Experience. Life itself.
Consider the following: You come to Ireland age 55 and start working. Your aim is to reach the magic number of 520 contributions by the age of 65. 520 contributions within 10 years gives you an average of 52- enough to get the maximum amount of the contributory pension.
Consider the following: If you stay under the 520 contributions, you get...NOTHING! 519- no good to you. Not even a part pension. This means you cannot afford to miss even one week of work. How many people do you know who are that fit? I am 66 in a few weeks- and I assure you that I would not have made it across the 520 contribution line. You cannot afford to lose your job. If you do- you need to switch jobs at once. You have no influence about the stability of your job either. You could be sacked after 5 years- and out of work for a few weeks. Enough to kill your pension entitlement. You will get credits during times of unemployment- but they are no good if you don't have the minimum of 520 paid credits.
Theoretically it is surely possible to pull this off. But in real life you will have to look very hard to find those who were that lucky!
