My Future Fund has launched in Ireland, with National Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings Authority (NAERSA) collecting contributions from 1 January.
The Department of Social Protection said the launch is a landmark day not just for pensions but also for ensuring greater financial security for employees across Ireland.
It added that My Future Fund guarantees access to a “quality” assured retirement savings scheme for over 760,000 employees who are not currently actively contributing to a qualifying pension or Personal Retirement Savings Account (PRSA) through payroll.
Over time, the number of employees saving under My Future Fund is expected to grow to “millions”.
The bulk of the administration will be handled centrally by the newly-set up NAERSA, which will act as the administrator of MyFutureFund and will take care of:
- identifying and enrolling eligible employees;
- handling opt-in, opt-out and suspension requests;
- collecting and investing contributions;
- enforcing compliance with the legislation.
NAERSA will facilitate online portals for employers and participants, as well as provide a customer contact centre to assist with queries.
The Department of Social Protection added that the vast majority of employers in Ireland with eligible staff (approximately 85,000) have embraced MyFutureFund and have already registered on the employer portal.
It urged those who haven’t yet registered to do so, adding that there is “no advantage to delaying registration as contributions will become due from the first payroll of 2026 regardless of whether the employer has registered or not”.
Minister Dara Calleary said the My Future Fund was the “culmination of years of hard work, and everyone involved can be proud of it”, adding that the fund will benefit millions of “hardworking people over the coming years and decades, making sure they have more money in retirement”.
“For employers, it means two things: firstly, they can look after their employees without having to set up and administer a pension scheme. NAERSA will do the heavy lifting when it comes to admin. And secondly, they can improve their competitiveness in what is an increasingly tight and international labour market,” Calleary said.
“My Future Fund will change how retirement savings are looked at in Ireland. It is a really positive development for employees and the country.”
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