4 financial fears you could be facing, and how to overcome them

As a financial planner with decades of experience, I’m often approached by clients who are dealing with significant financial fears. Surprisingly, they usually follow similar themes, even though they come from people with very different life experiences and goals.

Looking to your plans for 2026 and beyond, you may have niggling fears that keep you awake at night. Although it’s normal to worry about the unknown, fears about your future can damage your confidence and prevent you from living life to the fullest.

Let’s explore four financial fears you could be facing and how to overcome them.

1. Outliving your retirement savings

Irish adults, overall, are underprepared for retirement. Recent research suggests more than half of people aren’t confident their pension savings will support a “decent standard of living”. [1]

Even if you have built plenty of wealth for retirement, the fear that you’ll outlive your savings may still be keeping you up at night. Life expectancies are rising and more people need later-life care as a result, both of which could factor into your concerns.

Remember that your assumptions aren’t hard facts. To learn exactly how your retirement plan looks on paper, it’s worth completing a cashflow model (I can help you with this). If you’re new to the concept, it’s very simple but effective: cashflow planning software helps you map out your retirement using your existing financial information and a range of realistic assumptions about your future.

Doing this now could reveal any gaps in your retirement plan or, in the best-case scenario, reassure you that you have enough to support yourself. Even if you’re already retired, it’s not too late to gain reassurance from a cashflow model.

2. World events damaging your investment growth

Read the news in 2025, and you’re at risk of quickly feeling hopeless about the future.

Global political turbulence could be weighing heavily on your mind, especially when it comes to your stock market investments. This year alone, we’ve seen the Trump administration’s tariff policies rock global markets on an almost constant basis, among other global events.

In times of doubt, it’s worth remembering how much turbulence the stock market has weathered over the past century. From world wars to economic crises, markets have crashed, recovered, crashed, and come back stronger several times over. [2]

While there is no guarantee of future recoveries, history tells us that staying the course and ignoring the noise can produce reliable results.

3. Losing too much money to tax

In 1789, Benjamin Franklin wrote, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes”.

Fast forward to 2025 and it remains inevitable that some of your earnings will be lost to tax. But as you age, perhaps approaching or recently entering retirement, you may become increasingly concerned that your hard-earned money is being eroded.

Paying your dues to society is important. But with the help of a financial planner and tax adviser, you could avoid paying more tax than necessary – money that could instead support your lifestyle, your investments, and your children’s future.

Alongside your tax adviser, I can help you:

• Anticipate how your tax liability may change in the coming months or years

• Understand changes to tax policy at government level, and what they mean for you

• Factor tax into your financial plan so you aren’t caught short by unexpected bills.

If you’re worried about tax, now is the time to be proactive.

4. Becoming ill or passing away

On the surface of things, these terribly difficult life events seem to have little to do with money at all.

But upon further reflection, you could find that you are:

• Concerned about an illness preventing you from earning

• Vulnerable to estate planning mistakes, like dying without a will or being unprepared for Inheritance Tax

• Frightened of means-tested care depleting your savings over the long term

• Worried about your family sustaining their comfortable lifestyle after you’re gone.

While none of us can predict all of life’s twists and turns, financial planning could be the key to gaining some peace of mind. By recommending solutions based on your personal circumstances, I can help you safeguard your money against unexpected events like a serious illness or the loss of a loved one.

Whether you’re worried about Inheritance Tax, care costs, or your family’s financial wellbeing over the long term, you don’t have to deal with your fears on your own. Get in touch today to discuss any of the topics you have read about here.

Email rory@brazilfinancial.ie or call + 353 86 824 7542.

Please note

This article is for information only. It does not constitute advice.

It describes financial planning services that Brazil Financial Planning can offer to you.

Brazil Financial Planning Ltd T/A Brazil Financial is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. Registered No. 477512.

Brazil Financial Planning is not a tax adviser and tax advisory services are not regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.

The value of your investments (and any income from them) can go down as well as up and you may not get back the full amount you invested. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

Investments should be considered over the longer term and should fit in with your overall attitude to risk and financial circumstances.

Sources

[1] The Irish Post, ‘One in four Irish adults have no plan for retirement’.

[2] Macrotrends, ‘S&P 500 – 100 Year Historical Chart’.