A financial plan isn’t just a monthly budget. It’s a roadmap to financial freedom, confidence and security.

From how to choose a financial advisor to understanding common financial terms, our financial planning blog will help you move towards your financial goals.

Please remember that this blog is not financial advice. To receive advice using Moneycube, click here to contact us.

Your pension options at retirement

For most of us, the days of a guaranteed pension for life from our employer are gone. If you’re reading this, your pension options at retirement are probably more complicated. These days, you have several choices to make use of your defined contribution pension pot. Most people have built up a ‘defined contribution’ pension fund … Continued

What inflation did to your savings in the first half of 2018

At Moneycube we believe more people should think about investing their savings. One big reason for that is that it is almost impossible now to make any money by leaving it on deposit in the bank. Deposit rates continue at near-zero levels. But inflation has continued to erode the value of our money, as data from … Continued

What is a company share?

Companies issue shares – sometimes called stocks – to raise money.   Buyers of shares (also known as shareholders) own a piece of the company.   Shareholders bear the rewards and the risks of the ups and downs in the share price.  They also own the right to any dividends, which is the income paid … Continued

What’s an ARF?

An Approved Retirement Fund, or ARF, is a pot for your pension money after you retire. When you retire, the pension fund(s) you have paid into (perhaps an executive pension, a personal pension, or a PRSA), are available to you.  You can then take decisions on what to do with this money. One of your … Continued

Why watching the market is a waste of time

At Moneycube we want to help people take control of their savings.  But that doesn’t mean you should pay much attention to the ups and downs of the stock market, or bother checking your investments every day. Here’s why – and what you should do instead. Investing is a long term game Most news is … Continued

Do women make better investors?

Research by UK investment experts Hargreaves Lansdown earlier this year found that investments by their female customers had outperformed those by men by 0.81% over a three-year period. If that trend continued over thirty years, Hargreaves calculated, the women’s savings pot would be 25% larger than the men’s! Hargreaves found several reasons for women investors’ … Continued

Why Irish investors need to think globally

At around €27 billion, Ireland’s largest listed company, CRH, represents around 0.03% of the market value of global listed businesses. Clearly, if you limit yourself to investing in Irish market, you are accessing only a tiny proportion of what’s out there. Only a few industries What’s more, if your money is focused on Irish businesses, … Continued

What’s an AMRF?

An Approved Minimum Retirement Fund, or AMRF, is a pot for your pension money after you retire. Update Jan 2022: ARMFs were effectively abolished by the government from 1 January 2022. In practice, it’s very similar to an Approved Retirement Fund (ARF). If you were less than 75 years old, and don’t have a guaranteed pension … Continued

The difference starting today can make to your investments

We all feel that we should have done more to build up our savings and retirement plans. But what’s important is making a start today, not worrying about missed opportunities in the past. The reason for this is compounding – that is, when the growth in your investment is reinvested, and generates additional growth. The … Continued