The fundamentals of good financial planning, and the order to tackle them

I am Emma Quinn, a Qualified Financial Adviser (QFA) at Future Financial Planning. People often come to Future Financial Planning with one specific question, about a pension, a policy or what to do with some savings. The answer usually depends on the basics underneath it: whether there is money set aside for emergencies, whether there is a loan costing more than any investment is likely to earn, whether the family would be all right if the main earner could not work.

This guide sets out those basics in the order I would tackle them. Your situation may call for a different order, and that is fine. The aim is to have each of them covered.

1. Know what comes in and what goes out

Every plan starts with your monthly figures: what you take home after tax, and what you spend. Most people know the first number and guess the second.

Take your last three months of bank statements and sort your spending into two groups. Essentials are the things you must pay: rent or mortgage, utilities, food, insurance, childcare, loan repayments and getting to work. Everything else is the second group. Then add the bills that do not come every month, such as car and home insurance, school costs and annual subscriptions, divided by twelve. Three months of statements can miss these. You do not need a complicated spreadsheet. You need a realistic monthly figure for each group, because every other step below is based on them.

2. Build a cash buffer

An emergency fund is money you can get at quickly if the car breaks down, the boiler fails or your income drops for a while. Without one, an unexpected bill tends to go on a credit card or an overdraft, and a small problem becomes an expensive one.

I suggest people aim first for one month of essential spending, then build towards three. Keep it in a deposit account you can access easily, separate from your everyday account so it does not get spent by accident.

3. Clear expensive debt

Your mortgage or rent and your essential bills always come first, along with the minimum payments on every debt. The question here is where to put any extra money. Credit cards, overdrafts and some personal loans often cost far more in interest than savings will earn, so they will usually come before paying off your mortgage early.

Once your cash buffer is started, I would usually put spare money towards the most expensive debt first. If repayments have become hard to manage, the CCPC has a debt action plan, and MABS, the Money Advice and Budgeting Service, can help.

4. Protect your income and your family

Your ability to earn is probably your most valuable financial asset, and it is easy to overlook. Two questions are worth asking. If you could not work for a year because of illness, how would the bills be paid? And if you died, would your partner or children be able to stay in the home?

Income protection and life cover answer those two questions. What you need depends on your family, your mortgage and any cover you already have through work. My colleague Emma Farrelly has written guides on income protection and on whether life insurance is worth it.

5. Start a pension, even a small one

The earlier you start, the longer your money has to grow, and the State helps with each euro you put in. How it helps depends on the type of pension. Contributions to a workplace pension or a personal pension can get income tax relief at your highest rate of tax, within Revenue's limits, which depend on your age and earnings. If your full €100 contribution gets relief at 40%, it costs you €60. There is no relief from USC or PRSI.

If you do not pay into a pension through your job, you may already be in MyFutureFund, the auto-enrolment scheme that started on 1 January 2026. It applies to employees aged between 23 and 60 earning €20,000 or more a year across all their jobs who are not already paying into a pension through payroll. In the first three years of the scheme, you pay 1.5% of your gross pay, your employer pays 1.5%, and the Government adds 0.5%, on pay up to €80,000 a year. There is no tax relief on MyFutureFund contributions. The Government top-up of €1 for every €3 you pay takes its place.

A worked example

Ciara is 30 and earns €40,000 a year. Her employer has no pension scheme, so she is enrolled in MyFutureFund.

• She pays 1.5% of her salary: €600 a year.
• Her employer pays 1.5%: €600 a year.
• The Government adds €1 for every €3 she pays: €200 a year.
• In total, €1,400 a year goes into her pension, for €600 of her own money. Because there is no tax relief on MyFutureFund, that €600 is the full cost to her.

Those are the contributions going in, before any charges and before any investment growth or losses.

The rates rise in later years of the scheme. If you already have a pension through work, check what your employer will match. If they match extra contributions, paying in enough to get the full match is usually the first thing I would look at.

6. Save and invest with a time frame in mind

Once the basics above are in place, the question is where to put money you want for later. The answer depends on when you will need it.

Money you need within the next few years, for a car, a wedding or a house deposit, generally belongs in an accessible deposit account. Its cash value does not rise and fall with investment markets, although inflation can reduce what it will buy. For goals that are many years away, investing may suit you if you can accept that the value will go up and down and that you could lose money. A longer time frame gives more room for falls to recover, but recovery is not guaranteed. The new investment account announced in Budget 2027 may suit some people, and Emma Farrelly has written about what is known about it so far.

What matters most is matching the money to the goal. Investing money you need next year is a risk, and so is leaving long-term savings on deposit for decades.

7. Make a will

A will lets you set out who should inherit what you leave, subject to legal rights such as those of a spouse or civil partner. If you die without one, the law decides. For example, if you are married with children, your spouse gets two-thirds of your estate and the remaining third is divided equally among your children, whatever your own wishes would have been.

A will is also where you can name guardians for young children. While you are at it, it is worth asking a solicitor about an enduring power of attorney, which lets someone you choose manage your affairs if you lose the capacity to do so yourself. The Decision Support Service explains how to make one. You do not need to finish the earlier steps in this guide before making a will.

8. Look at it again once a year

A plan is only useful while it matches your life. Once a year, check your monthly figures, your cash buffer, your debts, your cover and your pension contributions. Look again whenever something big changes: a new job, a new baby, a separation, an inheritance or a move.

Talk it through

If you would like help putting the basics in place, or you are not sure which to tackle first, book a free call with Future Financial Planning. You can also read more about financial planning at Future Financial Planning.

This guide is general information, not personal advice. The rules and rates are those in place in November 2026 and may change.

Future Financial Planning Ltd. is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.

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