Help with calculating pension entitlements - public sector worker

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redstar

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My wife, age 54, joined the public sector in 1988, and worked in 3 hospitals for about 13 years (12yrs of which were in one hospital)
She then moved to a Local Authority around 2002.
While at the Local Authority, she took a career break of 6 years (5 yrs + 1 yr unpaid leave) for child-care reasons from 2006, and returned to work in 2013 on a job-share basis (so basically half-time)
She returned to full-time working in 2020.

So, with all the moving around above, we're trying to calculate her pension entitlements, as she would like to retire at 60.
She is on PRSI Class D

I'm clueless about Public Sector pensions (DB and all that) and struggling to calculate what she would be entitled to at 60. Even to know what ball-park % of final salary she might be entitled to would help.

My gut feeling is there would be a shortfall in her pension and if so, what options could she consider now ? (AVCs etc?)

If she actually falls below State Pension level how could this be made up, as she wouldn't be entitled to a State Pension on Class D ?

Thanks!
 
I suggest she gets a copy of her PRSI record which will tell her how many years she has and work it put from that. She should contact her superannuation dept and ask them for an estimate. She nèds to make sure her service was transferred to the local authority. Once she has the figures you can decide whether to do AVCs.
 
redstar said:
If she actually falls below State Pension level how could this be made up, as she wouldn't be entitled to a State Pension on Class D ?
Click to expand...
If she retires early, she will have an opportunity to gain reckonable Prsi contributions up to age 70.

She can achieve this by getting paye employment, or from an ARF, or a combination of both.
 
Try to add up how many years of full-time equivalent work she has. Share it on this thread.

I’m simplifying a bit but if she has 40 years of full-time equivalent work under her belt she can retire on a full pension at any point between 60 and 65. That pension is 50% of final-value salary and a tax-free lump sum of 1.5 times final salary.

Without the 40 years she would get proportionately less than the 50% and 1.5 times.

It may make sense to purchase motional service or AVCs.
 
Not to scale but to illustrate idea behind calculations needed.

1988 to 2006 Full time so approximately 18 years
2006 to 2012 career break so approximately 6 years at zero.
2013 to 2019 job share at 50% so 7/2 = 3.5 years
2020 to 2023 full time so approximately 4 years

Approximate service years to date 18+0+3.5+4 = 25.5 "full service" years from a possible 35.
In 2023 age 54 so potentially 6 more "full" years.
So 25.5+6 =31.5 "full service" years.

Possible pension is (salary/2)*(31.5/40)

******** Terms an conditions apply**********
This was just to outline possible calculations involved.

Does she not get a pension statement each year?
 
BlackandBlue said:
Not to scale but to illustrate idea behind calculations needed.

1988 to 2006 Full time so approximately 18 years
2006 to 2012 career break so approximately 6 years at zero.
2013 to 2019 job share at 50% so 7/2 = 3.5 years
2020 to 2023 full time so approximately 4 years

Approximate service years to date 18+0+3.5+4 = 25.5 "full service" years from a possible 35.
In 2023 age 54 so potentially 6 more "full" years.
So 25.5+6 =31.5 "full service" years.

Possible pension is (salary/2)*(31.5/40)

******** Terms an conditions apply**********
This was just to outline possible calculations involved.

Does she not get a pension statement each year?
Click to expand...
"Does she not get a pension statement each year?"
Department of Education & Science are impossible to get a pension statement from.

- I started working in 1996, after 4 year degree.
- Took 1 year out in 1997, and worked as long term volunteer for 2 years in 2005, however PRSI contribution made and service recognized by Dept of Social Welfare.
- I started the process of seeking a pension record in 2018 - you just send email after email.

(Apparently a small office of 4, are responsible for all the pensions in the education system, and so they deal with those closest to retirement first, and the rest is just luck.)

- Finally in 2022, I received a difficult to read '1 page A4 sheet' with the pension details on record, of 21 years 68 days pensionable service.
- No record of Sept 1996 - 1997: Sept 1999- Dec 1999: Feb 2005- August 2006.
- Aug 2006 - Aug 2010 was full time, but all sorts of contracts, and so I have no idea if the pension record is accurate.

Since then, I had to get the schools I worked in to fill a form from the Principal to prove I worked there.

I have been emailed this information back since March 2023.
Nothing - very difficult to plan.
Have met financial planners over the years, but as I do not have the information, it is difficult to plan for retirement?

So I think that this is the battle @redstar has - getting a pension service record is so difficult, and if wrong, so difficult to fix.

