That is one of the biggest financial issues quietly sitting in the background for so many Irish people right now. We are healthier, we are working longer, and retirement is no longer a short chapter at the end of life. Many people could spend 20, 25, or even 30 years in retirement, yet surprisingly few have sat down and worked out what that might actually cost.

I think people are often shocked when they realise how little the State pension alone provides. At the moment, the full contributory State pension is just over €277 per week. While that absolutely helps, for most people it is not enough on its own to maintain the lifestyle they are used to, especially when you factor in rising bills, inflation, healthcare costs, and simply the cost of living in Ireland now.

Between mortgages, childcare, school costs and the general cost of life in Ireland, pensions often end up at the bottom of the list. A lot of people still think retirement planning is something you start thinking about ‘later’. Later when the kids are older. Later when the mortgage eases. Later when work calms down. But the reality is that later comes quickly, and the difference between starting a pension at 35 versus 45 can potentially result in a significantly larger pension pot by retirement age.

I regularly meet people in their fifties who genuinely thought they were ‘grand’ until they actually sat down and looked at the numbers. Most are not reckless with money. They simply never had anyone explain retirement planning in a way that felt realistic or achievable.

Compound growth sounds like financial jargon, but it is actually quite simple. It means that your money starts earning money too. If you invest €100 and it grows by five per cent, you now have €105. The following year, you are earning growth on €105 rather than the original €100. Over years and decades, that snowball effect becomes incredibly powerful. That is why starting earlier, even with smaller amounts, can often leave somebody in a much stronger position than someone trying to catch up later with larger contributions.

The same applies in reverse with inflation. Money sitting in a current account might feel safe, but if it is not growing, inflation is quietly eating away at it in the background. €100,000 sitting in cash today simply will not buy the same lifestyle in twenty years’ time if the cost of living continues to rise.

When clients come in to us for a financial review, we usually start at the finish line and work backwards. Instead of asking people what they think they can afford to put into a pension now, we ask what kind of lifestyle they want later on. A common rule of thumb is aiming for a retirement income of roughly 70 to 75 percent of your current salary in order to maintain a similar standard of living.

For example only, and not financial advice, if a couple currently earns a combined salary of €100,000, we may aim for a retirement income of around €75,000 between them. One way of estimating the pension fund required is multiplying that figure by approximately 24, which would suggest a target fund in the region of €1.8 million. Suddenly retirement stops feeling vague and becomes something much more tangible and real.

From there, we work backwards. We factor in what State pension entitlements may look like, any existing work pensions, old pensions from previous jobs, savings, investments, and even property assets. Many people have pensions scattered across old employments and have no idea what they contain or how they are performing. Part of our role is helping clients find those pensions, review them, and understand whether they still suit their goals and timelines. Many people in Ireland are asset rich on paper but pension poor in reality, particularly those who may own property but have not built enough retirement income outside of it.

Retirement planning is rarely just one pension pot. It is more like a four pillar structure. You may have your State pension, private pensions, savings and investments, and property or other assets all contributing towards your retirement lifestyle. For some people, there may also be future inheritance or business assets involved. The key is making sure those pieces are actually working together rather than sitting in isolation.

That does not always mean starting from scratch. Sometimes it is about amending what is already there. In some cases, we may recommend increasing pension contributions. In others, it might involve reviewing investment strategy or setting up additional savings and investment plans alongside pension contributions to improve flexibility later on.

What surprises many people is how tax efficient pensions can actually be in Ireland. If you are paying tax at 40 percent, a €1,000 pension contribution may effectively only cost you around €600 after tax relief. For business owners and self-employed individuals, pensions can also become a very valuable long-term planning tool. Many business owners spend years reinvesting back into the business while neglecting their own retirement planning in the process. Pension contributions can offer significant tax advantages while also building personal financial security outside of the business itself.

One of the biggest issues I see is people being either too cautious or too overwhelmed to start. Some are afraid to invest because they think it means taking huge risks. Others have pensions they have not reviewed in years and genuinely have no idea what they are invested in. Many people are sitting in default funds that may not actually suit their stage of life or retirement goals.

This is where advice becomes important, because there is no one size fits all approach. Someone in their thirties may be able to take a very different level of investment risk compared to somebody planning to retire in five years’ time. For clients approaching retirement, we are often looking more closely at structure and accessibility. How much should stay in cash? How much should remain invested? What level of monthly income will realistically be needed? Many people are surprised to learn that pensions can often be accessed from age 50 once they have left that employment, which makes timing and planning incredibly important.

The reality is that retirement is no longer something that ‘just works itself out’. Defined benefit pensions are far less common, people are living longer, and the cost of living continues to rise. Hoping things will somehow fall into place is not a strategy.

The good news is that you do not need to fix everything overnight. A pension review, increasing contributions slightly, understanding what you currently have, or even just having the conversation is a huge step forward. Small changes made consistently over time can completely change outcomes later on.

Because at the end of the day, retirement planning is not really about numbers on a page. It is about freedom. Freedom to slow down when you want to, not because you are forced to. Freedom to enjoy your life without financial panic. The ability to make choices on your own terms.

And ultimately, that is the pension gap nobody talks about. It is not just the gap in money. It is the gap between the future people hope for and the plan they currently have in place to support it.

Halpin Wealth Management offers free consultations. Visit www.hwm.ie  or email info@hwm.ie to learn more.

This year there has been a definite uptick of enquiries into Moneytree Finance from renters who have been given a ‘Notice to Quit’ by their landlord, because he or she intends to sell the house amid the uncertainty created by the recent changes to Irish rental law. Since March 1, 2026, there are now increased restrictions on landlords around rent increases and ending a tenancy, and crucially going forward all new tenancy agreements will become ‘Tenancies of Minimum Duration’ (TMD) lasting for six years, provided the renters are meeting certain standard obligations (for example paying the rent on time). And rather than navigate this new rental world, many ‘small landlords’ (defined as those having three or fewer tenancies) are instead selling up, creating opportunities for some first-time buyers but also great uncertainty for those who are receiving the notice to quit.

Indeed, being told you must leave your rental property can feel incredibly overwhelming, especially amid the serious housing crisis Ireland is currently experiencing. In certain circumstances, however, it can present renters with the chance to buy the house they have been living in themselves. In fact, provided certain criteria are met, there is even a government scheme – the Tenant Home Purchase Scheme – designed for this exact scenario. Below, I will explain this scheme in much more detail.  

