Pre 95 public sector workers and Prsi until age 70.

S

S class

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This category of workers may not be able to qualify for the contributory pension at age 66.

If they don't qualify they will remain liable to Prsi on rental and investment income up to age 70.

They will pay class K Prsi on their unearned income.

This is charged at 4% and gives no reckonable benefits.

If workers in this category have ARF drawdowns which on their own or in addition the their unearned income amount to at least 5000 euro per year they would receive 52 class S reckonable Prsi contibutions per year to age 70.

This gives these workers the potential to gain an extra 4 years of full rate reckonable contributions and these extra contributions might allow them to qualify for a partial or pro rata contributory pension at age 70 or before age 70.
 
Thanks for that info.

In my case I have 180 A stamps and have 40 years service in the public sector workers Defined Benefit pension scheme. I will be leaving my employment under a voluntary exit scheme at the end of October.and I will be 60 the following month.

I intend to find a job and earn a least 1 A stamp as soon as possible after I leave my current job. I will definitely earn an A stamp in 2024. I understand that this will convert my D stamps for 2024 and 2023 into Credited contributions. Is this correct?

I also understand that I need to have a minimum of 260 earned A stamps to be eligible for a pro rate pension. Is this correct?

Once I get to 260, my Credited contributions will be added to the 260. Is this correct?

Once I get to the 260, what are my options for earning/gaining more A stamps. Are the following valid options?


1. Work as long as possible. This may be an option if I take a part time job.

2. Sign on for A stamps. What does this mean in reality?

3. Draw an income of at least 5000 euro per year from an ARF. This will give me 52 S stamps which count as A stamps

Thanks
 
Yes

ROS said:
I also understand that I need to have a minimum of 260 earned A stamps to be eligible for a pro rate pension. Is this correct?
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Yes

ROS said:
Once I get to 260, my Credited contributions will be added to the 260. Is this correct?
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Yes

1. Yes

2. It means signing that you are a Jobseeker once per year. You will only receive
credits up to age 66.

3. This will give you class S stamps. These are full rate reckonable paid stamps similar to class A.

You can also pay voluntary Prsi, based on your class A contributions, up to age 66. The voluntary contributions are reckonable paid contributions and count towards the 260 or 520 full rate paid contributions target.

You could aim to reach 520 paid contributions by deferring your pension beyond age 66. This might be beneficial to you, but you would need to calculate if the advantage is worthwhile.

If you decide not to continue working in class A employment, you should continue to sign on for class A credits until age 66. Class A credits are allowed while receiving class S contributions and while making voluntary contributions.

The reason I suggest this is to allow you to have a chance to qualify for 65s benefit.
You would just need to work in class A employment for 13 weeks in any calender year from age 61 to 65 to complete the qualification criteria.

Continuing to sign on for class A credits will also allow you to qualify for treatment benefits.
 
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S class said:
You can also pay voluntary Prsi, based on your class A contributions, up to age 66. The voluntary contributions are reckonable paid contributions and count towards the 520 full rate paid contributions target.
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Voluntary Prsi can now be paid up to age 70.

The 260 full rate paid target can be reached using paid class A or class S contributions.

When this target is reached the 520 full rate paid target can then be reached using paid class A, class S or voluntary contributions.

  • a person reaching drawdown date on or after 6 April 2012 must have paid 520 full-rate employment contributions, or, if at least 260 full-rate employment contributions are paid, the balance of the 520 can be made up with high rate voluntary contributions
 
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Does this mean that someone with less than 40 years of PRSI credits at age 66 could draw their state pension and pay voluntary PRSI contributions until 70 so that by the time they are 70 they have an extra 4 years of PRSI?
 
poorrelative said:
Does this mean that someone with less than 40 years of PRSI credits at age 66 could draw their state pension and pay voluntary PRSI contributions until 70 so that by the time they are 70 they have an extra 4 years of PRSI?
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No. When you start to drawdown the State Contributory Pension you are locked out of paying Prsi contributions.

You would have to deferr your pension to get the extra Prsi contributions.


From Operational Guidelines for Voluntary Prsi.

"A person under the age of 66,, or in the case of a person born on or after 1 January 1958 who is aged between 66 and 70 years and has not been awarded the State Pension (Contributory), who ceases to be covered by compulsory PRSI may opt to become a Voluntary Contributor, provided certain conditions are satisfied."
 
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I have just retired from the HSE. Not sure what that class of PRSI will be, I was Class D.
I have rental income which is Class K.
When I start drawing from my PRSA AVC will that be Class S?
 
Your HSE pension will be class M. This is not Reckonable for the Contributory Pension.

If you use your AVCs to buy an Annuity, this will also be class M.

If you choose this option your rental income will remain at class K. You will have no reckonable Prsi contributions.

If you use your AVCs to set up an ARF and the yearly drawdowns from the ARF are 5k or over you will get 52 class S per year.

If your ARF drawdowns are less than 5k, but your rental income + your ARF drawdowns combined are 5k or over you will get 52 class S.

You should aim to get at least 1 class A contribution from PAYE employment. This will allow you to qualify for change of status credits.

If you are under age 63 you should sign on for Jobseekers credits after gaining a class A contribution.

This will keep the possibility of qualification for Benefit Payment 65 open to you.
 
Thanks for all this info. I am a class D pre 95 PS worker planning to retire in the next year or two. I am also investigating option into how I can qualify for a partial state pension.
 
S Class many thanks for all your invaluable contributions in relation to this area. I’m retiring in two months. Am on class B. Will be converting AVC to an ARF and plan to draw down the €5k per year to gain the 52 S class stamps. I also plan to take a job at some stage later this year at A class which I understand will convert my 52 B stamps from 2024 to A class. I have about 100 A class from prion to my PS job. I will re evaluate nearer 66 whether I’ll need to hold off a year or two with draw down.
 
niceoneted said:
I also plan to take a job at some stage later this year at A class which I understand will convert my 52 B stamps from 2024 to A class.
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Just to clarify this.

Your 52B stamps will be given change of status.
They are not actually changed to class A.

The change of status credits are Reckonable for the Contributory Pension.

They do not count towards the 260 full rate paid contributions needed to qualify for a pro rata pension.

They do not count for the 520 full rate paid contributions needed to get a partial pension calculated using the averaging or total contributions methods.

You still need to gain another 160 full rate paid contributions for pro rata or 420 for a partial pension.

You can use class S, or class A paid contributions to reach the 260 level.

When you reach 260 you can then use class S, class A paid, or voluntary contributions to reach 520.

When you reach the 260 or 520 level your change of status credits are then added to your Reckonable Prsi total. You should also have some pre entry credits added.
 
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