Early Retirement Plan

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Eoghanowens

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I plan to retire early in about 3 or 4 years at the age of 60 or 61 and have a plan to spend 6 months in France in a home that I own and 6 months back in Ireland.
My living costs will be €28,000 per year and to pay for that I have a pension of €100,000 that I can draw from at the rate of €25k now and €18k per year after I retire tax free.
My question is when I return from France I intend to work hopefully for 6 months which is to help pay for the next 6 months away.
If I cannot find a job am I entitled to claim Jobseekers allowance or would I be looked at as not looking for a full time job and therefore not entitled to claim assistance.
I have been working for 42 years and have never claimed for assistance before.
I have no mortgage and live with my daughter and just have a yearly expense of about €28,000.
 
Two main points:
1. If your pension fund is worth €100,000 and you take €25,000 (25%) as a lump sum, the €18,000 pa will only last some 4 years. The State Pension, payable from age 66 (currently) is c€13,000 pa. So where will your “yearly expenses of €28,000” come from?
2. If you are claiming Jobseekers Benefit (limited to 9 months of payment), you are expected to be available for and actively seeking employment (if you are under age 62). You could possibly claim Jobseekers Allowance when JB runs out, but that is means tested. And again, you are expected to be available for work (if under age 62).
 
Hi, thanks for your reply.
my wife will also be in this equation which will be enough to give us a €26,000 yearly pension. That will do us in the big picture after 66. I'll have a bit of savings of about €25k and sell one of our cars about €15k if we have to, to tie us over till 66. I know the 62 year rule as well.
What I need to find out is that when we return from France for a 6 month period we (will) be actively seeking employment, and we need to be earning the difference of the €18,000 and our net spend of €28,000 by either working or making social welfare claims (which I don't intend to do) if I can't find work. I suppose really I need to find out if the social welfare will turn around to me and say " you've spent 6 months on holiday and now your home for 6 months, you don't qualify because you will be only looking for temporary employment"

Again thanks for your reply
Eoghan
 
You need to provide a lot more detail on your overall financial position at retirement including your wife's. I would not be comfortable retiring at 60 with a pension pot of 100k with inflation running at 5%. That 100k will be worth considerably less in real terms in 4 years time.
 
If you are applying for Jobseekers Allowance, as well as the means test that Conan mentioned (which will include savings and other income you or your wife may have), you will also have to meet the habitual residence criteria.

Check the 5 factors used on this page

The habitual residence condition

You must be habitually resident in Ireland to qualify for social assistance payments. What is the habitual residence rule and how do you satisfy it?
www.citizensinformation.ie www.citizensinformation.ie
 
sharkattack said:
You need to provide a lot more detail on your overall financial position at retirement including your wife's. I would not be comfortable retiring at 60 with a pension pot of 100k with inflation running at 5%. That 100k will be worth considerably less in real terms in 4 years time.
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Thanks for that, but, all I am looking for in advice is the social welfare part where I can reach 66 and then live on my pension (our)...
I am happy that we can survive on pensions from 66.
I feel that €10k social welfare 2 x 200 for 6 months (if we can't find work) and €18k Pension for 5 years will do me until we reach pension age. We both plan to work when retuning to Ireland but know it will be difficult to find a job,(I am 80% certain I can return to my current job) that is why I need to have back up plan to ensure I can survive. If I am told that there is no way of being able to claim then I will work on for another 2 years and save what I need.

Thanks Eoghan
 
gipimann said:
If you are applying for Jobseekers Allowance, as well as the means test that Conan mentioned (which will include savings and other income you or your wife may have), you will also have to meet the habitual residence criteria.

Check the 5 factors used on this page

The habitual residence condition

You must be habitually resident in Ireland to qualify for social assistance payments. What is the habitual residence rule and how do you satisfy it?
www.citizensinformation.ie www.citizensinformation.ie
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I have looked at that and find it like a minefield, I am getting the impression that I would be able to make a claim every year I return, even if it is means tested we would get enough to survive here and use my pension release for abroad, I am not going to spend the initial 25k from pension but use it for living abroad
 
I am no expert on social welfare but it seems to me that Conan has laid it all out. You are entitled to Jobseekers for 9 months and then it is means tested afterwards. I don't think you can get an exception because you are living in France for 6 months of the year. That would mean you are not actively seeking work nor are you available.
 