The Tenant Home
Purchase Scheme 

In general, mortgages for renters who have been given notice to leave operate in the same way they do for other prospective borrowers. If they are first-time buyers, they can qualify for a loan of ‘up to four’ times their annual income, either single or joint (depending on whether they are applying alone or with a partner), and if they are second-time buyers the maximum loan is up to 3.5 times their annual income. And, as always, whether or not the bank will release the full potential loan will depend on the applicants’ financial profile, bringing factors such as the general cost of living, whether the borrower has any dependents/children and/or loans, and how much they have been saving on top of the rent over the last six months, into play. Like all buyers, renters hoping to purchase their landlord’s house will also need a deposit of at least 10 per cent ‘and’ be able to afford the ‘extra’ fees and charges such as Stamp Duty (one per cent of the purchase price) and legal costs (we always tell people to budget ‘about’ €3,000 for a good solicitor).

Imagine, however, that a renter (let’s call him James) has €30,000 in savings and as a first-time buyer has been mortgage approved for €200,000, giving him an overall budget of €230,000, but the landlord wants at least €280,000 for the house? Here is where the Tenant Home Purchase Scheme can help. An offshoot of the better-known First Home Scheme, the Tenant Home Purchase Scheme operates along similar lines, with the one crucial difference that it can be used to purchase a second-hand house. Indeed, this is the only scenario (a renter buying the landlord’s house) in which any of the government-backed schemes can be used to buy a home that has already been lived in: both the Help to Buy and the regular First Home Scheme are strictly for new-builds only. In the simplified scenario outlined above, James is €50,000 short if he wants to purchase the home he has been living in; provided he meets the criteria, however, and is open to the government holding an equity share in his home (at least for a time), the Tenant Purchase Scheme will give him that €50,000, allowing him to own a property which would otherwise have been out of his reach.

Of course, as already mentioned, certain conditions must be met to avail of the scheme. In terms of the landlord/rental element, the renter ‘must’ have been served with a valid notice of termination, and the tenancy ‘must’ be above board and registered with the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB). Beyond this, though, the scheme operates in similar terms to the First Home Scheme: applicants must be first-time buyers, they must apply to one of the ‘pillar’ banks (Bank of Ireland, AIB, or PTSB) for the mortgage, and they must borrow their maximum amount available, meaning they can’t leave any borrowing power behind them. The maximum eligible purchase price in Cork County is currently €450,000 (in Cork City it is €500,000), and the maximum equity share receivable is 30 percent of the purchase price; the minimum is 2.5 percent or €10,000, whichever is higher. Crucially, those using the Tenants Home Purchase Scheme ‘cannot’ also use the ‘Help To Buy’ tax rebate otherwise available to first-time buyers, as they are not buying a new home but a second-hand one. In terms of cost, participants in the scheme pay nothing at all for the first five years (though they do of course pay their regular mortgage during this period), and then a simple interest charge of 1.75 percent from year six onwards. This then rises again incrementally from years 16 and then 30, up to a maximum of 2.85 percent ‘simple’ interest per year, which would still be one of, if not ‘the’, cheapest loans you could ever get.

In any case, many people will choose to buy back the equity share from the government long before year 30 of the loan, and this can be done in a lump sum and/or over a longer period of time. Buying back the equity is where the most major caveat of the Tenant Home Purchase Scheme lies, however, as it is the ‘share equivalent’ that applicants owe the scheme, not the euro amount they originally received. Let’s again use James as our example: if James takes the scheme’s €50,000 to buy his landlord’s house for €280,000 now, then the equity share of his new home held by the government will amount to 17.86 percent (let’s call this 18 percent to keep things simple!). Now imagine that 10 years passes and James has come into some money, perhaps via an inheritance or just by saving diligently over time, and he decides to buy back the scheme’s equity share – he will owe them 18 percent of his home’s value ‘at that point in time’, which well may no longer amount to the €50,000 he originally borrowed. If James’s home has risen in value to €350,000, for example, he will owe them 18 percent of €350,000, which is €63,000. On the other hand, though, if his home happens to fall in value (a less likely but not impossible scenario), he will owe the scheme ‘less’ than he originally borrowed.

As long as borrowers are willing to abide by the rules and criteria of the Tenant Home Purchase Scheme, and accept the fact that they may end up paying back a bit more than they originally received over time, then the scheme is a viable and useful option for renters who have been given notice and would like to buy the home themselves. Like all the government schemes, it is not perfect, but it does frequently get people into houses that they could otherwise not afford. If you think any of the above is relevant to you and have further questions, or you would like to discuss any mortgage query further, please don’t hesitate to contact Moneytree Finance today! 

by Naomi Fein

Many of my clients tell me they have been showing up consistently – posting regularly, trying different platforms, doing the things you are supposed to do. But it costs more than it gives back. The time it takes. Two hours disappear between deciding to post and actually posting. “I feel like I am shouting into a room where nobody is listening,” someone said to me recently. “And I am exhausted.”

What strikes me is not the exhaustion. That makes sense. It is the assumption beneath it – more platforms, more posts, more visibility is always the answer. We have inherited this belief. And I think it is time to question where it came from.

When I look at the roots of ‘more is better’, I keep arriving at the same place: the Industrial Revolution. The shift from handmade, agricultural societies to automated industrial ones brought a big promise: we could produce more for less time. And with that came a whole belief system. More output equals more value. More money brings more power. And power – finally – feels like the path to the thing we are all actually craving underneath: safety. If I can control enough – my income, my visibility, my reputation – I will finally feel secure. I can stop bracing.

Except control doesn’t deliver that. It can’t. Because life is not controllable, and the more we try to hold it, the more energy it takes. So the safety never arrives. ‘More’ is a horizon. You move toward it, and it keeps moving. We end up time-poor, money-poor, energy-poor – not because we actually are, but because our eyes are permanently fixed somewhere ahead.

This belief runs straight through how most of us think about marketing. If you are not on Instagram AND Facebook AND LinkedIn AND everything else, you are missing your audience. Post every day, or the algorithm will forget you. Even people who are consistent in their efforts carry an inner voice that the outer pressure has installed: this is not enough. You need to do more.

