Pre-Retirement advice

Hi, I am a public sevant soon to retire on an integrated Class A pension. I find the whole thing confusing. I have most things ready but it's how it actually works in practice that I'm concerned about.
Is there anything I should be doing now to make receiving my pension easier?
Are there any tips people who have already retired could give? I just find its not as simple as many of my friends who have Class D pensions.
I thought that drawing unemployment benefit was abolished for retirees but have learned now that you've a choice between that and occupational pension.
Do they decide which you get or do you and when do you apply for this? At the same time as you send in your notice or when?
I am 63 and will be 64 next December.

So if anyone has any tips for a smooth transition to my pension I'd very much appreciate them.

Will your supplementary pension be more or less than Jobseekers Benefit ?

If your retirement date is on or after 1 April you could qualify for pay related Jobseekers Benefit. Would this be more than your supplementary pension ?

Would benefit payment 65 be more than your supplementary pension ?

You can choose whether you want to claim any of these instead of receiving supplementary pension.

Calculate if you would receive more from any of these benefits than from your supplementary pension.

You would apply for Jobseekers Benefit immediately after your retirement date.

Will you have 2080 reckonable Prsi contributions on your retirement date ?

If you won't you could get more by signing on for Jobseekers credits.

blanketyblank said:

I thought that drawing unemployment benefit was abolished for retirees but have learned now that you've a choice between that and occupational pension.

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The choice is between Jobseekers Benefit and a Supplementary Pension (from your current employer office) on top of your Occupational pension. If you are going the Supplementary route you have to apply to your current employer office (where your Occupational Pension will be paid from). Different sectors will have their own application form/procedure.

Jobseekers Benefit (if you go for it) lasts for 9 months. When this finishes you will need to apply for the Supplementary in any event (assuming you are not taking up any insurable employment). When you get to 65 your employment office will probably ask you if you are getting, or eligible to receive, the over-65 Jobseeker's payment. If you are this will impact the Supplementary Pension.
In any event the Supplementary will end at 66 when you become eligible for the State Pension.

You can estimate the amount of Supplementary Pension payable in your case from the amount of pensionable service you have in your pension scheme. Examples:
-If you have 20 years of pensionable employment then the Supplementary should be 20/40 the Current max rate of State Pension.
-If you have 36.4 years service it should be 36.4/40 the max State Pension.
-Etc.

The current max State Pension is €15,043.60.

Thanks for those replies
I have been told that about 3 weeks before retirement I'll receive information in my retirement package which will tell me what the supplementary pension will be worth and at that stage I'LL have to work out which is more advantageous!
If at that stage it looks like Supp pension is more - will I need to sign on for PRSI credits?
I know if you sign on for unemployment benefit you automatically get credits.

I will have 33 years worked.

Also can I ask about PRSI I've worked since '80/81 - all on my my PRSI statement.
I would have done weekend work etc. so the early years are quite bitty.
According to the statement I have 1619 reckonable contributions combined reckonable and credited 1702
This is up to 2022

Since 2022 I'm doing job share where I work part of both weeks - do these count as full contributions?

Any advice appreciated, anything I can be doing before retirement date to be ready appreciated

or at least to understand it better!!

Definitely sign on for Jobseekers credits. These are available up to age 66.

As regards job sharing. Provided you earned a minimum of 38 euro during every Prsi week you will get 1 class A contribution.

The Prsi week changes every year. It starts on the 1st January each year. So for 2025 it begins on Wednesdays and ends on Tuesdays.

So you need to earn a minimum of 38 euro in each of these 7 day periods to get 1 class A contribution.

Get an up to date Prsi contributions statement to check your record.

blanketyblank said:

Since 2022 I'm doing job share where I work part of both weeks - do these count as full contributions?

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As @S class suggested you, should get an updated PRSI statement to check if every week was credited. I missed out on some weeks at one stage because of this:

"If you are a part-time worker you may not be making the maximum amount of PRSI contributions each year. The tax year and the PRSI contribution week start 1 January every year. As a result, the PRSI contribution week can differ from the working week. If you are in part-time work you need to be fully aware of the possible effect this can have on your social insurance entitlements."

Part-time work and social insurance (PRSI)

This page explains how part-time work can affect your PRSI contributions.

www.citizensinformation.ie

blanketyblank said:

I will have 33 years worked.

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Your Supplementary should correspond to your duration of pensionable service (which may be different from duration of your employment, eg, if some is part-time). However, if your pensionable service turns out to be 33.19 years then your Supplementary should be 33.19/40 *15,044, etc.

Thanks. I’ll get a new PRSI record. I’m still in permanent employment but job sharing