Older teachers used to talk about "keeping all paper salary forms for the whole of your working career".
I didn't understand how important they are as evidence that you actually worked.
Unfortunately, I shredded the first 10 years thinking it was a 'myth'.
 
From the OP the lady in question here appears to be working for a "local authority".
Which I would assume is a County Council.
Perhaps someone who works in one or the OP can advise on what type pension statement, if any, they usually get.
 
BlackandBlue said:
Does she not get a pension statement each year?
Click to expand...
Many public service bodies are an absolute disaster when it comes to pension entitlements, particularly in the health sector.

I have a relative trying to track down some years of service from the 1980s who has been told his records were destroyed “due to GDPR”.

People should start to contact former employers years in advance of retirement. Also wise to retain own records of employment basically forever.
 
BlackandBlue said:
Not to scale but to illustrate idea behind calculations needed.

1988 to 2006 Full time so approximately 18 years
2006 to 2012 career break so approximately 6 years at zero.
2013 to 2019 job share at 50% so 7/2 = 3.5 years
2020 to 2023 full time so approximately 4 years

Approximate service years to date 18+0+3.5+4 = 25.5 "full service" years from a possible 35.
In 2023 age 54 so potentially 6 more "full" years.
So 25.5+6 =31.5 "full service" years.

Possible pension is (salary/2)*(31.5/40)

******** Terms an conditions apply**********
This was just to outline possible calculations involved.

Does she not get a pension statement each year?
Click to expand...
Thanks BlackandBlue.
I got 31 years with my back-of-envelope calculations - similar to yours, so at least we have a ball-park idea.

.. and yes, its a County Council.

.. and No, she never gets a pension statement :rolleyes:
 
As stated at #2, she should get her Prsi record from DSP and that will tell how many weeks of class D employment she has.
She should also ask for all her data held by each of her employers. Specifically ask for all data relating to her period of employment, wages details and superannuation details.
A data request is covered by legislation and the data must be supplied in a certain time period.
 
BlackandBlue said:
From the OP the lady in question here appears to be working for a "local authority".
Which I would assume is a County Council.
Perhaps someone who works in one or the OP can advise on what type pension statement, if any, they usually get.
Click to expand...

My comments here apply to PS pension schemes excluding the SPSPS.

I have never heard of any employer routinely issuing an annual pension statement.

My parent is a retired teacher - no such concept in the education system. I have enough cousins who are teachers that I would have heard about it.

Local authorities - good friend in Co. Co. - no such thing - I would have been told about it if there was.

Third-level education = no such thing.

My own employer allows staff to log into HR software and see a pension statement, but a new one is not routinely issued to staff.



In the SPSPS, somebody told me there are annual statements?
 
I find it ironic that civil servants (eg Pensions Authority) insist that private sector Occupational Pension Schemes must issue annual benefit statements to Scheme members. But yet public sector/civil service organisations (particularly in the Health sector) seem not to be bound by the same requirements. “Do as we say, but not as we do” seems to be the mantra.
 
S class said:
As stated at #2, she should get her Prsi record from DSP and that will tell how many weeks of class D employment she has.
She should also ask for all her data held by each of her employers. Specifically ask for all data relating to her period of employment, wages details and superannuation details.
A data request is covered by legislation and the data must be supplied in a certain time period.
Click to expand...
Depending on her job share schedule, she could have 52 D class PRSI contributions, but only 26 weeks reckonable service for her job share years.

I do recall getting a pension statement while in the HSE, but it was generic and not specific to my record!
 
Protocol said:
My comments here apply to PS pension schemes excluding the SPSPS.

I have never heard of any employer routinely issuing an annual pension statement.

My parent is a retired teacher - no such concept in the education system. I have enough cousins who are teachers that I would have heard about it.

Local authorities - good friend in Co. Co. - no such thing - I would have been told about it if there was.

Third-level education = no such thing.

My own employer allows staff to log into HR software and see a pension statement, but a new one is not routinely issued to staff.



In the SPSPS, somebody told me there are annual statements?
Click to expand...
That's correct they send yearly statement for Single Scheme
 
redstar said:
She did, about a year ago..... no response. The person there actually retired ...
Click to expand...
If someone was due to retire, how is pension calculated?

I'd send another request.

I'd also get service letters sorted now as that ultimately will decide the pension and lump sum. No harm getting the PRSI records but as someone else said the job sharing years won't show as job sharing.

I'm working in the HSE since 1990 and have never received a statement either. I did get details of my scheme when I commenced and have that somewhere.
 
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