What if that voice belongs to a map that no longer fits the territory?

If your identity and business are rooted in CARE, not MORE – if you wish to mind our planet, our people, and have a viable business – then the old marketing rulebook may not just be exhausting – it may be the wrong map entirely.

So what does the right map look like?

I came to this through an unusual back door. I started in community development – working with migrants, youth, women – before moving into design and business consulting. For the past decade, I have been finding a visual way to map human ecosystems: businesses, teams, organisations. Seeing the whole picture in one view unlocks something unexpected. Time and again, my clients find clarity they couldn’t access through Excel sheets and text-heavy marketing strategies.

To make such a map, I start by asking: “Who are the people who help you achieve your goals?” “Who are your best clients?” Nine out of ten clients stare at me blankly. And I understand why. Most of us skip the question entirely. We go straight to doing – a new platform, a post, a campaign that takes weeks to build. We invest time, money, and hope, and watch it land quietly in the void. We were never clear on who we were talking to. We just kept moving.

Once we gain clarity on who our people are, a second question follows: “How many can we actually know well enough to tend?”

This is where something shifts. Your core – the people who already believe in what you do, who come back, who refer others, who will tell you honestly when something isn’t working – is smaller than you think. And that is not a limitation. It is a gift. A small, well-tended group of people who genuinely believe in you will do more for your business than a thousand followers who scroll past. The number will be different for every business. What matters is whether you know who they are and whether you have real, sustainable ways of staying connected.

Robin Dunbar, an anthropologist at Oxford, found that humans have a cognitive limit of roughly 150 stable relationships – now known as Dunbar’s Number. Beyond that, we lose the ability to really know people. The Romans understood something similar: their basic military unit was eight soldiers – the contubernium – who shared a tent, ate together, and fought together. Trust scaled through that small unit, not through mass co-ordination.

Around your core, a wider community – people connected to you but not yet as close. Beyond that: the public. These three circles are not a hierarchy of importance. They are a map of where your energy goes. If you look after your core well, they hold the golden key of how to reach your wider community. And your wider community, over time, reaches the public. That is not a shortcut. It is how communities have always worked.

The question to ask yourself is not: “How do I reach more people?” It is: “Do I know who my people are, and am I actually tending that relationship?”

In practice, this changes what marketing looks like entirely.

Instead of producing content for the algorithm, you design experiences – events, conversations, writing, small gatherings – that feed the ecosystem around your work. You are not trying to fill an ocean. You are tending a garden.

And you choose the channels and activities that give you energy rather than drain it. If you love writing, write. If you come alive in a room with people, create the room. The right marketing is not the one that works in theory. It is the one you can actually sustain.

You do not need to talk to everyone. You need to talk to the right people. You probably already know some of them. Go and talk with them – that is a good starting point.

What excites me most right now is more of this: mapping ecosystems with clients and watching unexpected doors open, gathering where solutions emerge from the group, experimenting together rather than each of us figuring it out alone. A place to belong, as much as a place to work.

If you want help finding your people and building a marketing approach that actually fits your business, I would love to talk. Contact me on 086 3743132 or pop me an email naomi@thinkvisual.ie. You can also find out more about me and my work at www.thinkvisual.ie.

I’m taking a break for July but will be back for the August issue with more visual models that may help you grow your business. 

The State pension in Ireland currently sits at just under €300 per week for a full contributory pension. For many people, that is not enough on its own to cover the lifestyle they would like, particularly when you factor in rising costs, energy bills, healthcare, and general day-to-day living. This is where planning ahead makes a real difference, because the gap between what the State provides and what you actually need can be significant.

A useful way to think about it is this: many people aim for a retirement income of around 70 to 75 percent of their working salary to maintain a similar standard of living. When you break that down, the State pension might cover a portion of that, but the rest has to come from somewhere else, usually a pension, savings, or investments.

For those in their fifties, this is often the most important decade financially. You still have earning power, and crucially, you still have time. Pension contributions at this stage benefit from tax relief at your marginal rate, which can be a significant advantage. For example, a €1,000 pension contribution may only cost €600 if you are paying tax at 40 per cent. Increasing contributions during these years can have a meaningful impact on your eventual pension pot.

Investment strategy also becomes more important at this stage. Many people have pensions or funds sitting in very cautious or default options that may not be aligned with their timeframe. While risk should always be managed carefully, having some exposure to growth assets over the medium term can be essential to ensure your money keeps pace with inflation. Leaving everything in cash or very low-risk funds for too long can actually reduce your purchasing power over time.

In your sixties, the conversation begins to shift. It becomes less about building aggressively and more about structuring your assets properly. This is where understanding how and when you can access your pension, how much you can draw down, and how to make that income last becomes key. Many pensions in Ireland can be accessed from age 50 once you have left employment, and having a clear plan around drawdown versus lump sums can make a significant difference to long-term sustainability.

At this stage, it is also important to ensure you have a mix of accessible funds and longer-term income. A common approach is to have a portion of your money easily available for short-term needs, while the rest continues to work in the background to provide income over time. This avoids the need to dip into long-term investments too early or during market fluctuations.

By your seventies and eighties, financial planning becomes much more about simplicity and security. The priority shifts to ensuring that regular expenses are covered, that there is a buffer for unexpected costs, and that finances are easy to manage. This might include consolidating accounts, simplifying investments, and ensuring that everything is clearly structured.

This is also the stage where vulnerability can become a real concern. Relying solely on the State pension, or not having access to additional funds, can create pressure not just for the individual, but for their family. Planning ahead is what allows people to maintain independence for longer, make their own decisions, and avoid putting financial strain on those around them.

Across all stages, one of the biggest issues I see is that people either hold too much in cash or avoid investing altogether because they are unsure where to start. While cash is important for short-term security, keeping large amounts sitting in deposit accounts over long periods can mean that inflation gradually erodes its value. Even a modest return of four to five per cent annually over time can significantly change outcomes compared to leaving money idle.

That said, it is never about putting everything into one place. A well-structured financial plan will typically include a mix of savings for immediate access, investments for medium to long-term growth, and pensions for future income. The balance between these will depend entirely on the individual, their age, and their goals.

