Collection of contributions for My Future Fund rescheduled to 1st January 2026

• Collection of My Future Fund contributions to commence on January 1st, 2026
• Decision aligns start date with tax year
• Additional time allows payroll and operational systems to get ready
• Over 800,000 employees to begin saving for their retirement

Minister for Social Protection, Dara Calleary TD, has today announced that the collection of contributions for the Automatic Enrolment retirement savings system called My Future Fund will begin from 1st January 2026. It had previously been planned to begin contributions from 30th September 2025.

The Minister set out a number of factors for his decision including:

• Alignment of the new system with the standard tax year;
• Additional time for payroll providers, especially smaller providers, to ready their systems for the launch; and
• Additional lead-in time for employers, particularly small and micro businesses, to ensure they can be compliant with the legislation from the start;

Commenting today, Minister Calleary said:

“I believe that My Future Fund will transform how people save for their retirement. This is a landmark policy, and all care must be taken to ensure that it is done in a way that best facilitates all stakeholders and recognises where legitimate concerns have been raised.

“My Future Fund will help hundreds of thousands of hardworking people in Ireland put money aside for their life after work. It is important that we start on the right foot and bring all stakeholders along with us. Deferring the collection of contributions for a short period of time is the right decision, acknowledging points raised through the extensive and ongoing consultation work as the operational and payroll systems are being built.”

One key advantage to starting the collection of contributions on 1st January 2026 is to allow the introduction of My Future Fund to coincide with the normal tax year. It provides a natural reference point in the minds of both employers and employees that will be relevant to future events in My Future Fund such as contribution increases.

This decision also means that payroll providers will be able to incorporate any software updates within their normal annual work schedule. This includes incorporating any changes that may arise from Budget 2026 this autumn. Employers will thereby have to update their payroll systems just once, reducing the amount of administrative work they will have to do. This aligns with a central tenet of My Future Fund, which is that the administrative burden of this new system should be kept to a minimum for employers.

Minister Calleary added:

“My Future Fund is a truly historic measure for the Irish State that will make sure people have more financial comfort in retirement. There is never a perfect time to launch a scheme like this, but all care has been taken with the design to ensure that the burden on employers, both administrative and financial, is kept to a minimum. The contribution rates are being gradually phased in over a decade following the launch to ensure these labour costs can be absorbed.

“In the long run, My Future Fund will be transformative for the Irish economy, as our two-out-of-three private sector employees who currently have no supplementary pension will get to enjoy a greater sense of wellbeing and financial freedom.”

Notes for Editors:

What this means for employers

Collection of contributions and enrolment into My Future Fund will now begin from 1st January 2026 rather than from 30th September 2025. This means that no contributions will be sought or collected until the first time an employer runs payroll after this date. As a result, it gives employers and their payroll providers an additional three months to get ready for the system.

This will not impact the work on determining eligibility which will be ongoing before this date. By doing this, it means 1st January 2026 could see the first participants in My Future Fund enrolled from that day. Employers should budget for this eventuality and ensure that they are in a position to begin paying contributions as soon as they receive notice from the National Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings Authority (NAERSA).

What this means for ongoing work

Work is continuing on the development, integration and testing of the underlying systems that will be used to administer My Future Fund.

The Department will continue its engagement with the Payroll Software Developers Association (PSDA) to ensure that payroll software developers are fully aware of the technical specifications required for them to accommodate My Future Fund on their platforms.

Appointment of the investment managers through the ongoing tender process will continue without delay.

Work will continue to recruit both staff and Board members for NAERSA, with positions due to be advertised in May.

The three-phase communications strategy will continue to be rolled out in line with major developments. More communications resources are available on gov.ie - Auto-enrolment (www.gov.ie) as well as informational videos on Auto-enrolment explained - YouTube.

Key features of the scheme include: -

1) Phased Implementation

• All employees not already in an occupational pension scheme, aged between 23 and 60 and earning over €20,000 across all of their employments, will be automatically enrolled.
• With the first enrolments set to happen at the beginning of next year, the introduction of My Future Fund will be gradually phased in over a decade, with both employer and employee contributions starting at 1.5%, and increasing every three years by 1.5% until they eventually reach 6% by Year 10 (2035). This steady phasing allows time for both employers and employees to adjust to the new system.

2) Saving Supports

• Matching contributions will be made by employers to those contributions made by employees. This recognises the value employers gain through their employees having additional security in retirement and assists employees with the cost of accumulating pension savings.
• The State will also top up contributions by €1 for every €3 saved by the employee. This is in addition to the €3 that will also be contributed by the employer.
• This means that for every €3 saved by an employee, a further €4 will be contributed to their pension pots by their employer and the State – that is every €3 contribution by an employee automatically grows to €7 before it is invested.
• These employer and State contributions will incentivise people to stay in My Future Fund and will reduce the cost to individuals of saving for retirement.
• Contributions will cease from the next payroll after an employee’s total gross earnings exceed €80,000.

3) Choice

• The system will be voluntary but will operate on an ‘opt-out’ rather than an ‘opt-in’ basis.
• Eligible employees will be automatically enrolled/ ‘opted-in’ but will have the choice after six months participation to opt-out or suspend participation.
• Employees will have a range of three retirement savings strategies with different risk/return profiles to choose from.
• Where employees do not exercise choice, a default strategy based on what is known as a ‘life-style’/’life-cycle’ investment profile will be provided.

4) Simplicity

• Administrative costs and burdens are to be kept to an absolute minimum for both employers and employees through the establishment of NAERSA to administer the system.
• Employers will not have to invest in the establishment or procurement of an occupational scheme for their own business. They will simply be required to facilitate payroll deductions and transfer the applicable contribution amount.
• Importantly, people moving between jobs will not have to change pension scheme or join a new scheme. They will remain members of the My Future Fund on a ‘pot-follows the member’ basis. In addition, people with multiple employments will have their pension savings consolidated into one ‘pensions-pot’.
• Services will be provided and supported through an easy-to-use online channel where participants will see their savings pots grow quickly and substantively.