Attacking pension investments

For the last decade or more employers have been demolishing defined and guaranteed benefit pension plans in favour of defined contribution plans where the employees make the investment decisions and take the investment risk.

Pension consultants, financial advisers and banks during the property boom and since the dot.com stock market collapse a number of years ago, gave strong advice to those seeking to make pension provision to favour and acquire a ‘buy to let’ mortgage-backed investment rather than investing on the stock market.

In most instances where this advice was acted upon, it entangled the family home.

To now attack individual non-performing ‘buy to let’ investments via repossession rather than resolution is attacking an already diminished pension and endangers the family home itself.

These comments are about ordinary citizens and not about property investment on a commercial scale or as a business.

Michael Conlon

Collins Square

Dublin 7