The most important step is not getting everything perfect from day one. It is starting. Reviewing what you have, understanding where you stand, and making small, informed adjustments over time. That might mean increasing a pension contribution, moving money out of low-return accounts, or simply getting clarity on what your current plan looks like.

Because when you strip it all back, financial planning is not about chasing returns or complicated strategies. It is about making sure that as you get older, you still have options. Options to live where you want, spend your time how you choose, and make decisions without financial pressure.

Halpin Wealth Management offers free consultations. Visit www.hwm.ie or email info@hwm.ie to learn more.

And rightly so: unless you are fortunate enough to be a cash buyer, getting AIP’d by a mortgage lender is a crucial step on the road to home ownership, and one that should be celebrated. However, it is only that – a step! – and to be frank, perhaps the most important words in the term Approval in Principle are the last two: ‘in principle’. 

Indeed, while it sounds very official, and looks quite fancy when printed neatly on the bank’s headed paper, the AIP does not actually commit the potential lender to anything, nor does it mean that the prospective borrower can suddenly relax and start spending without a care in the world, or stop that carefully-planned savings regime, which has been in place for the last six months. All the AIP really means is that a bank has looked at an applicant’s income and savings at a specific point in time, and agreed that for a particular period (typically six months or a year, depending on the lender) they would in theory … all else being equal … but only if nothing significant changes, and the cost of living stays broadly the same … and the house being purchased is up to their standards, be willing to consider lending the money required to buy it. 

This last qualification is an important one and emphasises that the mortgage assessments conducted by banks have two main targets: the applicants themselves and the property they are hoping to purchase. Bank of Ireland, for example, may think that recent applicant John, with his strong income, consistent savings, and absence of short-term debt, is the ideal candidate for a mortgage, but if he returns two months post-approval, having gone sale agreed on a ‘doer-upper’ which sits in an area prone to flooding and on land whose boundary is disputed by neighbours, his AIP won’t be worth the paper it’s printed on. Bank of Ireland, along with any other Irish mortgage lender, will be incredibly wary of this house because if they ever need to repossess it, they themselves won’t be able to easily sell it on and thus get their money back. Getting paid is ultimately what matters to the banks, understandably enough. 

What an AIP ‘will’ do, however, is allow recipients to go house hunting, meaning they can view homes in their preferred area, engage with estate agents, and crucially place bids. Should they then go sale agreed on a house that the bank approves of (a valuer will be sent by the bank to assess the property), and no significant changes to the applicant’s circumstances have occurred (such as a marriage, the birth of a child, a promotion or demotion at work, or a change of employment altogether), they will be well placed to receive a Loan Offer from the bank, which is a much more meaningful document than the AIP. Also known as a Letter of Offer, this is a formal, legally binding document from a lender outlining all the mortgage’s important details, such as the term-length and interest rate, and it will also list the requirements/conditions which need to be met in order to eventually draw down the funds. 

While Loan Offers do sometimes include ‘special conditions’ specific to more complicated cases, many of them will simply include the requirements typical for any mortgage, such as the need to have both home and life insurance in place for the term of the loan. Of course, even this standard small print can sometimes cause issues, namely when people belatedly discover they cannot get either home or life insurance for one reason or another. Both scenarios can be very difficult for prospective borrowers to navigate, and banks are rarely, ‘if ever’, willing to waive this condition or compromise on it. The house insurance, for example, really needs to have all the main perils — fire, flood, subsidence — covered to satisfy the bank, and there are parts of West Cork and the wider county where both flooding and subsidence have caused issues in the past. Subsidence, where there is movement of a building’s foundation caused by the loss of support from the soil beneath it, tends to be more of an issue in Cork City, but flooding has historically occurred in West Cork towns such as Skibbereen and Bandon, so if house hunting in these areas it’s worth asking yourself “will I be able to insure this home to the bank’s satisfaction?” Getting ahead of potential pitfalls like this can prevent heartbreak down the line and ease the drawdown process for all involved. 

Issues with life insurance (known in broker-speak as ‘mortgage protection’) can be even harder to navigate. Once upon a time, banks were sometimes willing, in certain cases, to waive the requirement for life cover, but since the 2008 financial crisis they have become much stricter about this, as they have about many other things. Essentially, if your income is being used as part of the mortgage assessment, either as a single or joint applicant, you will ‘need’ to have life cover in place to draw down the funds, without exception. The policy will be legally assigned to the bank, meaning they essentially own a policy on your life, and this is designed to protect the lender should a mortgage holder pass away or become unable to work during the term of the mortgage. 

In sum, if you are hoping to apply for a mortgage at any point in the future but also have reason to believe you may struggle to get life cover, perhaps due to an ongoing medical condition, it is worth investigating your options now, even prior to getting AIP’d. This can be done in numerous ways, but one is to speak with a life insurance expert at somewhere like Moneytree Finance – (We don’t just do mortgages you know!)  — who will be advise you on the best way forward. 

If you are a potential mortgage borrower and you have questions about any of the topics discussed above, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with Moneytree Finance today.  

by Naomi Fein

I know that feeling. You’re talking about something you care deeply about – something you’ve built, something that matters – and you can feel the other person closing off. Their eyes shift. Their shoulders soften in a way that isn’t quite listening anymore. Your story never connected with their heart. And the more you talk, the more they retreat. Tony from Daylight.ie knows that feeling too.

Tony’s product – the E’Window – uses LED Sky Panel technology to mimic natural daylight from sunrise to sunset, delivering its health benefits to any enclosed or windowless space. 

Tony has done his research: gathering learning from Professor Russell Foster at Oxford on sleep and circadian rhythm, and from Professor Glen Jeffreys at UCL on the importance of morning daylight, and he has stories about daylight for every industry that could benefit from it. When he came to me, his challenge was getting his message across. He has an excellent product, real expertise, solid science – but his pitch wasn’t landing.

Looking at his work together, the problem became clear. Tony, like most of us, assumed that if you give people enough good information, they’ll make the right decision. 

This challenge calls for the ‘Elephant, the Rider, and the Path’ – a model popularised by Chip and Dan Heath’s book: ‘Switch’. I’ve used it with clients again and again for over a decade. It shifts how people understand their own communication. And once they see it, they can’t unsee it.

