Limited Service

[ReviveActive19]

Hi all, apologies if this has been asked already.
I worked for 7 years in the public sector and have just recently left for the private sector. I am currently funding into a PRSA. I'm finding it very difficult to figure out what those years of contributions will mean to me when it comes to retirement, can anyone shed any light, or point me in the direction of further information?

Thanks in advance.

 

[mathepac]

Keep details of your years of service, start and finish dates, and contributions paid as detailed on payslips, P60s, etc. You may well be entitled to a reduced pro-rata pension once you reach pensionable age.

Get the address of the pensions office for the public sector you were employed by - the sector I was in has its own administered by the payroll dept.

 

[Ruffian]

I worked for 7 years in the public sector and have just recently left for the private sector.

So you must have been in the Single Pension Scheme. There is an outline of how benefits are calculated on P16 of the Single Scheme Booklet (https://singlepensionscheme.gov.ie/...22/11/Updated-Member-Booklet_ENG-NOV-2022.pdf)

You can try a rough and ready reckon of your pension benefits (payable at normal retirement, ie, State Pension age) if you work out what your average pensionable salary in today's terms was over the 7 year period (I assume you were full time).
Lets say your salary ranged between 52k and 57k and averaged at 55k over the 7 years. Then the crude estimation would be (55,000 * 7/80) - (15043 * 7/40) = 4812 - 2623 = €2189 pa (adjusted for cost of living). The €15,043 in the calculation is the current State Pension rate.
But this is very rough and tends to break down for salaries towards the low end of the PS scales. Better to use the guide in the booklet - or try the estimator tool (https://singlepensionscheme.gov.ie/news_item/single-scheme-members-estimator-tool-published/).

You would, of course, have also built up 7 years of PRSI to go towards the State Pension.

 

[ReviveActive19]

Many thanks for the responses.
Just wondering @Ruffian , why do you take the 3/40ths of the state pension on that calculation?

 

[CharlieMac]

@ReviveActive19
Do you have your most recent Single Pension Scheme Statement of Benefits? They are sent out every year. The 2024 statement might be posted out next month or in May. You could probably call them up and ask for an up to date statement.

 

[Ruffian]

why do you take the 3/40ths of the state pension on that calculation?

Just to repeat that this is a home-made ready reckoner.
With that and previous caveats in mind, I subtracted 7/40 of the state pension in the calculation to reflect your 7 years of service (and 7 years PRSI going towards the State Pension). If you had 40 years of service I would have subtracted the full state pension (40/40).
40 years service in the Single Scheme should roughly yield a pension income at State Pension age of 40/80 of average lifetime earnings. This is inclusive of the State Pension. So the Occupational Pension is roughly that 40/80 - State Pension.

PS. This doesn't take account of the lump sum amount.