Contributing to two pensions

[laragh]

I am paying superannuation payments as part of my civil service defined benefit scheme.
Since I was a late starter in the civil service I am also buying notional service to ensure that I have adequate years at 65 to retire with full pensions rights (lump sum & annual pension).
I have just started to do a bit of farming so I will have another source of income apart from my salary (although not for a couple of years as I'll probably be in loss making territory for a year or two).
Before I joined the civil service I was paying into a private pension (with Eagle Star) but when I got the civil service job I was advised to stop paying into this and it was made 'paid-up'
I am not sure where my level of contributions from my civil service pension fit in in the pension tax relief bands so I may be missing out on the opportunity to avail of tax relief.

Can I use my farming income to make pension contributions and use my full tax relief on my overall contributions?
Is it possible to restart my Eagle Star pension for this purpose?
On retirement will I be able to avail of the two pensions seperately i.e. take a tax free lump sum from each and an annual pension from each?

 

[LDFerguson]

Your farming income is separate from your Civil Service income. When you start earning taxable income from it, you can re-start contributions to your Eagle Star Personal Pension in respect of the farming income. Make sure that the charges on the Eagle Star pension are competitive before deciding to resurrect it, rather than starting something new.

If you're not availing of the full pension allowances in respect of your personal contributions to the Civil Service scheme and are already purchasing maximum Notional Service years, your only option there is to contribute AVCs or start an AVC PRSA.

When you retire, you can draw your benefits from your Personal Pension(s) separately from your Civil Service pension, but any AVCs or AVC PRSAs must be withdrawn at the same time as the Civil Service pension.