MyFutureFund is now officially launched and the National Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings Authority (NAERSA) will begin collecting contributions from today.
The new authority is headquartered in Letterkenny. It was established in Donegal in line with the Government’s commitment to balanced regional development.
MyFutureFund guarantees access to a quality assured retirement savings scheme for over 760,000 employees that are not currently actively contributing to a qualifying pension or PRSA through payroll. Over time it is expected that this will grow to millions of employees.
MyFutureFund is easy for employees and employers alike to engage with. In short, NAERSA is taking care of all of the administration of enrolling participants, collecting contributions, managing and investing funds, and providing customer services. And all of this will be provided for incredibly low administration and investment management fees.
Employees enrolled in MyFutureFund will have more money to spend in retirement than they otherwise would.
This, in turn, means that they will enjoy an improved standard of living when they retire, and that there will be more money in circulation, helping employees, businesses and the economy.
Minister Dara Calleary said, “MyFutureFund is truly revolutionary in terms of pensions for Ireland, and for the workers of Ireland. MyFutureFund means exactly that for participants – it is a retirement savings scheme centred around employees, where their employer and the State chip in as well. The savings are the personal property of each participant, so everything saved, plus all the investment returns it generates, belong to the participants and no one else.
“I am really delighted to be able to officially launch MyFutureFund. It is the culmination of years of hard work, and everyone involved can be proud of it. MyFutureFund will benefit millions of hardworking people over the coming years and decades, making sure they have more money in retirement than they otherwise would.
“For employers, it means two things, firstly they can look after their employees without having to set up and administer a pension scheme. NAERSA will do the heavy lifting when it comes to admin. And secondly, they can improve their competitiveness in what is an increasingly tight and international labour market.
“MyFutureFund will change how retirement savings are looked at in Ireland. It is a really positive development for employees and the country.”
Participant portal open
The MyFutureFund participant portal is also now open.
The portal allows each participant to access their account, using a verified MyGovID, where they will be able to see the contributions they have made, the contributions their employer has made, the top-ups provided by the State, and the return they’ve gotten from the investment of those contributions. While these will be small at the beginning they will grow substantially over time – so all participants can look forward to seeing considerable levels of savings accumulating for their retirement. Allowing for the collection, processing, pooling, allocation and investment of contributions it could take up to 10 working days before contributions information appear on the employee portal.
The portal also allows each participant to manage their participation in the scheme if they wish. It will facilitate them opting out at specific times, or suspending their participation for a period, or changing the investment strategy for their fund. It will also allow people who are not automatically enrolled (e.g., those under age 23 or over 60 or earning less than €5,000 in a 13-week period) to voluntarily opt-in if they are not already contributing to an alternative pension arrangement that is exempt.
