Sorting your finances doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time to put a plan in place, implement it, and let the benefits flow through. Here are five ideas to make a fresh start with your finances in 2025.

Read on: If you’ve found these tips helpful, you might also like our article in The Journal on what’s in store for your finances this year.

Take stock of your finances in 2025

Last year saw substantial growth in financial markets. As the decade’s mid-point approaches, there is a general sense of confidence in many western economies.

But the range of possible outcomes for investors is wide. Investors need patience, diversification, and a plan they could have confidence in sticking to. Now’s an ideal time to re-evaluate investment and pension plans, critique your fund choices, and maybe your appetite for risk too.

How Moneycube can help: in 2024, we developed tactical allocations to US mid-caps within equity portfolios, while for other customers we supported them in taking profits from recoveries in asset prices.

If you’d like our help to review your investments, just let us know.

Benchmark your current pension

It’s January – so your tax band has just been raised. That has implications for your income, and your pension. If you’re a top-rate taxpayer, €2k more of your income is now taxed at the 20% rate, saving you €400.

If you have a significant birthday this year (one ending in 0 or maybe 5), then you can claim tax relief on more of you

And we’re all getting older: is your pension fund choice right for where you are in career and time to retirement? Your pension has a lot of moving parts, so give it a service now and then.

How Moneycube can help: if you’ve lost contact – or faith – with your pension advisor, we can give your pension a health check.

Consider your cash position

The European Central Bank cut interest rates four times last year.  As Germany enters recession, and France struggles to agree a budget, it’s clear that Eurozone bank interest rates are going to be continue to fall.  If you want to see your money grow, you’ll need to consider investing it.

As interest rates trend down, we’ve been speaking up in the media on how you can allocate your money between short-, medium- and long-term requirements as interest rates change.  Read our comments in the Irish Times here.

So if you have a significant lump sum – more than, say, 6 months’ income, sitting in cash in the bank, it is likely worth looking at putting it to work for you, to generate wealth and stay ahead of inflation over the medium term.

How Moneycube can help: We can help you invest a lump sum, whatever its size and shape.

We can also put a regular direct debit plan in place for you, with automated monthly investments into a professionally managed investment fund in line with your requirements for risk and reward.

From multi-asset funds which give your money exposure to many opportunities for growth in a single fund, to large bespoke portfolios in line with your investment preferences, Moneycube can navigate the investment world for you in 2025 and beyond.

Make sure you have something to show for it

Ireland is in a pretty good place right now. Compared to many developed countries, people in Ireland are not deeply divided in political terms, while unemployment is lower than a year ago, and nudging the 4% mark, not far from the lowest ever rate.

And while Ireland, along with Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain were once derided as the PIIGS of Europe – now the PIIGS are flying. The latest figures show that Ireland recorded the Eurozone’s highest growth rate.

It took a lot of pain to get here, and the side effects — like clapped-out infrastructure and nosebleed housing costs — are still painful. But if you are looking to build your career, enjoy your money, or generally get on with things, Ireland is a better place to be than many right now.

That’s a tailwind for your finances in 2025.

So make sure you have something to show for it.  That could mean paying down your mortgage or other debt, boosting your rainy day fund, or growing your investments.  Whatever combination you choose, mend the roof while the sun is shining, by making sure there is some space in your finances for growing your wealth.

Plan for new pensions rules

Two big changes to pension rules were introduced last year.  Firstly, your pension lifetime limit is about to increase from the current €2 million. From 2026, the cap will rise by €200,000 annually for four years, reaching €2.8 million in 2029.  From then on, it will rise in line with inflation.

If you’re planning to seriously fund you pension, you now have increased scope.

The second change is to PRSAs – and goes in the opposite direction. From 1 January, there are restrictions the amount that employers can pay into PRSAs for members of staff. The cap is 100% of the employee’s salary.

If your employer, or your business, has been contributing more than your salary into your pension, you’ll need to review your plans to avoid unexpected taxes.

How Moneycube can help: We’ve been working with affected clients to consider different pension structures, time when they will draw down pension income, and take advantage of the increased Standard Fund Threshold from 2026.

If you’d like our help to review your pension for these changes, just let us know.