averaged 6.1% per annum, meaning that a € 100 shopping basket in 2021 now costs € 118.30.

If you won’t need some, or all, of your savings within the next 3-5 years, you should consider a longer-term investment strategy to get this money working harder for you.

However, if you think that you will require this money over the next few years, it could be wise to deposit your hard-earned cash somewhere that is offering a better return.

Personally, I like N26, a German bank and bunq, a Dutch bank; both of whom offer free banking and very attractive deposit rates.

N26 currently offer 2.8% for their easy access savings accounts (or 4% if you subscribe to a paid banking plan) and, at the moment, bunq are paying 2.46% to their customers.

These are ‘proper’ banks who are fully authorised and licenced to operate here and both have been offering services to Irish consumers for years. Customer funds up to € 100,000 are protected by the European Central Bank’s Deposit Guarantee Scheme.

As with all deposits, you are obliged to pay DIRT tax of 33% on any interest earned as an Irish resident; but the 67% you get to keep is a far larger amount that it would be otherwise!

In case anyone is wondering, no, I don’t have any connection with either N26 or bunq as a qualified financial professional. Irrespective of what my clients may do with their savings, I won’t make a cent either way.

It is simply a free piece of advice designed to put a few quid into your pocket.

20/12/2023

Thanks a million to Brian Burke Chapel Lane Financial Planning for kindly donating towards the town’s Christmas lights 2023 🎄🎅

https://www.idonate.ie/fundraiser/tuamxmaslights23

04/10/2023

World Financial Planning Day 2023