{"id":134300,"date":"2025-10-20T16:58:17","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T16:58:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/134300\/"},"modified":"2025-10-20T16:58:17","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T16:58:17","slug":"we-teach-youngsters-pythagorean-theorem-but-not-how-to-read-payslips-financial-mentor-on-how-to-deal-with-tax-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/134300\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We teach youngsters Pythagorean Theorem, but not how to read payslips\u2019 \u2013 Financial mentor on how to deal with tax season"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Emer Kirwan of Jigsaw Business Solutions in Wexford says, these people are not \u201cirresponsible\u201d. They haven’t done anything \u201cwrong\u201d. It\u2019s just that they\u2019ve \u201cnever been shown how to manage money properly\u201d.<\/p>\n

Emer feels that it\u2019s a societal problem and one that should be looked at in the context of our education system.<\/p>\n

“We try to teach young people the Pythagorean Theorem, which I still don\u2019t understand, but not how to read a payslip,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

“We hand self-employed people a Form 11 and a tax deadline, but no road map or set of instructions.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a chartered accountant with over 30 years experience, Emer now works as a “financial mentor\u201d, supporting people and small businesses who feel overwhelmed by their finances. <\/p>\n

\"Emer<\/p>\n

Emer Kirwan.<\/p>\n

“I hear the same things every day,\u201d she says. \u201cPeople tell me \u2018oh, I\u2019d be mortified to show you my accounts\u2019 and \u2018I have no idea what I\u2019m doing\u2019 or an actual recent quote \u2013 \u2018I would rather go for a smear test than look at my tax returns\u2019.<\/p>\n

“Behind the humour, there is real fear, shame and confusion, not just around tax, but around budgeting, pricing, saving, retirement and how to plan when you don\u2019t know where to start.\u201d<\/p>\n

Again it comes back to school for Emer.c<\/p>\n

“Our tax system is complex, and we should definitely engage a professional, but we should also educate ourselves around the basics. This is not really a story about tax \u2013 it\u2019s about life skills. The ones we should all have been taught but weren\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Filing<\/p>\n

Filing tax returns. Stock image<\/p>\n

News in 90 Seconds – October 20th<\/p>\n

Seeing this shortfall, Emer has built a system to develop financial clarity without jargon or shame.<\/p>\n

“This is not about pretending it is simple, it is not,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd in most cases, engaging a professional is not just helpful, it is essential.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut that does not mean people should be left in the dark. We need to be doing more to help individuals, especially sole traders and small business owners, understand the basics \u2013 what they are responsible for; what they can claim; what is coming down the road.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot in a language they do not understand. Not in fear. But in language they can relate to, and act on.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause right now, far too many people are operating in the dark, afraid to ask, and quietly hoping they have done it right.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As Emer Kirwan of Jigsaw Business Solutions in Wexford says, these people are not \u201cirresponsible\u201d. They haven’t done…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":134301,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[79,18,19,17,7583],"class_list":{"0":"post-134300","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-eire","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-padraig-byrne"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134300"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134300\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/134301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}