The Elephant, the Rider,
and the Path
Jonathan Haidt described it first: we’re not one unified self. We’re a rider on an elephant. The Rider is the rational mind – it wants facts, proof, logic. The Elephant is the heart – it needs to feel that something matters, to have a reason to move. Most of us, when we’re passionate, flood the Rider with information and hope the Elephant follows. It doesn’t work that way.

Chip and Dan Heath built on Haidt’s idea in their book ‘Switch’, adding a third element: the Path. Even when the Elephant is moved, and the Rider is convinced, if the next step is unclear or feels too hard, nothing happens. The door stays closed.

And, it’s important to also remember, every Elephant is different, and every Elephant already has a direction it’s heading. Trying to redirect one that’s committed elsewhere takes enormous energy – and usually fails. The smarter question is: whose Elephant is already moving in the direction I’m heading?

Back to Tony. He identified care homes and hospitals as sectors that would most benefit from his product, with two key entry points: the Director of Nursing and the facility manager. Two completely different Elephants. The Director of Nursing’s Elephant moves toward healing and patient wellbeing – research shows that patients in daylight-filled rooms recover faster and go home sooner. The facility manager’s Elephant is heading toward cost control and efficiency – shorter patient stays mean lower costs. Same product. Two different stories. Two different conversations.

In Tony’s own words: “Before our session, I thought if I gave people enough information, they’d understand how good this is. Now I see I was flooding the room. Naomi’s visuals made it click: I need to find the person whose elephant is already moving in the right direction, and tell them the story that speaks to their heart first. Once they’re engaged, I can share the information that will help them make an informed decision.”

Engage the Elephant, inform the Rider, clear the Path
So before your next meeting, pitch, or work on any communication material, ask yourself:

How can I engage the Elephant? This means starting with what they care about and what motivates them – not what you care about. Ask, what does your audience care about? Can you connect your story to what they already value? Do your passion and motivation align? 

How can I inform the Rider? Direct the rider using relevant information. Ask: What information would support your audience’s motivation? Is the information short enough to actually land? Are the key facts there without drowning everything else? Edit ruthlessly – keep only what serves the outcome you’re trying to achieve.

How can I clear the Path? Ensure you shape the path to the results you want. Ask: Is the next step obvious? Have you removed the blocks and made yes easier than no? If saying yes still requires effort or guesswork, most people won’t take it.

Why is this hard to do alone?

Once you know something deeply, it becomes almost impossible to see it the way someone encountering it for the first time would. Chip and Dan Heath call it “the curse of knowledge”. That’s not a personal failing – it’s the nature of expertise.

If what you’ve read here resonated, and you notice a touch of that curse, feel free to reach out – we can explore a better way forward together.

Book your free conversation at thinkvisual.ie/letschat or call me on 086 3743132.

And if you’re curious about Tony’s E’Window, reach him at tony@daylight.ie.

My wife sometimes has trouble remembering the colour of the car I am testing. But no trouble last week as my test car, the Leap B10, came in Purple.

Colour is always important when buying a new car, especially for first-time buyers who may have had a favourite colour in their mind for years.

According to Google, the colour purple is associated with a variety of meanings, including wisdom, creativity, royalty, power, ambition and luxury. It can also represent magic, extravagance, peace, pride, independence and wealth. Do you fit into any of those categories?

Leap is the latest Chinese brand to come to Ireland. It’s a company that was only founded in 2015 and didn’t sell its first car until 2019. Yet in six years it has already sold over one million cars worldwide.

The B10 is Leap’s third model to be introduced to Ireland, following on the T03 city car and C10 SUV. The B10 is a mid-sized SUV that is designed to be budget-friendly while still providing modern technology and a huge amount of interior space for five well-built passengers.

Leap say they expect their main competitors in the Irish market for their B10 will be the BYD Atto 2 and Kia’s Elroq, but it’s larger in all dimensions than both of those cars.

Later in the year there will be a Hybrid version of the B10 and two more electric EV models, so by the end of 2026 Leap will have six cars on sale in Ireland.

Externally the car looks very solid. Inside you get a minimalistic look. The dash is dominated by a 14.6-inch display which works well. There are no old-style buttons on the dash. As mentioned earlier the interior is really spacious with plenty of leg and head room.

The boot is a decent size, officially 525 litres and you also get a Frunk at the front, which has 25 litres of space. And like their European counterparts, the Chinese don’t supply spare wheels either.

Prices start at €32,984 and the range in the small 56.2kWh battery is approx. 360km, while the larger 67.1kWh battery which I drove, should give you close to 430km with a full charge. It’s a fine spacious car with a good range and has a very competitive price. 

Leapmotor now have seven dealers in Ireland: Bright Airside, Swords, Dublin, Bright, Navan Road, Dublin, Dan Seaman Motors, Forge Hill, Cork, Fitzpatrick’s Garage, Naas, Greenhall Motors, Buttevant, Cork, Joe Norris Motors, Navan and Kennys, Tuam Road, Galway.

Apart from the Dawn Purple version I drove, other colours available are: Night Blue, Metallic Black, Galaxy Silver, Light White and Tundra Grey. 

Most new cars open when you approach with the fob in your pocket. However, Leap cars are opened by moving the fob card over part of the driver’s wing mirror. Don’t be caught out if you ask for a test drive and cannot figure how to get into the car. You might also have to ask where is the small button to open the boot.

James Brooks, who is the Opel M.D in Ireland, is also overseeing the Leap segment in Gowans and he says that Leap will benefit from the reputation and experience of their extensive dealer network. James is encouraging Irish motorists to ‘Take the Leap’ and take a test drive in one of their new cars.

We rarely ask the same question about our money. What are you growing financially right now? Not what you hope to grow, or what you plan to get around to later, but what your current habits are actually building.

Because whether we realise it or not, we are all growing something. For some, it is savings, small amounts put aside consistently, building a sense of security over time. For others, it might be debt slowly creeping up, not through one big decision, but through a series of small ones. For many, it is simply standing still, where money comes in, money goes out, and nothing is really being built in the background. And for some, it is stress, that constant feeling of not quite knowing where you stand.

None of this is about judgement. It is simply about awareness. Money tends to grow in the direction we give attention to. If everything is focused on today, then today is all that gets looked after. But when even a small bit of attention is given to the future, things begin to shift.

