More than 760,000 workers who are eligible for auto-enrolment will see an average of €15 per week deducted from their take-home.
A worker on an average wage of €52,200 will see about €15 a week deducted from their pay to fund the new My Future Fund pension.
Over a year, this amounts to around €783 from take-home pay, according to calculations by insurance broker and financial services specialist Gallagher.
The worker contribution will be boosted by a similar payment from their employer.
The State contributes €1 for every €3 put in by the employee.
The advice comes as it emerged that more than 5,000 employees have opted to voluntarily enrol into the new My Future Fund pension in its first month.
These employees are outside the age and income criteria for automatic enrolment.
Every worker earning more than €20,000, aged between 23 and 60 and not already a member of a workplace pension scheme, will be automatically enrolled in My Future Fund.
Workers who are taken aback by the deduction from their pay packet have been advised to avoid knee-jerk reactions that might see them lose out on the benefits of the scheme.
Gallagher reminded workers who feel they cannot afford the contributions to My Future Fund that they can still opt out of the scheme if they wish.
But it said any decision to do so should not be taken lightly.
Financial services spokesperson for Gallagher Teresa Bruen said: “For many of the 760,000 workers signed up to auto-enrolment this month, this could be the first time they have ever saved into a pension.
“The initial employee contributions – at 1.5pc of gross salary – are relatively small. At that rate, a worker on the average wage of €52,19 will see about €783 deducted from their annual pay, or about €15 a week.”
She said that some workers, particularly those on a low wage, may feel that they simply cannot afford to pay into the new scheme.
However, for those workers, My Future Fund could be their only opportunity to save into a pension scheme and to build up a pension pot for their retirement years, Ms Bruen said.
She said for these workers the scheme is likely to prove most valuable.
“Furthermore, they will get the benefit of matching employer contributions and a top-up contribution from the state at a rate of €1 for every €3 paid in.”
For part-time workers, auto-enrolment could prove invaluable, she said.
Part-time workers who are not already paying into a company pension scheme and don’t earn enough to be automatically enrolled can voluntarily opt-in to the scheme.
Gallagher said employees will be able to opt-out of the scheme during the opt-out window which is between six months and eight months of the date they were automatically enrolled.
In availing of the opt-out window, employees will be refunded their own contributions since enrolment but the employer or state contributions will remain for their benefit in the fund.
If employees leave the plan or suspend contributions, they will be automatically re-enrolled after two years if still eligible for the scheme.