Pre 2004 Early retirement question ARF?

W

Weleda

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Hi,
I am hoping to take early retirement in 4 years time at 58. I joined the PS in 2000, but had 6 years previous service in the pre 95 scheme which I had cashed in at the time of leaving as I was going abroad. When I returned to a different job in the PS I purchased this service back. I will have total service of 35 years (including the buy back) at age 58. However, I will only have c.1700 PRSI contributions.

Should I purchase an AVC now to transfer to an ARF so that I can draw down to continue to make PRSI contributions up to 66 or am I as well off purchasing voluntary contributions? Also, will I be entitled to claim supplementary pension between 58 and 66 if I don't have the 2080 contributions?

Any advice would be gratefully received as I really do not understand much about pensions...

Thanks

Weleda
 
Weleda said:
but had 6 years previous service in the pre 95 scheme which I had cashed in at the time of leaving as I was going abroad.
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I never heard of this. Was it a semi-state or public service?

Did you work in the UK? It would make sense to make voluntary national insurance contributions.
 
Assuming that when you retire at age 58, you will be claiming Jobseekers benefit for nine months before you are allowed to claim supplementary pension.

You could continue to sign on for Jobseekers credits up to age 66.
This could gain you up to 8 years of reckonable Prsi.
Up to 520 credits are reckonable for the Contributory pension.
You probably have some pre entry credits already.

This could bring your total contributions up to about 2116.
This would allow you to qualify for the full contributury pension at age 66.

This plan would cost you nothing.

You probably don't need any additional voluntary contributions or class S from an ARF.

It might still be beneficial for you to make AVCs. These could be used to maximise your revenue allowable tax free pension lump sum.

Any surplus AVCs remaining after maximising your lump sum could then be used to purchase an ARF or annuity to increase your retirement income.

Read this thread for more information.

Key Post - PRSI and planning retirement

This Key Post is in the form of a FAQ where I don't know many of the answers. I will update the post as I get answers. 1. PRSI payable on reaching state pension age Answer: 0 (Class M) 1a. Does this relate to the start of the tax year in which you become 66? Or to after your birthday? Answer...
www.askaboutmoney.com
 
S class said:
Assuming that when you retire at age 58, you will be claiming Jobseekers benefit for nine months before you are allowed to claim supplementary pension.
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My understanding is that you can't claim supplementary pension until you reach 60 (well 60 and 9 months after claiming jobseekers benefit)
 
Weleda could claim their entitlement to Jobseekers Benefit at age 58.
Presumably 9 months.
Then at age 60 they could apply for supplementary pension.
Presumably they would immediately qualify for supplementary pension because they have already exhausted all Social Protection entitlements.
 
S class said:
Weleda could claim their entitlement to Jobseekers Benefit at age 58.
Presumably 9 months.
Then at age 60 they could apply for supplementary pension.
Presumably they would immediately qualify for supplementary pension because they have already exhausted all Social Protection entitlements.
Click to expand...
Oh that's interesting, I didn't think you could claim JB if you voluntarily quit (retire). So therefore pre-2004 PS workers could retire at 59 years and 3 months then claim JB (may be enhanced by that stage) and then supplementary at 60?
 
I don't know the rules for the pre 2004 PS pension system.

In general anybody can retire and claim JB provided they have the required prsi contributions.

If the pre 2004 worker quits at age 60 they are expected to claim JB before qualifying for supplementtary pension.

There is no difference in the rules for a person age 60 or below 60 regarding claiming JB.

So it would be age discrimination to refuse JB to the under 60 pre 2004 PS worker.

If it is deemed that any worker has ceased employment without an acceptable reason, their JB claim can be refused for the first 9 weeks. This applies to a worker of any age.

It is therefore wise not to mearly state that you retired.

A better approach would be to state that you ceased employment due to workplace stress, health reasons or maybe because you needed a change of career.
 
Thank you for the feedback, this is really helpful and has given me more food for thought... just to clarify, I can sign on for jobseekers credits between 60 and 66 even while receiving the supplementary pension? This is something I would not have considered, so thanks for the info...
 
It would be possible to continue to sign on for Jobseekers credits while receiving supplemtary pension. Being a pensioner does not prevent a person from being a Jobseeker.

If there is any change of rules in the next few years which would prevent this, you could then opt to make voluntary contributions and backdate them for up to 5 years.(or back to the date when your credits stopped)
 
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My understanding of pre 95 is that if you worked under 5 years, you could recoup your contributions. Over five and you would have a reduced pension to claim at age 60.

Are you sure you got a refund?
 
S class said:
Assuming that when you retire at age 58, you will be claiming Jobseekers benefit for nine months before you are allowed to claim supplementary pension.

You could continue to sign on for Jobseekers credits up to age 66.
This could gain you up to 8 years of reckonable Prsi.
Up to 520 credits are reckonable for the Contributory pension.
You probably have some pre entry credits already.

This could bring your total contributions up to about 2116.
This would allow you to qualify for the full contributury pension at age 66.

This plan would cost you nothing.

You probably don't need any additional voluntary contributions or class S from an ARF.

It might still be beneficial for you to make AVCs. These could be used to maximise your revenue allowable tax free pension lump sum.

Any surplus AVCs remaining after maximising your lump sum could then be used to purchase an ARF or annuity to increase your retirement income.

Read this thread for more information.

Key Post - PRSI and planning retirement

This Key Post is in the form of a FAQ where I don't know many of the answers. I will update the post as I get answers. 1. PRSI payable on reaching state pension age Answer: 0 (Class M) 1a. Does this relate to the start of the tax year in which you become 66? Or to after your birthday? Answer...
www.askaboutmoney.com
Click to expand...
Your contributions on here are consistently excellent. Thank u for sharing your knowledge. I learned so much about our PRSI system and ARF Class S from your postings. In fact I hope to draw down my own pension early in 2025 so that I can access my own AVCs via an ARF. I have a gap in my own PRSI record that needs filling. Hopefully trustees of my DB Scheme agree to my early drawdown request .... otherwise I will be prevented from accessing my own AVCs..
 
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