Savings, investing and pensions are often spoken about as if they are big, complicated steps. In reality, they each play a very simple role. Savings give you breathing space, investments give your money a job, and pensions give your future self options. But it is not about choosing one over the other. It is about having a mix of all three working quietly in the background.

Savings are what get you through the unexpected. The car repair, the higher-than-usual bill, the month where everything seems to land at once. Without savings, every surprise becomes stress. With even a small buffer, you have breathing room. Investments are what allow your money to grow beyond what you could do by saving alone. Leaving everything sitting in cash might feel safe, but over time it can lose value. Investing, even in small amounts, gives your money a purpose and allows it to build in the background while you focus on your day-to-day life. Pensions are the long game. They are often the easiest to ignore because they feel so far away, but they are one of the most powerful tools you have. They benefit from time more than anything else, and starting earlier, even with small amounts, can make a significant difference later on.

When these three areas work together, they create balance. You are covered for today, building for tomorrow, and protecting your future at the same time. When one is missing, it can create pressure elsewhere. Too much focus on spending today can leave you exposed later, while focusing only on long-term saving without flexibility can leave you stretched in the short term.

One of the biggest things I see is people waiting. Waiting to earn more, waiting for life to calm down, waiting until they feel more organised. The intention is always there, but time moves on quickly, and ‘later’ has a way of becoming much further away than expected. The longer you leave it, the harder it becomes to build momentum.

The truth is, most people do not have a money problem. They have a starting problem. It is not about having thousands to invest or large amounts to save. It is about building the habit of doing something consistently. It might be €20 a week into savings, a small pension contribution, or finally setting up something you have been putting off. Small, steady actions will always have more impact than big plans that never quite happen.

And real life does need to be factored in. Between the weekly shop and everything else life throws in, it is easy to feel like there is nothing left to put away. But even in those seasons, awareness matters. Knowing what is coming in, what is going out, and what is quietly building in the background puts you back in control. Doing nothing is still a decision. The question is whether that decision is giving you the outcome you want.

This is not about cutting out everything you enjoy or putting your life on hold. It is about balance. Enjoying today while still looking after tomorrow. You do not need to overhaul everything overnight, and you do not need a perfect plan. But having some structure, even a simple one, changes how money feels. It moves from something reactive to something intentional.

If you were to stop for a moment and look at your current habits, what would they say? Are they building security, flexibility, and options for the future, or are they simply getting you through the month? There is no right or wrong answer, only an opportunity to adjust.

Because the reality is, your financial future is not built in one big moment. It is built quietly, in everyday choices, over time. And whether you realise it or not, something is growing.

Halpin Wealth Management offers free consultations. Visit www.hwm.ie or email info@hwm.ie to learn more.

Applying for a mortgage as a first-time buyer is a daunting task, so it’s no surprise that many potential borrowers turn to the internet (and increasingly AI apps such as Chat GPT or Google Gemini) for advice before speaking with a bank or broker. Generally speaking, this is no harm – it makes sense to do some basic research any time you do something for the first time, after all. However, this approach does have some potential pitfalls, and from speaking with many first-time buyers it is clear there is still plenty of misinformation and outdated advice lurking out there on the world wide web! 

To give one relatively common example, I still sometimes speak to people who believe that they need a positive, US-style ‘credit score’ to get mortgage approved in Ireland, and have even met potential borrowers who, for the sake of it, took out a small loan purely with the intention of paying it back on time. These well-intentioned folks mistakenly believed that doing so would give them a ‘good’ credit score ahead of their mortgage application, but Irish credit reports don’t work like this, and Irish mortgage lenders don’t look at an applicant’s credit history in this manner anyway (though they do of course care if you have previously gone into arrears on a loan or written down debt in the past). To spell it out clearly: you do not need to have a previous credit history to get a mortgage in Ireland. For many people, their mortgage will be the first loan they’ve ever had.   

This example is one of the more persistent myths about what Irish banks and mortgage lenders are looking for (I blame this fact on us watching too many American TV shows!), but it is not the only one, so I thought it would be worthwhile to expand a little more on how the banks think when assessing a mortgage application. 

Are the banks eternal pessimists? 

First things first, it is true that banks tend to think in worst case scenarios. I don’t say this to worry or scare anyone who’s thinking of applying for a mortgage, but it’s worth bearing in mind as you try to understand the thought process of the people who’ll be running a fine-tooth comb over you and your finances! Put simply, the bank’s primary underlying question will always be: will we get paid!? This is obvious in the sense that they will want to see proof an applicant can afford the potential monthly mortgage payments, but the question will also underpin their assessment of your lifestyle (to the extent they can discern it from your bank statements) and the house you are hoping to buy. In the former case, for example, banks are always looking for behaviours that could one day become addictions. Gambling transactions and ‘excessive’ alcohol purchases (emphasis on ‘excessive’; you don’t need to be teetotal to receive mortgage approval!) are well-known ones, but less obviously addictive purchases such as Playstation and Xbox games/add-ons can also make the banks wary, if large in number. Their logic will be: if John and/or Mary are up all night playing PlayStation, how will they get up in time for work? And if they don’t go to work, how will they pay their mortgage? 

The same pessimistic outlook will apply if you try to buy a home that is in any way ‘unusual’, or if it has a complication such as a contested boundary with neighbours or a right of residence for a third party. Here the thinking will be: if we ever have to repossess this home, will we be able to sell it and get our money back? And if the answer is not a simple ‘yes’, you can expect some pushback from the mortgage assessors. The bank might think John and Mary, with their strong income and consistent savings, are the cleanest case ever, but if they don’t like the look of the house they’ve decided to buy, they won’t be relaxing their rules, or taking a chance on anything, for John and Mary’s sake. Remember, the person assigned to assess your mortgage may one day have to explain their decision to his or her superior, so it is in their best interest to err on the side of caution. And with the average sized mortgage in Ireland now being well in excess of €300,000 – €319,187, to be precise — we are talking about large sums of money here, after all. No one wants to be the employee who signed off on a massive mortgage that was never paid back. 

