What is a PRSA?

A Personal Retirement Savings Account (PRSA) is a personal pension contract you take out with an approved provider. It is a long-term savings account designed for retirement: you (and optionally your employer) pay in contributions, the money is invested in funds, and you draw on it from age 60 (earlier in limited cases, later up to 75).

PRSAs were introduced in 2003 to make pensions portable and accessible — anyone can open one regardless of employment status, and you can carry the same PRSA between jobs, into self-employment, or through career breaks.

Who can open one

Anyone. Employees, the self-employed, company directors, homemakers, and people who already have another pension can all open a PRSA. Since 2025, employer contributions to an employee’s PRSA of up to 100% of salary are not treated as a benefit-in-kind.

How the money is invested

Each PRSA offers a range of investment funds. Every PRSA must offer a default investment strategy designed to be appropriate for retirement saving over the long term, so you do not have to make investment choices to participate. Fund values can fall as well as rise; a PRSA is an investment, not a deposit.

What it costs

PRSA providers may charge in two main ways:

• a contribution charge — a percentage deducted from each payment before it is invested (e.g. a 5% charge means €95 of every €100 is invested), and
• an annual management charge (AMC) — a percentage of your whole fund, every year.

Standard PRSAs cap these at 5% and 1% respectively; non-standard PRSAs have no caps. Every approved product’s published charges are in our comparison table, and the long-term effect of a charge difference is illustrated by our fee calculator.

Tax treatment

Personal contributions attract income tax relief at your marginal rate, within age-related limits. Investment growth inside the PRSA is not taxed. At retirement you can normally take 25% of the fund as a lump sum (tax-free up to €200,000 over your lifetime), with the balance moved to an Approved Retirement Fund (ARF), used to buy an annuity, or taken as taxable cash, subject to the rules at the time.

Where PRSAs fit

A PRSA is one of several pension vehicles in Ireland, alongside occupational schemes, auto-enrolment (My Future Fund), and older personal pension contracts (RACs). Which vehicle, fund, and contribution level suit any individual depends on their circumstances — that is a question for a regulated financial advisor, not this site.

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This guide is general information, not financial advice or a product recommendation. ComparePensions is not regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. Consult a regulated financial advisor before making pension decisions.