Workers may lose a third of pension to charges

Workers can lose up to a third of their private pension savings on charges being levied by pension companies, according to a report by the Department of Social Protection.

The first-ever report to examine the various charges being demanded across the industry found that if a 35-year-old worker began investing €250 a month in his pension for 30 years, he could lose up to €62,000 of his accumulated €200,000 pension to charges on retirement

This €62,000 loss will be made if he is paying the average pension fund charge of 2.18% per year. However, such charges can be much higher.