Index Fund Costs and Tax

Keep more of your money

Fact is, if you pay less in fees, you keep more of your investment pot.  That’s one reason index funds are so attractive.  You’ll typically save from 0.25% to 1% per year in investment charges compared to using a traditional active fund manager in Ireland.

Moneycube wants to make the costs of investing in index funds – and any other investment – as transparent as possible.  So we’ve set them out in full here.

What you’ll pay for

It costs a smidgen over 1% per year to invest in Vanguard funds using Moneycube.

There are three types of cost to pay.  We’ve set them out below for each ready-made portfolio.

Notes:

1. Moneycube’s charge on the value of funds over €500,000 is reduced to 0.25%.
2. These costs apply for investment, ARF/ AMRF, personal retirement bond, and executive pension accounts.  If you wish to invest using a PRSA, an additional 0.1% cost applies.

What you won’t pay for

Moneycube hates hidden charges.  So the good news is you won’t pay for:

• Fund switching.  There are no trading fees, so buying and selling within your Vanguard portfolio, or rebalancing it from time-to-time won’t incur any cost – and there’s no tax implication either.
• Adding to or withdrawing your money.  There are no costs for withdrawals or transfers at any time (although we don’t recommend investing for less than three years).
• The government 1% levy.  This levy applies only to investments using life assurance companies.

Lastly, there are no account fees, setup fees, or policy fees.

Tax considerations

Pension accounts

Investing in Vanguard funds with your pension has all the usual tax benefits of income tax relief, tax-free investment growth, and a tax-free lump sum.

Investment accounts

If you’re investing Vanguard index funds in Ireland outside of a pension, you’ll need to be willing to complete a self-assessed income tax return to pay and file exit tax.