Key Post PRSI and planning retirement

You need 2080 contributions for a full pension.
Check your prsi record on mywelfare to see how many you currently have.
Then work out how many contributions you will get from your proposed plan.
You can claim your pension from age 66, but if you are short of 2080 contributions at that age you can defer your pension up to age 70 to gain more contributions.

Prsi is based on weeks worked so you might not get as many contributions that you are expecting.
 
S class said:
The rules have changed recently.
Voluntary Prsi can now be paid up to age 70.


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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Adding to key post to update it.
 
S class said:
You need 2080 contributions for a full pension.
Check your prsi record on mywelfare to see how many you currently have.
Then work out how many contributions you will get from your proposed plan.
You can claim your pension from age 66, but if you are short of 2080 contributions at that age you can defer your pension up to age 70 to gain more contributions.

Prsi is based on weeks worked so you might not get as many contributions that you are expecting.
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I have 1710 contributions today at age 51, I aim to retire within 5 years. Been working full-time since 1989. Am I right in thinking that 5 x 52 = 260 + 1710 = 1970. So, if I was to withdraw from full time work at age 56 and not claim pension till age 67 I would still be entitled to 94.71% of the full pension?
 
happycamper said:
I have 1710 contributions today at age 51, I aim to retire within 5 years. Been working full-time since 1989. Am I right in thinking that 5 x 52 = 260 + 1710 = 1970. So, if I was to withdraw from full time work at age 56 and not claim pension till age 67 I would still be entitled to 94.71% of the full pension?
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Yes.
But you can make pay to buy extra credits within 5 years of leaving work so might your while to buy these 2 years to make up the shortfall.

Also lets say you looking for handly job in the local paper or part-time to fill in some time. You can sign on once year ( normally in Step) to get 52 credits for free added to your record if you actively looking for a Job each year.

But are you retiring to take care of someone if so you can get Credits with Carers allowance as well to keep your record up todate.

It might be worth keeping your record up to date for PRSI benefits you can retain for life and the possibility of over-65 payment (Aldo, I believe you have to have paid 13 weeks in the 4 to 5 years before your 65th birthday). Maybe working half a day a week for 13 weeks would be well worth it alone to get the over-65 payment for one year.
 
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happycamper said:
I have 1710 contributions today at age 51, I aim to retire within 5 years. Been working full-time since 1989. Am I right in thinking that 5 x 52 = 260 + 1710 = 1970. So, if I was to withdraw from full time work at age 56 and not claim pension till age 67 I would still be entitled to 94.71% of the full pension?
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When you cease working claim Jobseekers Benefit and when the payment period ends continue signing on for credits up to age 66.
This will get you over the 2080 contributions level and gain you 100% pension.
It will also allow you to keep your treatment benefits and also assist you to qualify for Benefit payment 65.

There is more information on all this near the start of the thread.
 
S class said:
You would be okay if you worked 13 weeks into your 63rd year and make sure to sign on for credits for at least a further 6 months. Or apply for Jobseekers benefit after the 13 weeks work. You get credits while claiming Jobseekers benefit.
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I will be 63 next year and plan to retire. I have been on Class A for all of my career and have had 52 paid contributions per year for the last few years. If I finish up voluntarily at the start of April (after 13 Class A payments for 2025) and apply for Jobseekers, will I automatically get the unpaid credits that I require for the Over 65 payment. Or can they turn you down as you were not made redundant
 
When you finish employment, immediately apply for Jobseekers Benefit.

This is easily done on line through mywelfare.

This will be paid to you for 9 months. You will automatically get Jobseekers credits while you are getting paid your Jobseekers Benefit.

Voluntarily leaving employment does not necessarily prevent you from receiving JB.
If you were deemed to have ceased employment without good reason your claim can be refused for the first 3 months. So you would only get paid for 6 months.

However if you give a good reason for ceasing employment you will get the full 9 months. A good reason for ceasing employment could be health reasons, job related stress or the need for a change of career. Give a reason along these lines when you apply for JB. Don't simply state that you are retired.

In practice at age 63 you will be awarded JB without any hassle.

You could, if you wanted to, retire at any time now and receive your JB.

Provided you remain signed on for JB credits long enough to gain 39 credits next year you will qualify for Benefit Payment 65.

You can continue to sign on for credits when your payments end.

Phone your Intreo center and ask to sign on for credits.
 
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outofmymind said:
7. PRSI class for arf pension if early retirement is taken is ??
Answer: A pension taken as an ARF of a minimum of 5000 euro per year up to age 66 is reckonable. (class S). It doesn't matter whether this is taken weekly/ monthly/ or yearly. After age 66 it changes to class M. If you had an ARF in the year of your 66th birthday and made drawdowns of over 5000 euro before the month of your 66th birthday you should get 52 class S contributions for that year. There is an anomaly on the operation of ARFs. They are S class but the prsi is collected under the PAYE system.
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Small comment on this - as far as I know this is also the case where the drawdown is from a PRSA and not just an ARF.
I've done this myself recently (one early late 50's drawdown/payment of c. €20K from a €40K PRSA having taken the €10K tax free lump sum) but don't have all the info yet to check:
  1. what PRSI/USC was deducted (no tax as my credits for the year make it exempt)
  2. what PRSI contributions were given via the PAYE system (probably 4 for the month of the payment?) and
  3. if I will eventually need to contact DSP to get them to "fix" this and record 52 contributions for the year as per this post:

PRSI on ARF count for COAP?

