I frequently get asked by listeners and readers about funding into a Self Administered Pension. There seems to be a lot of confusion about what it is, or indeed isn’t, and who they are or aren’t well suited to. So that is this weeks’ objective, to answer these very queries. I hope it is of use.

My father used to shoot. He’d go out with his busted old shotgun with the stock taped on with insulation tape! He’d walk around fields for what seemed like days at a time, coming home with the occasional pheasant! As frowned upon and macabre as that may seem to some today, when you are from the midlands of Ireland that was (and remains) the equivalent of golfers hunting for birdies today! I remember vividly the first time he took me out shooting. Being fiercely animal-centered I wasn’t up for shooting any live animal, but I do remember taking my first shot with a shot-gun in the wilds of Kilkenny. Aiming for a tree, with nerves and an unsteady hand (I was 10!) I let fly a cartridge, missed the tree and very nearly shot a passing duck. Luckily he passed unharmed, but that was essentially the beginning and the end of my shooting career! Whenever I see a duck these days I’m reminded of that fond memory.

If It Looks Like A Duck, Quacks Like A Duck, Its A Duck!

A Small Self-Administered Pension Scheme (SSAS) is just that, a pension, which is small in number of members, and which is self-administered! There are lots of misconceptions about what they do and don’t do. If you like detail then I strongly suggest reading this, Chapter 19 of the Revenue’s Pension Manual. That will keep you going for a while!

I get a lot of questions about Self-Administered Schemes, so here are some of the typical questions I get asked about them, and a broad answer to help get some clarity around them.

Thanks for your time.

Paddy.