Contributory Old Age Pension-

Hi, I need some advice please. I’m a public servant pre 1995 D PRSI and at 60 I can retire with 30 years service under the D PRSI (I won’t have my full years of service). I have some years done in the private sector also.

I have 103 Irish contributions A class pre joining the public sector . I was told I needed 260 Irish contributions at least (and then I was told 520 A contributions necessary ) to be eligible for State Contributory Pension. I’ve also 230 contributions from abroad.

Prior to retiring aged 60 can I change from class D to A and work part time 3 years to bring me up to 260 minimum Irish A class? I’d also then be able to add 230 contributions from abroad bringing my total over 520.

Can somebody please clarify - is that to receive a full contributory pension or a pro rata state contributory pension ? I was told by somebody this modified and full rate PRSI D and A can be combined to get full State Contributory Pension .

I was also advised to invest as much as possible into AVC because I’m short service in public sector and tax efficient way to plan ahead .

niamh5152 said:

I’d also then be able to add 230 contributions

Click to expand...

Are these from the UK? If so you might be better off making voluntary UK NICs. See https://www.askaboutmoney.com/threa...or-uk-pension-on-top-of-irish-pension.230581/

niamh5152 said:

Prior to retiring aged 60 can I change from class D to A and work part time 3 years to bring me up to 260 minimum Irish A class?

Click to expand...

You can’t just voluntarily do this, no as a pre-1995 PS employee. If you are something like a physio or nurse you could resign HSE employment and take up equivalent work in the private sector. But you’d need to weigh up this option carefully.

Dr Strangelove said:

Are these from the UK? If so you might be better off making voluntary UK NICs. See https://www.askaboutmoney.com/threa...or-uk-pension-on-top-of-irish-pension.230581/


You can’t just voluntarily do this, no as a pre-1995 PS employee. If you are something like a physio or nurse you could resign HSE employment and take up equivalent work in the private sector. But you’d need to weigh up this option carefully.

Click to expand...

I was advised by a pension advisor this is exactly what I can do and should do given my circumstances. I was told 3 months prior to retiring aged 60 to advise my employer re intention to change from D to A prsi . Once actually retire I think it’s more complicated .

niamh5152 said:

I was told by somebody this modified and full rate PRSI D and A can be combined to get full State Contributory Pension .

Click to expand...

I have never heard of this - perhaps historic, or if someone had predominantly A Class A PRSI record?

You can get a pro-rata State Pension with Class D and Class A if you have a minimum of 256 Class A contributions.

However, it is also possible to get a pro rata pension State Pension by combining Irish Class A contributions with contributions from a bilateral country (list here: https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/4...contributory/#qualifying-conditions-in-detail). I guess that both pro rata systems can be combined in some way but I have no idea how this works. I suggest arranging a visit to your nearest Citizens Information Centre.

niamh5152 said:

I was advised by a pension advisor this is exactly what I can do and should do given my circumstances. I was told 3 months prior to retiring aged 60 to advise my employer re intention to change from D to A prsi . Once actually retire I think it’s more complicated .

Click to expand...

That seems strange. I can't see how it could be done without exiting you existing Class D pension scheme.
There is no difficulty doing it after retiring. Thousands Of Class Ds have taken up Class A employment (full or part time) after retirement.

I would certainly look into the AVCs. With 30 years service you should get a tax free lump sum at retirement of 90/120 of pensionable salary/allowances from your pension scheme. You could use an AVC fund to get a further 30/120 tax free (that is the max allowed by Revenue). I would at least pay enough into an AVC for this.

niamh5152 said:

I was also advised to invest as much as possible into AVC because I’m short service in public sector and tax efficient way to plan ahead .

Click to expand...

Follow this advice.

Try to get enough into your AVCs to maximize your extra possible tax free lump sum and leave enough to set up an ARF.

Drawdown 5000 euro per year from the ARF and you will gain 52 reckonable class S stamps per year. You can do this up to age 70. These can be used to reach your target of 260 or 520 full rate paid stamps.

Also aim to get one class A stamp from employment immediately after you retire from PS. This will get you 2 years of reckonable change of status credits.

No need to complicate things by trying to change to PS class A.

Read this thread for more information.

niamh5152 said:

I was told 3 months prior to retiring aged 60 to advise my employer re intention to change from D to A prsi .

Click to expand...

Who is your employer?

Pre- and post-95 public servants are on different pay scales due to the differential PRSI treatment.

I don’t think you could switch.