Steven Barrett said:
I am no expert on social welfare but it seems to me that Conan has laid it all out. You are entitled to Jobseekers for 9 months and then it is means tested afterwards. I don't think you can get an exception because you are living in France for 6 months of the year. That would mean you are not actively seeking work nor are you available.
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I am not going to be claiming social while living in France. I will be looking for work and will be available for the 6 months while I live back here in Ireland, that will happen for 3 or 4 years depending on finance and health.
 
It's not an a la carte menu. You are either available for work or you are not. They won't pause it and turn it back on. Impossible to administer.
 
Steven Barrett said:
It's not an a la carte menu. You are either available for work or you are not. They won't pause it and turn it back on. Impossible to administer.
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So, basically your saying that I can't go away for 6 months and expect to get social welfare when I return.
 
Eoghanowens said:
So, basically your saying that I can't go away for 6 months and expect to get social welfare when I return.
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As I said, I am not an expert, so I could be wrong. But I do know that you have to apply to welfare when you become unemployed. If you waited 6 months, they may very well just pay it for 3 months. When I was unemployed, they gave out to me for applying 3 days past when I should have.
 
I could be wrong here but is there not something about your entitlement to social welfare been based on the previous tax year
So you might get it for the first year but when you apply for the second year questions will be asked about the six months you were in France
and how you are able to afford that.
The SW is there to help people who have fallen on hard times it's not there to supplement peoples lifestyles even though it is abused by many both living and deceased ;)
And then there's the simple fact that you may be unemployed but you have an income of €18k presumably from an ARF type thingy which will probably disqualify you from any means tested SW payment
Also just thinking you might not be entitled to two full payments of €208 but rather one full and a qualified adult which would total €346
 
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It all seems a bit too 'back of an envelope' to me. A job or JSA while in Ireland would be a bonus but I wouldn't count same in my numbers.

Perhaps you should consider pushing retirement out to 62 or to the year you will turn 63. You should get JSB without any labour activation steps required once 62 and have fewer years to bridge the gap to the state pension. If you continue to work and pay PRSI for the first 13 weeks of the year you turn 63 you should have no problem getting JSB (and, importantly, be credited PRSI contributions). Currently, you need 39 PSRI contributions (including 13 paid) in the year you turn 63 to qualify, at 65, for the payment for people who retire at 65. Then onwards to the state pension.

Open to correction on any of the above. https://www.citizensinformation.ie is a great resource.
 
Eoghanowens said:
If I cannot find a job am I entitled to claim Jobseekers allowance or would I be looked at as not looking for a full time job and therefore not entitled to claim assistance.
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I strongly suspect that owning a holiday home in France, taken together with your other assets, would mean that you would fail the means test for jobseekers allowance but we would need further details to be definitive.

TBH, I think your current plan is overly ambitious/risky given your relatively modest retirement savings. Would you consider selling your house in Ireland and living off proceeds in France (or vice versa)?
 
Whilst strictly speaking one must be available for and actively seeking employment to claim Jobseekers, in practice the Dept of Social Protection (Intreo office) will not enforce the "activation process" for individuals over age 62.
 
Sarenco said:
I strongly suspect that owning a holiday home in France, taken together with your other assets, would mean that you would fail the means test for jobseekers allowance but we would need further details to be definitive.

TBH, I think your current plan is overly ambitious/risky given your relatively modest retirement savings. Would you consider selling your house in Ireland and living off proceeds in France (or vice versa)?
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I don't have a house in Ireland, I live with my Daughter and pay a modest rent that I won't have to pay while in France. I won't be selling my house in France as that is my full time living when I retire fully. I expect that I can live from age 61 to retirement at 66, 5 years on my pension and savings. I'm not going to put myself in a position whereby I have run out of money by 64 say, I intend to have enough to last me till 66 and then I can live of the state pension of €500 for both me and my wife.
If my plan will not be 100% solid which is 6 months in France paid by myself not social, and then jobseekers while looking for a job to help me live in Ireland and then get a job and work 6 months to earn enough for another 6 months away, then I won't be doing it.
I will come up with a better plan.
 
Eoghanowens said:
I don't have a house in Ireland, I live with my Daughter and pay a modest rent that I won't have to pay while in France. I won't be selling my house in France as that is my full time living when
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Understood.

Well, your home isn’t taken into account for the purposes of the JSA means test. But if your home is in France, it’s hard to see how you would meet the habitual residence test.
 
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