old age (contributory) pension v. retirement pension

does anyone know what the difference is between the above two prsi benefits? i've (briefly) looked through govenment welfare web site without finding anything obvious; the description of what you currently get is listed under the title "old age (contributory)/retirement pension" which seems to suggest that they provide the same benefits. why are they listed as separate benefits under the list of class A prsi benefits? does a class S contributor effectively get the same pension benefit as a class A contributor? i was under the impression that you got little or nothing under class S.

The old age contributory pension kicks in at 66 and is available to you so long as you have enough prsi stamps from your working life.

The retirement pension is paid at age 65 but only to 'employees'. i.e. self employed, company directors etc. do not receive the retirement pension, they must wait until 66 for the contributory old age pension.

Dev.

Lots more info available on the and DSFA websites.

cheers clubman. the oasis site answered all my questions. i had only browsed the welfare.ie site.

actually i have another question; one difference that i noticed is that the "retirement pension" explicitly states that the entitlement is not considered taxable. is this the fundamental difference between the two in terms of benefits?

Can you link to where it says this please?

You're right - the pension which people contribute to, based on the higher PRSI payments, is not means tested while the other one (I'm not sure what it's called) is a basic pension for those without other income. It is means tested.

In the case of the first, you could have a substantial privately funded pension, yet still be eligible for the state pension and it wouldn't be means tested. Hope that's not too confusing.

That's where civil and public servants lost out in a way. They did not get the state non means tested pension because they only paid the lower rate of PRSI and had no option on this. Of course their pensions were/are index linked so maybe it balances out. In recent years, AFAIK, State employees now pay full PRSI.

8)

the other one (I'm not sure what it's called) is a basic pension for those without other income. It is means tested.

Old age (non contributory) pension.

Before this topic I was never aware that there were two contributory pensions - viz. the old age (contributory) pension and the retirement pension which are subtly different.

Can you link to where it says this please?

Click to expand...

eh.... no actually. i can't find it now. i must have dreamt it.

sherib, i was talking about the old age contributory pension which is different to the regular (non-contributory) old age pension. the former isn't means tested and is an entitlement to class s contributors. the non-contributory (regular) old age pension is means tested.

i'm trying to find out what are the subtle differences between the old age contributory pension and the retirement pension (which is contributory too).

class a prsi contributors for example are entitled to both but can only claim the old age contributory pension at 66 while they may get the retirement pension earlier. from what i read, such beneficiaries can switch to the contributory old age pension when they become entitled to it (age 66) but i dunno why you'd want to do this.

i'm trying to find out what are the subtle differences between the old age contributory pension and the retirement pension (which is contributory too).

Presumably all the details you need are in here so?