6 minute read
John Ellis
Your Money & You
John Ellis Pensions: why you need to start saving now
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Pensions Awareness Week (PAW22) will take place from September 19 to 23. It is designed to raise awareness about retirement planning. As there have been some dramatic changes in nancial markets and the world in the recent past and the continuing uncertainty, it’s time to look at what it means for investments and pensions.
Guest speakers will be on hand with experts from the Pensions Authority including former pensions ombudsman Paul Kenny. Some of the participating companies include Aviva, Irish Life, Royal London Ireland, Zurich Life, Lidl, Davy, the ISME Association, the Pension Authority, the Retirement Planning Council of Ireland, Life Insurance Association of Ireland, Brightwater Recruitment Specialists, the Irish Association of Pension Funds, Insurance Ireland, Parents and Brands, and Moneycube.ie.
While the session on Building the Employee Value Proposition is the only in-person event, virtual sessions will cover pension-related topics such as Financial Wellbeing for Women, Starting a Pension, Keeping Your Pension on Track, Approaching Retirement and Pensions & Bene ts for Business Leaders. e launch of PAW22 comes on foot of a new survey from ParentsandBrands.ie. which reveals that 60% of people are failing to save for retirement on a regular basis, a gure which could rise further in light of the current cost-of-living crisis.
Ralph Benson, founder of PAW, says: “It is a striking statistic that 60% are failing to make regular savings towards their retirement and it’s clear that people need to take active steps to make sure they can continue to live comfortably into their old age.
“We want people to do the right thing with their money, which is why Pensions Awareness Week has brought together pension savers and experts, as well as businesses and nancial wellbeing organisations. Our aim is to help people make informed decisions by pushing the importance of having a pension in place.”
In fact whether it’s the costof-living crisis, the ups and downs in nancial markets, or the new pension regulations it’s more important than ever that people and businesses in Ireland engage with pensions to secure their nancial future.
Currently, the full state pension provides each individual with a pension of approximately €12,400 a year assuming you have paid the relevant PRSI contributions over your working life. is provides each qualifying person a degree of comfort in knowing they will have some income each month.
But with the current situation and the nancial storms ahead the current model is completely unsustainable in its current form.
According to pension experts the Social Insurance Fund has a current de cit of approximately €2 billion a year a a cumulative de cit of approximately €10 billion in more recent years and will continue escalating.
To address this, earlier this year the Minister for Social Protection announced details of the Final Design principles for the Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System for Ireland. Ireland is the only OECD country that doesn’t yet operate an Auto Enrolment or similar system as a means of promoting pension savings. e new system is designed to simplify the pensions decision for workers and make it easier for employers to o er a workplace pension.
Under the scheme the employees will have access to a workplace pension savings scheme which is co-funded by their employer and the State. A key feature of the system is that, although participation is voluntary, so that people don’t have to participate, it operates on an ‘opt-out’ rather than an ‘opt-in’ basis. To encourage workers to participate, those who choose to remain in the system will have their pension savings matched on a one-forone basis by the employer, the State will provide a top-up of €1 for every €3 saved by the worker. is means that for every €3 saved by the employee, a further €4 will be invested by the employer and the State combined.
What do these seminars and government scheme say about today’s worker attitudes? For many retirement seems a long way away and the process of putting aside a little each week to provide for retirement years is something to be considered next year, or longer! However, that is not the case. If people want to retain a reasonable standard of living in retirement, they need to start saving now.
john@ellis nancial.ie 086 8362633.
RESIST Hand Hygiene campaign launched at Sacred Heart Hospital and Carlow District Hospital
e Sacred Heart Hospital Carlow and the Carlow District Hospital are to the fore in the HSE’s South East Community Healthcare (SECH) services, as regards to the implementation of the national “RESIST” hand hygiene campaign.
“RESIST” is the campaign branding for a number of hand hygiene and infection prevention and control initiatives under the National HSE Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control Programme (AMRIC). One of these initiatives is a rollout of the RESIST hand hygiene awareness programme to all residential care facilities and district hospitals. e programme builds on the work already done to date by all healthcare facilities and healthcare workers in promoting and complying with hand hygiene standards. Hand hygiene has been at the forefront of all the initiatives that the HSE has been implementing to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and other infections which can cause harm to care facility residents. Speaking at the recent launch of the RESIST campaign in the Sacred Heart Hospital, Julie Meally (Clinical Nurse Specialist Infection Prevention and Control for Carlow/Kilkenny) said:
“As a programme, RESIST is aimed not just at those delivering care but at everyone who comes into a hospital or residential care facility, including patients and visitors. We will be intensifying the campaign across the South East and are delighted that the Sacred Heart Hospital Carlow and the Carlow District Hospital have come together to promote such an important programme. e roll out of this campaign was greatly assisted by the Senior Nurse Management and a special mention to the infection prevention and control link nurse practitioners who are our lead hand hygiene trainers in both hospitals.”
“When healthcare workers like nurses, care assistants, cleaning and catering sta and doctors keep their hands clean, they help to prevent the spread of serious Health Care Associated Infections (HCAIs). ese are infections that can happen in any healthcare service. In addition to healthcare workers and their need to wash hands very regularly throughout their work, patients and visitors also play a part in reducing the spread of infection by following advice on hand cleaning.”
Also speaking at the launch, Elaine Flanagan (Assistant Director of Nursing, Sacred Heart Hospital Carlow) added:
“Here in both the Sacred Heart Hospital and the District Hospital, we have a very good record in hand hygiene. We are always, however, looking to improve out standards. e RESIST programme will help us to do that and we are delighted to have been selected to be part of the rollout in HSE residential services.”
“Along with our own sta , our residents and visitors all have a role to play to help stop the spread of infections and join the superbug resistance. is programme will help us to refresh and energise our hand hygiene approach”.
Residents can play a big part in reducing the spread of infection. ere are things we can encourage and assist the residents to do to protect themselves from picking up an infection or super bug: •Clean your hands regularly, using the alcohol hand gel in the hospital. •Clean your hands before you eat and wash your hands after you go to the toilet. •Avoid sharing your personal things with other residents – for example, your phone. •Do not let anyone sit on your bed and avoid sitting on other residents beds •Remember it is OK to remind a sta member or your visitors to clean their hands •It is OK to tell a sta member if you see anything that is not clean.
