Possible move from private to public sector - worth it?

starfish2

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I may have the opportunity to move from my private sector permanent job to a civil service job. In my private sector job I earn €75k per year with no contributory pension scheme. I opened a PRSA six months ago and am making my own contributions of €650 per month. The public sector job grade is €66,495-€82,300. I would have to start at the lower end so would be taking a pay cut. I am 47 and roughly planning to retire at 68..

My questions would be

  • For the public sector job, how much are the ‘employer’ contributions worth as a % of salary? Just trying to figure out if that would compensate to some extent to the salary cut if I took the public sector job

  • In general, would I be better off sticking with my private sector job with it’s higher salary and building up my PRSA, albeit with no employer contributions? I would have the flexibility to make AVCs to make up any shortfall, not sure if that option exists for public sector scheme.
 
In the PS, the pension scheme is unfunded, so there aren't any specific employer contributions.

The taxpayers of Ireland promise to pay your benefit in the future, but there isn't any fund to back it up.
 
At that grade flexi time probably isn't allowed. Just worth bearing in mind the public sector can be very inflexible.
 
OP re your original question re pensions I've no idea but would be interested in knowing myself!

FYI newly appointed APs cannot avail of flexi leave but a lot of Departments now let the APs start and finish work at the same times as staff on flexi time, which is a great help.
 
As a new entrant you will have career averaged pension
You will also only have 20 years paid service if you work till 68.
Take 70,000 as your career average pension.
If you worked 40 years you would receive approx 35k pension.
With 20 years you receive approx 17500.
However the contributory pension is included in this calculation. This is approx 12600 at current rates . So your 20 years would ve worth approx 4800 a year on top

This doesn't take into account the lump sum and is approximate but I've included to illustrate that the civil service while having many benefits is not a gold plated option these days for new entrants.
 
As a new entrant you will have career averaged pension
You will also only have 20 years paid service if you work till 68.
Take 70,000 as your career average pension.
If you worked 40 years you would receive approx 35k pension.
With 20 years you receive approx 17500.
However the contributory pension is included in this calculation. This is approx 12600 at current rates . So your 20 years would ve worth approx 4800 a year on top

This doesn't take into account the lump sum and is approximate but I've included to illustrate that the civil service while having many benefits is not a gold plated option these days for new entrants.

New entrants will be paying full A rate PRSI and contributions of 10-15% per cent of salary for twenty years (including the additional superannuation contribution) . The gold plate has become rather tarnished in recent years!!
 
Not to mention the compulsory spouse and children contributions including for those of us with no spouse and no children :mad::mad:

The post 2013 scheme is really not a great deal at all - and with some people working until 70 now, it's possible you might be paying in contributions greatly in excess of the 40 years of contributions required e.g. 45 years+, but still only receive the same benefit as somebody who has only paid 40 years of contributions.
OP, do not let the public service pension scheme be an incentive in your decision imo
 
As a new entrant you will have career averaged pension
You will also only have 20 years paid service if you work till 68.
Take 70,000 as your career average pension.
If you worked 40 years you would receive approx 35k pension.
With 20 years you receive approx 17500.
However the contributory pension is included in this calculation. This is approx 12600 at current rates . So your 20 years would ve worth approx 4800 a year on top
The contributory pension offset is also pro-rated to service so the 20 year pension on your numbers would be (35000-12600)*20/40=11,200 and not (35000*20/40)-12600=4,900.
 
Having worked primarily for mncs and then a brief stint in a semi state, I would urge you to consider the culture difference as well as any financial or career impacts. I found it an entirety different experience, lacking diversity, full of big egos and lack of any impetus for change even if change meant improvement. It was too much of a difference for me. I also found that although they promote themselves as family and w/l balance friendly, the opposite is true in terms of remote working, flexibility around office hours etc. Just one anecdotal experience but it was amazing to me the difference.
 
Having worked primarily for mncs and then a brief stint in a semi state, I would urge you to consider the culture difference as well as any financial or career impacts. I found it an entirety different experience, lacking diversity, full of big egos and lack of any impetus for change even if change meant improvement. It was too much of a difference for me. I also found that although they promote themselves as family and w/l balance friendly, the opposite is true in terms of remote working, flexibility around office hours etc. Just one anecdotal experience but it was amazing to me the difference.

Absolutely Misemoi a culture shock moving from private to public/civil service, since 2013 with emergence of single pension scheme the lucrativeness has diminished, coupled with the dynamics of the employer, reluctance for change, circle the wagons mentality (just a flick through the recent disclosures tribunal), inflexibility around working patterns/hours, however, good luck with your move
 
Much civil service work is well suited for teleworking.

Unfortunately it's not vaguely set up for it. Management just sees the costs: more IT support and scope for slacking off, and none of the benefits.
 
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