Hi. My wife drew from her ARF in 2022 and is considering doing so in 2023 and possibly each year until 2029 when she will turn 66. Each draw attracts prsi class S. Will this 8 years of class S entitle her to a pro rata Contributory State Pension? She has no other class A afaik, except...
www.askaboutmoney.com
BTW - thanks a million for your detailed and knowledgeable posts on the complexities of the PRSI system @S class - they're a mine of information! :)
 
Could the drawdown of g 5,000e per year from an ARF to ensure receipt of Class S 'stamps' to help with qualifying for the COAP, be too high especially in later years as the fund reduces in value?

For example, Zurich have this in their ARF application form...
"The max regular income which can be taken from your ARF is 10% annually"

At some point 5k will exceed 10% of the fund remaining.
Is this the proverbial spanner-in-the-works for anyone pursuing the Class S strategy?
 
redstar said:
For example, Zurich have this in their ARF application form...
"The max regular income which can be taken from your ARF is 10% annually"
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I think this is referring to the maximum yearly drawdown to avoid early exit fees.

The period during which early exit fees applyt will be determined when you begin your ARF. It could be zero, 3 or 5 years for example.

After this time period you can drawdown as much as you want.
 
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I see what you mean S Class but there is no mention of early exit or minimum term in the form. The max amount is highlighted multiple times....

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That's the maximum regular income.

You are allowed to make one off drawdowns on top of these.
There is a 20 euro fee for one off drawdowns.

I think there is flexibility by Zurich to allow regular drawdowns of more than 10%.

My sister has an ARF set up with Zurich of slightly over 20000 euro, from
which she is making regular drawdowns of 5000 euro per year.

As far as I remember she contacted Zurich to ask if this was possible and they agreed to allow it.

If you need to make regular drawdowns of over 10% you should contact Zurich to request this facility.

Otherwise cancel the regular drawdowns and make a one off drawdown of 5000 euro per year.
 
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S class said:
That's the maximum regular income.

You are allowed to make one off drawdowns on top of these.
There is a 20 euro fee for one off drawdowns.

I think there is flexibility by Zurich to allow regular drawdowns of more than 10%.

My sister has an ARF set up with Zurich of slightly over 20000 euro, from
which she is making regular drawdowns of 5000 euro per year.

As far as I remember she contacted Zurich to ask if this was possible and they agreed to allow it.

If you need to make regular drawdowns of over 10% you should contact Zurich to request this facility.

Otherwise cancel the regular drawdowns and make a one off drawdown of 5000 euro per year.
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This will be similar to my situation but lesser time frame Maybe Standard Life or others would allow more than 10% drawdown.
 
Apropos of this...
ClubMan said:
Small comment on this - as far as I know this is also the case where the drawdown is from a PRSA and not just an ARF.
I've done this myself recently (one early late 50's drawdown/payment of c. €20K from a €40K PRSA having taken the €10K tax free lump sum) but don't have all the info yet to check:
  1. what PRSI/USC was deducted (no tax as my credits for the year make it exempt)
  2. what PRSI contributions were given via the PAYE system (probably 4 for the month of the payment?) and
  3. if I will eventually need to contact DSP to get them to "fix" this and record 52 contributions for the year as per this post:

PRSI on ARF count for COAP?

Hi. My wife drew from her ARF in 2022 and is considering doing so in 2023 and possibly each year until 2029 when she will turn 66. Each draw attracts prsi class S. Will this 8 years of class S entitle her to a pro rata Contributory State Pension? She has no other class A afaik, except...
www.askaboutmoney.com
BTW - thanks a million for your detailed and knowledgeable posts on the complexities of the PRSI system @S class - they're a mine of information! :)
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I took a single payment of €22,500 from the PRSA for this year and it was processed through Standard Life "payroll".
My "payslip" details 4 class S1 PRSI contributions but, as mentioned above, I believe that the > €5K drawdown will eventually entitle me to a full 52 contributions for 2024.
I asked DSP about this and received this reply:
The Contributions are updated when you apply for your pension. Normally when a person applies for a pension and if they have been awarded self-employed Contributions your case comes down to this office to be checked and any years where you have less than 52 but are entitled to the full 52 Contributions, they are then updated. The 2024 details will transfer to this department in May 2025. If you are concerned about the year 2024 drop us an e-mail in May/June next year and we can update the year 2024 to 52 contributions.
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Is this what others have experienced or what might be expected (maybe @S class knows :) ?)?
I guess that I'll chase it up early next year but was just wondering if anybody else had been through a similar process?
 
I checked my Prsi record for 2023.

The ARF 52 class S have not updated yet.
Last year it was in the last week or two of 2023 when the 2022 ARF 52 class S were updated.

I also have 52 class S from investment income.
These tend to update early in the year.

Near the end of the year 104 class S appears in my record. This is the ARF being added.

Don't worry you will eventually get your 52 class S on your Prsi record.
Probably at the end of 2025.
 
S class said:
Don't worry you will eventually get your 52 class S on your Prsi record.
Probably at the end of 2025.
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That's great - thanks a million @S class! :)

I did notice that the PRSI contribution statement from myWelfare always seems to only reflect up to the end of the most recent tax year (e.g. my current one is up to date to 2023 but doesn't list any credits or contributions for 2024 yet).
 
Yes it can be very slow to update.

I have had ARF drawdowns for the past 6 years and credits for the past 10 years.
They have always eventually appeared on my Prsi record.
 
@ClubMan I had a look back over my statements for the last few years.

I got it wrong in post #157.

The ARF class S comes in first (between April and July)
The investment income class S in some years is very late (October onwards).
 
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