This brings me to an important, often overlooked point: we think of the banks as large, impersonal, and intensely bureaucratic organisations, but at the end of the day banks are made up of ‘people’. This applies even to the largest ‘traditional’ banks, such as AIB and Bank of Ireland, each of which has thousands of employees, most of whom operate behind the scenes and out of sight. Put another way, all of Ireland’s mortgage lenders are staffed by human beings like you and me – people who have both good and (hopefully occasional) bad days at work. When speaking with clients, I sometimes use the National Car Test (NCT) as an analogy: much like a mortgage application, the NCT is a ‘minimum standards/criteria’ test. If you pass the right tests, and tick the right boxes, you will pass/be approved, and most of the time the assessors ‘want’ to see you leaving with a smile on your face (it makes their own day easier, if nothing else!). Every now and again, though, you will run into the wrong tester on the wrong day, and that person will decide to query something, or take a stand on something, that would have sailed through without issue the day before.

This is very frustrating from a mortgage broker’s point of view, as we can never quite be sure what the banks will ask us when we submit an application, but that’s just how the system works. Wherever human beings are involved, unpredictability will be present, and no amount of bank guidelines will ever make matters truly black and white. And this is why ‘Google it’ is not always good advice. I’m biased, of course, but in my view, when it comes to mortgage applications, the best way of being well-informed on anything but the most basic information is to speak with a broker! So, if you do have any mortgage questions, in relation to the above or just in general, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with Moneytree Finance today. 

Think Business by Naomi Fein

Growing up, I was part of an orienteering youth group, where I learned that when you’re unsure if you’re on the right track, the first thing to do is stop. Look around, identify landmarks, and climb the nearest hill to get a better viewpoint. Find yourself on the map and make sure you’re facing the right direction. Learning to read the map can make the difference between being lost and finding your way to the hot meal waiting at camp.

The same approach can help when navigating turbulent times as a business owner.

Many of us think of our businesses as machines. We expect them to follow a linear path from A to B to C. When progress stalls, we add more – more time, more resources, more software, more marketing – assuming more input will create more output. This way of thinking, rooted in the industrial revolution, has shaped how we understand and do business.

But what happens when, despite your best efforts, results don’t come? When long hours lead to stagnation or decline?

It may be time to pause and ask: Is there another way to understand change?

The Two Loops model, developed by Margaret Wheatley and Deborah Frieze of The Berkana Institute, is based on the idea that human systems – businesses, industries, ways of working – behave like living systems. They grow, peak, and eventually decline.

Unlike machines, living systems are not linear. As one system declines, another begins to emerge. As one way of working reaches its limits, new possibilities open elsewhere.

If you’re not seeing the results you want, it might be time to stop and ask questions like: Am I holding on to a mindset or practice that no longer serves me?; What else is happening in my field?; Are there new ways of thinking or new markets I could explore?; What can I learn from innovation outside the mainstream?; Are there tools or approaches that could save time or energy?; Where else might my expertise fit?

To bring this to life, here’s Rachel of Mix Coworking’s story.

Rachel of Mix Coworking in Clonakilty came to me feeling that, although things were progressing well, she was in the dark about managing seasonality spikes. Pleasing the customers, creating bespoke offers to fit every need, did not result in the level of commitment and monthly recurring revenue she hoped for. Instead, she was stretched and unsure which products were working. Rachel was wondering: “if I’m offering so much, why isn’t there more commitment?”

With my help, Rachel followed the steps, using the Two Loops Model as our guide, 

Stop: Rachel stopped and reflected. While the business was progressing well overall, seasonality spikes meant financial instability, managing many offers left her confused and tracking what works was difficult. 

Look back: Mapping her business onto the Two Loops Model, she considered what old beliefs and mindsets were guiding her. Like many business owners, she was focused on meeting every client’s need – giving more in the hope of stability. Rachel realised that she was paying a high price for trying to offer everything to everyone. She was ready for a change. 

Ask: where am I hoping to get to? To answer this, Rachel reconnected with why she first created Mix Coworking: “I wanted to create a place that helps people create and do their best work, build meaningful connections, and support their well-being”. Rachel also wanted to be more intentional with her own capacity and balance.

Look around: Together, we explored alternative operational approaches taking inspiration from the different places on the Two Loops Map. We found examples of businesses moving from a ‘buffet’ of options to a more focused offering – shifting from “what do you want?” to “what do you choose?” We also looked beyond business, exploring community-based practices that foster deeper connection and commitment.

Find your own path forward: Equipped with fresh clarity, Rachel engaged Mix’s Regulars, and guided by their input, she created three simple subscription plans that offered great value and prioritised her customers’ core needs. Rachel moved the sign-up process from email to the website, inviting her clients to show their commitment through a self-managed, direct debit subscription. 

Stay tuned: For Rachel, results came quickly. Her core members were happy to commit, and the Mix community feels energised. The self-managed subscription model led to more stability, predictability, and less admin. Rachel now feels more able to track what is working and better equipped to navigate the unknowns of business life.

This is the kind of work I do with clients – stepping back, making sense of what’s happening, and finding a way forward that fits both your business and your life. If that sounds useful, you’re welcome to book a free discovery call. In the coming months, I will also be running a leadership workshop, applying the Two Loops Model to your business. Email me to book your discovery call or to register your interest in the workshop Naomi@thinkvisual.ie. 

And if you’re curious about Mix Coworking, why not drop by next time you’re in Clonakilty or visit their website www.mixcoworking.ie. 

In February, I spoke at an event about this very stage in life, the sandwich generation. It is the period where you are supporting both the generation above you and the one below you at the same time. Afterwards, a few weeks later, a couple came to see me. Both in their forties. Two children in school. Both working hard. Parents beginning to need more support. They were not panicked. They were simply tired of carrying everything in their heads.

They described it as feeling responsible in two directions at once. Paying for school activities while helping organise medical appointments. Trying to build their own pension while quietly wondering what long-term care might look like for their parents. They had never paused to look at their full financial picture, and that pause is often what makes all the difference.

We are living longer. Many of us are having children later. Mortgages stretch further into our fifties and sixties. That overlap creates pressure, not dramatic pressure, but steady pressure.

And the financial questions begin to surface: Do your parents have a will? Do you know what an Enduring Power of Attorney is? If something happened to you, would your income be replaced? Are you building a pension that means your children will not have to support you later? What conversations have you avoided simply because they felt uncomfortable?

