Self Directed Pensions

AIB Personal Retirement Fund

This is an individual pension arrangement, designed for any high-earner who is self-employed, a sole trader or a partner. It is also available to high-earners in employment, whose employer has made no pension provision for them.
The Personal Retirement Fund is a self-directed arrangement – and, compared with conventional personal pension schemes, offers you far more choice, much greater control and vastly superior flexibility.

The principal benefits – at a glance

• You may choose and manage the investments yourself.
• Alternatively, you may prefer to leave everything to the experts at AIB.
• The flexibility to alter your investment strategy, as and when you wish, to take account of any changes in your personal circumstances or ambitions.
• The facility to absorb certain previous pension entitlements, so that your total ‘retirement fund’ can be masterminded under the same overall umbrella.
• The ability to transfer similar pensions investments that you already own into your Fund.
• The liberty to draw benefits from the Fund at any time after your 60th birthday (subject to certain Revenue rules), without having to retire or even stop working.
• Unrivalled levels of service, complemented by highly detailed reporting on the progress of your Personal Retirement Fund.

Outstanding tax-efficiency

The Personal Retirement Fund offers you an outstanding combination of tax benefits to help you make provision for retirement:

• Tax relief on contributions - Full income tax relief, at your marginal rate, on all the contributions that you pay into the Fund (subject to Revenue rules).
• Tax relief on growth - Tax-freedom for all the investment returns earned by the Fund*.
• Tax free lump sum - At retirement, you can draw 25% of the accumulated fund as an immediate tax-free cash lump sum. The balance can be transferred to an ARF (Approved Retirement Fund), where you can continue to control its investment – and the returns achieved will be tax-free*, subject to any deemed distribution tax which may apply (withdrawals from an ARF are subject to income tax at your marginal rate).

The Personal Retirement Fund – including the attractive array of tax benefits – is approved by the Revenue Commissioners.

* although it may not be possible to reclaim any foreign or withholding taxes that have been deducted

This information is based on AIB's understanding of current law, tax and Revenue pratice, September 2008.

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