The simplest good deal in Irish personal finance
When you put money into a pension, the government gives you back the income tax you would have paid on it. If you pay tax at the higher rate of 40%, every €100 that lands in your pension only costs you €60 out of your take-home pay. At the standard rate of 20%, it costs you €80.
Nothing else in Irish personal finance gives you an instant return like that. It is not an investment gain, it is tax you were going to pay anyway going into your own pot instead.
There is a limit, and it goes up with age
Revenue caps how much of your earnings can get relief in a year, and helpfully the limit rises as you get older, on the basis that people tend to have more spare money later on.
What to watch out for
Want to know your own headroom?
We work out what you can put in, what it costs after relief, and whether the timing suits you better this year or next.
Book a first meetingYour real cost after relief
Put in your age, your earnings and what you are paying in each month.
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Illustrative only and not personal advice. Figures are checked against Revenue, the Department of Social Protection and the Pensions Authority, and revised after each Budget. Age-related limits apply to the percentage of earnings that qualifies for relief, and relief is calculated on earnings capped at €115,000.
This calculator is one part of our pensions advice. The main pensions page explains the types, the relief, and how to tell whether the pension you have is any good.
The other pension calculators
Auto-enrolment or private pension
My Future Fund set against your own pension: the State top-up and employer match against tax relief.
Open the calculator →State Pension gap calculator
What the State Pension leaves you short each year, and the fund you would need to cover it.
Open the calculator →ARF drawdown calculator
How long your retirement fund would last at the rate you want to draw from it.
Open the calculator →Pick a date and time that suits you.
No sales pitch, just a conversation about what you already have, what it is heading for and whether we can improve it. You will get a written summary either way.
