MyFutureFund explained: who is in, what it costs and when you can opt out

Ireland's auto-enrolment pension started on 1 January 2026. This guide explains who is signed up, how much goes in from you, your employer and the State, how the rates rise and what happens if you already have a pension.

If you earn €45,000 and are in MyFutureFund, €1,575 a year is going into your pension pot. Only €675 of that comes from your own pay. Your employer and the State add the rest.

A new pension that starts without you asking

MyFutureFund is Ireland's auto-enrolment retirement savings scheme. Auto-enrolment means you are signed up for you, through your payroll. You do not have to fill in a form to join.

It started on 1 January 2026. It is run by a new State body, the National Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings Authority, known as NAERSA. It sits on top of the State Pension and does not replace it.

Sign-up moved quickly. Employers began registering on 1 December 2025, and within about three weeks 77,000 employers had signed up 645,000 workers.

Who is enrolled

You are enrolled automatically in a job if all three of these apply to you.

• You are aged 23 to 60
• You earn €20,000 or more a year across all your jobs
• You do not pay into a pension through payroll in that job

If you are aged 18 to 66 but outside those rules, you can choose to join. That includes people under 23, over 60, or earning under €20,000. Self-employed people cannot join.

How much goes in now

For the first three years, 1.5% of your gross pay goes in. Gross pay is your pay before tax. Your employer must add the same amount, and the State adds 0.5%.

On €29,432, your own share is about €8.49 a week. Your employer and the State only pay on earnings up to €80,000 a year.

Take a full-time worker on the new minimum wage of €14.94 an hour in 2027. On about €30,298 a year, they would pay in about €454. Their employer would add the same, and the State about €151.

The rates rise every three years

Contributions start low so people can get used to them. They rise in steps until 2035, when you and your employer each pay 6% and the State pays 2%.

At the full rates, someone on €45,000 would have €6,300 a year going in: €2,700 from them, €2,700 from the employer and €900 from the State.

The State top-up replaces tax relief

With most private pensions, you get tax relief at 20% or 40% on what you pay in. MyFutureFund does not give tax relief. Instead, the State adds €1 for every €3 you save.

This is the same for everyone, whatever their tax rate. Your employer's matching payment is on top. Budget 2026 set aside €154 million to pay the State's share.

When you can opt out

You must stay in for at least six months. After that, you have a two-month window to opt out. If you were enrolled on 1 January 2026, that window was July and August 2026.

1. Months 1 to 6: you cannot leave.
2. Months 7 and 8: you can opt out and get your own payments back.
3. After month 8: you cannot opt out, but you can pause payments.
4. A pause lasts at least 12 months.
5. After two years out, you are enrolled again if you still qualify.

If you opt out, your employer's and the State's money stays in your pot and stays invested. When rates rise, you get a new window six months later to opt out and get the extra back.

Changed your mind about opting out? You can cancel an opt-out request within 48 hours.

If you already have a workplace pension

If you already pay into a workplace pension, a PRSA or a PEPP through payroll, you will not be auto-enrolled in that job. A PRSA is a personal pension you can bring from job to job.

If you start paying into another pension through payroll, your MyFutureFund payments stop. If you have two jobs, you can be enrolled in one that has no pension, even if the other does.

Where your money goes and when you get it

Your savings are invested by three investment managers under contract to the scheme. You start in a default plan, and you can choose a low, medium or high risk option instead. You can see the fees taken from your account in the online portal.

You cannot take your money out before State Pension age, now 66, except for ill-health retirement. In the early years, retiring members will get a lump sum. If you die first, your pot becomes part of your estate.