Most adults avoid these discussions. Not because they do not care, but because they feel heavy. It can feel intrusive to ask your parents about their finances. It can feel negative to talk about protection. It can feel overwhelming to review pensions when life is already busy.

But avoiding the conversation does not remove the need for it. It simply means decisions get made under pressure later.

During the question-and-answer session at the event, it became clear very quickly that many people were unsure about what supports even existed and what they were entitled to. There were questions about care options, about state supports, about what protection actually covers and what it does not. What stood out most was the relief in the room. Relief that other people were asking the same questions. Relief that it was okay not to have it all figured out.

At this stage of life, it is not about having everything perfectly organised. It is about having some structure. It is about knowing that if a bump appears in the road, you have something to fall back on. It is about having protections in place, understanding what your parents would want, and making sure your own income and future are not left exposed.

Protection is often framed as negative. I see it as an act of care. Life cover protects your family if you are not there. Income protection replaces your salary if illness or injury stops you working. Specified illness cover provides a lump sum on diagnosis of a serious condition. You hope you never need any of it, but it is far better to have it and not use it, than to need it and not have it.

The same applies to having a plan. It does not have to be perfect, and it can be amended along the way, but having something to work with will always help. Structure brings calm. Clarity reduces stress.

What I told the room in February is what I would say again now. Start with conversations. Have them with your partner so you are aligned. Have them gently with your parents while everyone is well. Even talk to your children in simple, age appropriate ways, so money is not a taboo subject in your home.

Then sit down with a financial advisor and connect the dots, because having a plan is better than having no plan. Knowing where you stand and what is in place gives you confidence, not just for today but for the years ahead.

When you are supporting both the generation above you and the one below you, the most powerful thing you can do is strengthen your own foundation first. From there, everything else feels steadier.

And perhaps the biggest comfort of all is realising that you are not alone in this stage of life. Many people are navigating the same quiet pressure. The difference is not who has it all figured out, but who is willing to start the conversation.

Halpin Wealth Management offers free consultations. Visit www.hwm.ie or email
info@hwm.ie to learn more.

After 12 years building a business supporting multinational, government, public, and private organisations to communicate and engage their stakeholders effectively – and over 30 years designing learning processes – I have now chosen to focus my energy locally with businesses in West Cork. I often find myself pulling out a blank page and drawing a simple diagram, as when my clients see their thinking process, penny-dropping moments come with ease. This is where the idea for a series of business articles came from. Over six issues, starting in March to coincide with Enterprise Week, I will introduce one visual model every month, sharing real-life examples, and offering practical questions that can be applied immediately. I encourage you to tear out the page or take a photo and return to it when needed.

The Hedgehog Concept – updated: Many local business owners have shared how they feel swamped by competing businesses and family needs. With rapid external influences such as AI, technological advancements, global instability, and communication overload, staying clear and focused is a daily challenge.

The Hedgehog Concept is Jim Collins’s model from his 2001 book ‘From Good to Great’. The hedgehog refers to the Ancient Greek poet Archilochus, who wrote “a fox knows many things, but a hedgehog knows one big thing”. Collins advises that businesses that want to survive must move away from being conspiring foxes who pursue many directions to be a razor-sharp hedgehog, finding their market niche, bringing together passion, skills, and economic power. 

However, the world of business has changed significantly in the past 25 years; in today’s reality, many businesses must juggle a few ventures to survive. The model is still beneficial if we hold complexity and focus as the yin and yang of business and life. It can help us find a dynamic focus, a compass that brings clarity and helps us make strategic decisions.

 The model is a Venn diagram with three circles: 1) Passion; 2) What we’re good at; and 3) What generates money. The overlapping centre – the hedgehog, represents our life and business compass.

The following are two examples that illustrate how this model can be used:

Example 1 – applying the model with your team: A few years ago, at our annual ‘Rethink Think Visual’ offsite, we drew the three circles on a large whiteboard. First, focusing on Passion and Good At, we pulled out clients testimonials, shared stories, and mapped our individual and collective perspectives. Second, we added the Money generated from each client to the diagram. 

The clients’ names spread over the diagram. The process revealed the clients who sat in the centre – clients that were aligned to our values, who paid well for work we loved and were excellent at. Those clients became our compass.

The clarity didn’t lead to dramatic change overnight. It showed up in small decisions: which projects we declined, how we rewrote our website messaging, and where we focused our energy. Over time, those small shifts strengthened both our confidence and our income.

Example 2: Making your personal story make sense: I’ve recently used this model with a client who, like many creative entrepreneurs, found herself juggling not one but four ventures. Instead of asking what to drop, we used the model to reframe her story, asking similar questions adjusted to an early business stage.

Passion: What are you truly passionate about? What can’t and won’t you stop doing?

Good at: Where have mentors, friends, or clients named your brilliance? What feels effortless to you but difficult to others?

Money: Which work generates money? Which doesn’t? Which clients value and respect your work? Which part of your work has higher potential to make money?

The outcome wasn’t a drastic cut. It was a clear sentence – a way of describing her core direction. It helped her shift her story from a woman standing at foggy crossroads into a heroine carrying her many gifts in her rucksack, her north star guiding her forward.

Adding a fourth circle

Inspired by the Japanese concept of Ikigai, you can choose to expand the reflection and include a fourth circle: 4) What the world needs.

This fourth circle allows us to connect to the bigger picture, asking questions like: What change do you care about? What values guide your work? What do you believe is needed right now?

Applying the Hedgehog Concept to your business

Scan the QR code to download a printable version or draw three (or four as shown) overlapping circles on a sheet of paper. Use the questions above. Write freely. Add client names, offers, and projects. Notice patterns and tensions. 

Use this model to navigate your life and business toward the centre of the circles, but remember the goal is not about getting there. It’s a dynamic map. Passion shifts. Markets change. Life evolves. The model is not a destination; it’s a compass. Reaching the centre can take years. 

If you feel overwhelmed, unsure where to focus, or unclear about how to communicate what you really offer, this exercise can help you reconnect to your core.

Do you have a business challenge that you wish had a simple visual diagram you could apply? Have a comment, question, or thought? I’d be happy to hear from you.

Naomi Fein is based in Clonakilty and works one-to-one with business owners, as well as hosting ‘Her Circle’ coaching groups for women in business across West Cork.
naomi@thinkvisual.ie.