Case study Have I enough to retire now ?

Yes, and then it was repealed in 2020.


65 year olds can claim jobseekers benefit without having to seek a job. It's <€2k difference for one year of your life.

Oh that's brilliant, I'd been worried about the flipflopping but thanks to you I'm completely reassured and will now burn the money I've set aside and live off the COAP or this guaranteed job seekers payment from 65.
 

It's not a zero sum game where we can magically fund pension liabilities forever. We have as the cliche goes, kicked the can down the road but eventually it's going to have to be faced up to.

If you 'don't touch pensions', then you must either:
  1. increase the tax take to cover the ever-increasing cost of same (as the dependency ratio goes up and up and up) or\and
  2. reduce spending on other areas (which basically equates to screwing over younger people in favour of older ones) or\and
  3. implement actual meaningful contributions over the working lives of those who will receive the OAP. And 4% PRSI isn't it...
 
We have as the cliche goes, kicked the can down the road but eventually it's going to have to be faced up to.
It's a bit like climate change alarmism. There will never be a day when everyone wakes up and it's too hot or the country has gone bankrupt.

Changes will have to be made gradually and it will be tweaks here and there not anything dramatic.

Will the SPC be as generous in real terms when I claim it in a few decades? Probably not.

Will it be radically less or fully means tested? No.