As you get closer to retirement, move your money to safer investments. It sounds reasonable. But what if that one piece of conventional wisdom could cost you €80,000 or more?

In this episode, Paddy unpacks one of the most consequential (and most overlooked) investment decisions you'll make: whether to reduce investment risk before you retire. For a lot of Irish pension holders, this decision has already been made for them automatically, through something called lifestyling often without their knowledge or consent.

Paddy works through the two opposing risks at the heart of the decision: de-risking too early and leaving significant growth on the table in your final accumulation years and sequence-of-returns risk, the single most underappreciated danger in early retirement. Using two scenarios he shows how a default setting can quietly create an €85,000–€100,000 gap, and why the order in which your returns arrive matters more than the average.

You'll come away with a simple three-question framework to bring deliberate, personalised thinking to your own pension, instead of leaving it to a system designed for an average that doesn't exist.

What this Episode covers:

• The two real risks and why most people only know one

• Lifestyling: what your provider may be doing without telling you

• The €85k–€100k cost of de-risking too early

• Sequence-of-returns risk and the retirement 'red zone'

• The bucket strategy as a simple income buffer

• A three-question framework for the ten years before retirement

And if you like to read this episode again, read the full blog post here: www.informeddecisions.ie/post/reduce-investment-risk-before-retirement-ireland

Chapters:

00:00 - The €80,000 question

01:30 - The two real risks

04:00 - Lifestyling explained

07:00 - The real numbers

12:00 - Sequence-of-returns risk

17:00 - The decision framework

21:00 - Mistakes to avoid + ARF considerations

24:30 - Summary & key takeaways

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ABOUT THE SHOW

The Informed Decisions podcast is hosted by Paddy Delaney, QFA RPA APA, independent, fee-only retirement planner in Ireland. The podcast and the blog at informeddecisions.ie are educational resources for Irish professionals, business owners, and high-net-worth individuals navigating retirement, tax efficiency, and investment strategy.

DISCLAIMER

This podcast is for general educational purposes only. It does not constitute personalised financial advice. Figures and rules referenced reflect the position as at May 2026 and are subject to change. Always speak to a qualified, independent financial advisor about your specific situation.