Over 20,000 Donegal workers auto-enrolled in pension scheme

Almost 20,600 of the workers part of the Government’s new Auto-Enrolment (AE) scheme are in Donegal.

‘My Future Fund’ is a new State-sponsored retirement saving scheme, administered by the National Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings Authority (NAERSA). 

Employees will be automatically enrolled into the scheme if they earn more than €20,000 per year, are aged between 23 and 60, and are not paying into a pension through payroll.

The majority of the workers auto-enrolled to My Future Fund come from Dublin, with one in three (32%) – or a total of 262,611 of the workers auto-enrolled so far.

Cork had the second highest share of workers auto-enrolled, with one in ten of the workers signed up to AE - or 75,706 in total - residing in Cork.

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So far, over 763,000 employees have been automatically enrolled since My Future Fund launched at the start of the year. This is according to new government figures which provide a county-by-county breakdown of the number of workers enrolled on AE since it was launched at the start of the year.  

“Workers who have been signed up to AE should note that it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution. For some, this scheme will be a good fit,” Keith Butler, CEO of Ask Acorn (a nationwide network of financial advisers) said. “But for others, particularly those with different income levels, career paths or retirement goals, the contribution levels under AE may not fully meet their desired retirement income targets.

“AE might lead some people, especially those who haven’t yet thought seriously about pensions, to believe they’re ‘covered’ without seeking proper advice.  Everyone who has been signed up for AE should be looking closely at what the scheme offers and considering independent advice, including around any alternative offer on the table from an employer and whether or not they need to supplement their AE pension.

“If you’re one of the 763,000 workers who have been signed up to AE, it’s important to take the time to make sure you are making adequate provisions for your retirement. From a worker’s perspective, a bad decision around pensions could cost them dearly and see them struggle financially in retirement – or even worse, having to postpone retirement because they simply can’t afford to give up work. 

“Workers signed up to AE since it was launched may now be realising that their first decision on it – or indeed any inaction around their retirement planning - may not be the best approach. Workers who have been auto-enrolled should be using the first few months of the year to consider their position on the scheme – that is, is AE right for them or should they be looking at other forms of retirement planning. It is not too late to do so, particularly given that workers are still within the opt-out window.”

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme