- Tuesday 09 September 2025
"What should I do if I’ve been made redundant?"
"How do I know if my redundancy package is correct?"
"Should I take a higher redundancy payment or keep my pension lump sum?"
"Can I afford to retire early or earn less after redundancy?"
These are the questions that can keep executives awake at night when redundancy arrives. They are typed into Google, whispered to friends, or even asked of AI models. Redundancy can feel like the end of the road. Years of hard work, good salaries, and complex benefits suddenly give way to confusion, worry, and doubt. For many, the fear is not just about losing a role but about what comes next: financial stability, retirement timing, and lifestyle choices all hang in the balance.
In Ireland’s tech sector, the stakes are even higher. Senior executives often earn substantial salaries, hold valuable stock options, and can receive detailed redundancy packages that are difficult to fully understand. A small miscalculation can mean tens of thousands of euros lost. Without the right guidance, individuals risk making decisions that affect their immediate payout and long-term financial freedom.
This is where Curran Futures steps in. With specialised expertise in the tech, medtech and life science industries, we help turn uncertainty into clarity. Our role is not only to check the fine print of redundancy offers but also to model long-term scenarios: what happens if you accept a bigger cheque today but lose pension flexibility tomorrow? How would your financial future change if you stepped into a lower-paid role rather than chasing another high-pressure position? What level of income is truly enough for the lifestyle you want?
Michael’s story illustrates how powerful this process can be. After many years in a senior role with a multinational MedTech firm in Galway, he faced redundancy with a package that looked generous on the surface. Yet he suspected errors in the ex-gratia calculations and worried about whether his financial future was secure. By working with Curran Futures, Michael recovered lost value in his compensation package, gained clarity on his pension options, and realised he didn’t need to replace his old six-figure salary.
Case Study Q&A: Redundancy, Retirement, and Finding Balance
Q: What was Michael’s situation when he came to Curran Futures?
Michael had spent many years in a senior role with a multinational Medtech firm in Galway, earning around €150,000 per year. When restructuring led to his role being made redundant, the company offered a package worth just over €200,000.
While the process appeared legitimate, Michael wasn’t convinced all the calculations were correct, after all, how can one tell if your company has calculated your redundancy correct when you have never dealt with it before? He also faced bigger questions: Should he accept a slightly higher redundancy payment by waiving his pension’s tax-free lump sum and, more importantly, what difference was this redundancy going to make to his financial future?
Q: What were the key issues that need to be addressed when you receive your redundancy offer?
Several moving parts required careful attention:
- Ensuring accuracy in the redundancy calculations:
- The Payment in Lieu of Notice (PILON) seemed off by several months’ salary.
- Ex gratia entitlement and SCSB:
- Should Michael trade away a €200,000+ pension lump sum for a redundancy payout that was about €30,000 higher?
- Cashflow planning:
- Could he retire successfully if he took a lower-paid job in the future, or would he need to replace his full €150,000 salary?
- Pension transition:
- His occupational pension, valued at over €900,000, needed to be moved into a plan in his own name.
Q: How Curran Futures approach these challenges?
We reviewed the redundancy figures in detail. Our follow-up uncovered that the company’s PILON calculation had left out some elements of his contract. After clarification, Michael secured an additional €25,000, bringing his total package closer to €225,000.
The next step was to run detailed cashflow modelling. We tested different scenarios: waiving the pension lump sum versus keeping it, full salary replacement versus partial income, and the timing of accessing pension benefits.
Q: What did the analysis reveal?
The modelling gave three clear insights:
- Keep the pension lump sum. Although SCSB would have added €30,000 to his redundancy package, the long-term cost was losing flexibility on his pension. The tax-free lump sum of over €200,000 was more valuable in the long run.
- Lower income was enough. Michael didn’t need another €150,000 role. The modelling showed that earning just €90,000 (60% of his previous salary) would still allow him to comfortably meet his retirement goals.
- Redundancy created freedom. Knowing he was secure, Michael had the option to choose a role that suited his lifestyle instead of chasing the biggest paycheque.
Q: What was the final outcome for Michael?
In the short term, Michael opted not to waive his pension lump sum. And a few months later, he accepted a role paying closer to €90,000. The reduced salary was more than enough to keep his retirement plan on track, while also giving him the better work/life balance he had long wanted. What began as a stressful redundancy turned into an opportunity for both financial security and personal freedom.
Q: What can others learn from his experience?
Check your redundancy package carefully
- In Michael’s case, catching errors added €25,000 to his payout
Model long-term trade-offs.
- A bigger redundancy cheque today may not be worth losing future pension flexibility.
Don’t assume you need to replace your full salary.
- For Michael, 60% of his old income was enough.
See redundancy as an opportunity.
- With the right plan, it can mark the beginning of a more balanced chapter in life.
Synopsis
The Irish tech landscape is constantly evolving and in recent times the word “redundancy” has been making more frequent appearances. Facing redundancy is never easy, and the decisions you make at this point can shape your financial future for decades. Questions like “how do I know my redundancy offer is correct?”, “should I take my pension lump sum or SCSB redundancy option?”, or “can I afford to retire after redundancy?” cannot be answered with guesswork.
Every contract, pension, and tax-free entitlement has layers of complexity that, if overlooked, can cost thousands. That is why seeking expert professional guidance from a specialist is so important. With expertise in redundancy advice, pension planning, and cashflow modelling, Curran Futures can help clarify redundancy calculations, understand the trade-offs between ex-gratia payments and pension lump sums, and build a clear retirement plan that balances lifestyle with long-term security.
Instead of viewing redundancy as the end, the right advice turns it into a strategic reset, one that provides confidence, financial freedom, and peace of mind for the years ahead.
If you’re facing redundancy and are unsure where to start, let’s have a conversation.
