CHANGES TO HOW THE FUTURE VALUE OF YOUR PENSION IS PROJECTED
From 1 March 2021, all Irish pension providers are changing the way we calculate the projections that appear on your Benefit Statements and on your online pension account.
Form 1 March 2021 changes are being made to some of the assumptions that must be used to calculate projected retirement funds and pensions. These changes are made in line with revised guidance from the Society of Actuaries in Ireland and apply to all pension providers in Ireland.
From that date, the projections will be more conservative and the estimated pensions shown will therefore be lower than have been shown to date.
It is important to note that this change does not affect :
- how much has been or will be paid in to your retirement savings account,
- how your fund will grow
or
- your actual benefits and options at retirement.
This change only affects how we calculate the forecasts.
When comparing the forecasts on your Annual Benefit Statement from last year to this year you will notice the lower projected amounts shown.
ASSUMPTION RATE CHANGES
Depending on your chosen investment option you may be invested in one or more funds that invest in different asset classes such as equities, bonds, property and/or cash.
The maximum future rates to be used in projections are shown below:
| Equities and Property |
Fixed Interest assets such as government bonds |
Cash |
Rate to be assumed for future increases in salary or earnings |
Annual rate to be used to discount future fund or pension values so that they may be shown in today’s terms |
| Falls from |
Falls from |
Falls from |
Falls from |
Falls from |
| 5% to 4.5% |
2.5% to 1% |
1%to 0% |
2.5% to 1.5% |
2.5%to 1.5% |
|
We will update our systems and our online access platforms with these new assumptions. Please note that the online pension projection calculator on www.cirt.ie and on the CIRT member online access platform will be unavailable for a period of time as these changes are made.
As always please contact the CIRT Team on [email protected] if you have any specific queries in this regard