Measuring what it leaves short
We take the projected fund alongside your age, your earnings and the age you want to stop, and show you the income it is likely to support. A gap you can see is a gap you can do something about.
You have seen what auto-enrolment adds up to. Now find out whether it is enough.
My Future Fund puts a pension behind people who did not have one, and it puts a new cost and a new payroll job in front of employers. Either way, the figure on your screen is a floor rather than a plan. A planner can tell you what it leaves short, and what the alternatives look like beside it.
A no-obligation, free discovery call with a Pathway planner. Nothing is sold on it.
Regulated in IrelandAPFM Limited, trading as Pathway Financial Management, is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.
Qualified plannersCFP®, QFA, RPA and SIA qualifications across our directors.
Dublin 2 based20 Harcourt Street, Dublin 2, D02 H364.
Advice firstA no-obligation, free discovery call before anything else happens.
What the auto-enrolment figure is telling you
My Future Fund launched on 1 January 2026, and NAERSA began collecting contributions that day. For a lot of people this is the first pension they have ever had. Enrolment is automatic for employees over 22 who earn the equivalent of €20,000 or more a year and are not already contributing to a pension through payroll, and eligibility is worked out from payroll data rather than from anything you fill in.
| Who pays | Rate |
|---|---|
| Employee | 1.5% of gross income |
| Employer | 1.5% |
| State | 0.5% |
Source: Department of Social Protection, My Future Fund update for employers and employees, published 9 October 2025.
Those employee and employer rates are phased upward over ten years, rising by 1.5 percentage points every three years until each reaches 6%, and the State top-up is equivalent to €1 for every €3 the employee contributes. So the deduction on today’s payslip is the smallest it will ever be, and the projection you have just run assumes you stay in for the whole of that run.
The scheme will do what it was set up to do. Whether the fund it produces, alongside anything else you have, pays for the retirement you actually want is a different question, and it is yours rather than the scheme’s. For most people who arrive here with a figure, it does not do that on its own. Measuring the gap is straightforward, and it is a great deal easier to close at 35 than at 60. Our pension advice starts there.
If you are looking at this from the employer’s side, the questions are different. You have a cost per eligible employee, a payroll obligation, and a decision about whether the default serves your people better than a scheme of your own would. That sits inside our work with business owners.
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Not sure how big the gap is in your own case? That is exactly what the first call is for.
How we would help
Four things worth settling once you have seen the number.
Whether a scheme of your own suits you better
Auto-enrolment is a default, not a recommendation. For some people a PRSA or an occupational scheme gives more control over how much goes in, where it is invested and how it is treated. We set the options beside each other.
The tax treatment, plainly
Auto-enrolment works through a State top-up. Employee contributions to other pension arrangements qualify for Income Tax relief at your highest rate, within limits Revenue sets by age and earnings. Which of those is worth more depends on what you earn.
For employers, getting it right for your staff
If you employ people you now have a matching cost and an administrative job. We help you decide whether to run with the default or put your own scheme in place, and explain the result to your team in language they can follow.
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A short call will tell you which of these matters for you.
Who you would be talking to
Pathway was built by two planners who believe advice should be clear, honest and genuinely on your side.
Paul McGrane
Director & Financial Planner
QualificationsCFP®, BBM, QFA, RPA, SIA
Paul is driven by making a tangible difference in clients’ lives, and takes real satisfaction in knowing his work supports individuals and their families through decisions that are rarely straightforward.
Anthony Richardson
Director & Financial Planner
QualificationsQFA, RPA, SIA, BBS
A natural problem solver, Anthony thrives on finding the real challenge, working out how to resolve it, and putting the solution in place alongside the client.
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Both calls are free and without obligation.
What happens next
Three plain stages, at your pace. You can stop after any one of them.
A short call, at no cost
Twenty minutes or so, by phone or video. You tell us whether you are looking at this as an employee or an employer and what you are trying to work out. Nothing is sold on that call.
A proper look at the detail
If it makes sense to go further, we look at what already exists: earlier pensions, what you earn, what your employer offers, and what the auto-enrolment fund would be sitting on top of.
A plan in plain language
You get our findings written down, with the options set out clearly and what each one would mean for you. What you do with it is entirely your decision.
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It starts with the short call. Nothing is sold on it.
Questions people ask us
The ones that come up most often once the payslip changes.
Am I actually going to be enrolled?
Enrolment is automatic for employees over 22 who earn the equivalent of €20,000 or more a year and are not already contributing to a pension through payroll. It is worked out from payroll data across your employments, so it happens without you applying. If you sit close to any of those lines it is worth checking properly rather than assuming.
Is auto-enrolment enough on its own?
For most people who ask us, no. It was built to give people something rather than to fund a full retirement. Whether it is enough for you depends on what you earn, what you already hold and what you want your later years to look like. That is a calculation rather than an opinion, and it does not take long.
Should I opt out and set up my own pension instead?
Sometimes that is right and often it is not, because opting out also gives up the employer contribution and the State top-up. It is a decision worth taking with the full numbers in front of you rather than off the back of a smaller payslip.
I am an employer. What does this cost me?
You match the employee contribution, starting at 1.5% of gross income and rising in stages over ten years. The larger question is usually whether the default is the right fit for your business or whether your own scheme would do more for retention. We work through both sides.
What does the first conversation cost?
Nothing. It is a no-obligation, free discovery call. If we go further than that, we set out clearly what the work involves and what it costs before you commit to anything.
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A different question? Ask us directly and we will give you a straight answer.
Talk it through with a planner
Bring the figure you calculated and the questions it raised. We will tell you plainly what we think, and what we would look at first.
Or email info@pathwayfinman.ie
APFM Limited, trading as Pathway Financial Management, is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. Registered in Ireland No. 759815. Directors: Paul McGrane, Anthony Richardson.
Warning: The value of your investment may go down as well as up.
Warning: These figures are estimates only. They are not a reliable guide to future performance of this investment.
This page is general information about financial planning. It is not personal financial advice and does not take account of your own circumstances. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and may change.