Property Investment | Company vs Personal Name Debate

Do you have surplus cash sitting in your company? If so what's the smart move - pay it out to yourself to buy property in your personal name, or keep it in the company and invest from inside, or route it through your pension? This is one of the most common questions I get from my coaching clients - the contractors, business owners and entrepreneurs who joined my Accelerator. LEARN MORE: https://epa-learn-more.scoreapp.com/ In this video, I walk through all 3 options in detail - the tax implications of each route, the asset protection risks and the structural decisions that will either protect or expose you when things go wrong - the stuff that could cost you a fortune later and the holding company setup that protects your assets no matter what happens to your trading business. In this video we discuss: ✅ In tax leakage on taking €100K out of your company ✅ The pension route - why it's the most tax-efficient option that many people overlook ✅ How to buy property with a company without putting your business assets at risk ✅ How a holding company structure keeps your properties separate and protected ✅ Why mixing property and trading income can damage your exit strategy ✅ The personal guarantee trap and lessons from the 2008 crash ✅ Real client examples from my Accelerator programme ✅ When personal ownership is actually the right answer — and who it suits The decision you make today on structure will follow you for years. Get it wrong and you could be handing the banks — or the Revenue — the keys to everything you've built. CHAPTERS 00:00 What should you do with surplus cash in your company? 00:48 Visiting Costa Coffee in Shankill 01:12 The core decision: company vs personal name 02:32 Thinking long-term: income now vs accumulation over time 03:04 The three options: personal, company, pension plus the tax breakdown 03:57 Tax breakdown — what €100K actually looks like in each scenario 05:00 Pension as forced savings discipline — who it suits 05:10 Dunnes Stores and Cornelscourt Hill in South Dublin 06:01 Visiting a residential refurbishment project in South Dublin 06:29 Why bungalows are surging in popularity 07:25 Recap of options — driving to East Point Business Park 08:27 The holding company structure explained 09:49 Asset protection: why property in a trading company is a liability 11:00 The shares and staff problem — a real coaching client story 12:01 Exit strategy: how structure affects your retirement plan 13:25 Quick East Point office tour and recap 14:45 Who should buy in their personal name (and why) 15:35 Company vs personal: the 25% vs 52% tax comparison 16:32 Growing a portfolio inside a pension — the compounding argument 17:33 Flexibility vs efficiency: why goal clarity matters most 18:14 The 2008 lesson: tax advice vs legal protection 20:24 Personal guarantees, limited liability, and what companies are for 21:28 Video wrap-up Buy me a coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/gavinjgallagher Follow me on Instagram:   / gavinjgallagher