Have 40 years D rate prsi should i try gain A rate

D

Doodlemoll

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I have over 40 years service in PS admin between education and local government. All at D rate prsi. I opted out of widows orphans spouses children's in 1982. I am thinking i could retire on full pension at 60 with lump sum of 1.5 salary and pension of .5. Salary is 47000. Or remain in current job on reduced hours say 3 day week from 60 to 65 still paying D rate. If I were to go at 60 and look for a part time job paying A rate prsi would this be worthwhile. I know A rate helps for dental and optical costs but is there any other reason where it would be worthwhile gaining additional A rate prsi.
 
In similar boat - left ps mar 20 on A Rate since -
They calculate a pro rate pension at the retire age - 67? If you have I think 520 stamps you get full pension and pro rate with less - taxed , of course - bit of a minefield - other titbit I have is - apparently , it’s better if you had no A stamps prior to joining PS ( I have unfortunately) they do their pension calculations over the full time from then - including your 40 years at D stamp - seems it’s better if you hadn’t paid stamps prior to joining PS - great advice on this forum though
 
If you can accumulate 5 years of Class A PRSI then you'd be eligible for a pro-rata pension. Although it might not be worth much.

You'll find the rules and formula deep in this link: https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/4f38a6-operational-guidelines-state-pension-contributory/

A quick and very rough calculation suggests to me that, assuming you accumulated 5 x 52 weeks Class A PRSI contributions before pension age (currently 66), your pension would be in the region of €28 per week - before tax!
 
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You need a minimum of 520 paid A contributions (5 years) to qualify for any State Pension. If you only have 5 years at A, then as Shirazman said you might get c€30 pw.
 
Check your prsi contributions history. You might have a few years pre establishment at A class prsi.
 
If you have at least 104 A class and get at least 39 A class (at least 13 paid) in your 63rd year you would qualify for the Benefit payment for 65 year olds.
 
Shirazman said:
A quick and very rough calculation suggests to me that, assuming you accumulated 5 x 52 weeks Class A PRSI contributions before pension age (currently 66), your pension would be in the region of €28 per week - before tax!
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Is it worth taking a job for five years just to get €1500 a year at the end? Probably not. But as part of a bigger picture of if and how much to work, it is very much material. Life expectancy for a 66 year old woman is about 20. An indexed €1,500 a year annuity would cost you about €50k to buy at age 66. It's not nothing, especially as @Doodlemoll won't be a higher-rate taxpayer.

I know a nurse who retired at 55 from a HSE job and then did one shift a week in a nursing home. She had a few reasons of course but getting a partial contributory pension at the end was part of the arithmetic.
 
bstop said:
If you have at least 104 A class and get at least 39 A class (at least 13 paid) in your 63rd year you would qualify for the Benefit payment for 65 year olds.
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But wouldn't that mean that he couldn't pay any Class A contributions for that year? Which might prevent him from reaching the required 260.
 
If you take up work immediately after retirement, at least 1 year of your class D contributions will be reclassified as A and will be reckonable for state pension.. This was mentioned at my pre-retirement course - I'll try to find a link.

Edit to add link. https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/9...s-following-class-b-c-or-d-or-mixed-insurance
See paragraph on change of status credits.

If you qualify for treatment benefit (optical and dental) at age 66, you will retain qualification for life (under current rules).
That might be worth as much as any actual pension.
 
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Dave Vanian said:
Is 520 contributions not 10 years?
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It is.

But if you take the 5 years bit rather than the 520 paid A contributions bit, and then read the link that I gave above (this is not recommended for the casual reader!) you'll see the following in the Mixed insurance pro-rata State Pension (Contributory) section:
...
for persons reaching pension age on or after 6 April 2012, 520 contributions must be paid.

However the 520 may be made up in either of following ways:
  • 520 full-rate employment contributions, or
  • 520 employment contributions of which at least 260 must be full-rate employment contributions. The remainder may be made up with modified rate employment contributions
  • the third condition is altered to allow full-rate and modified rate contributions to be taken into account when calculating the yearly average number of contributions
  • a person must have at least 1 modified rate employment contribution

In short, given the complexity of the eligibility rules for the State Contributory Old Age Pension, anyone who has a few years of paid Class A or Class S PRSI contributions on their record, or who worked abroad for a time (and paid a social insurance contribution), should probably just slap in an application and let Social Welfare decide!
 
To be eligible for the “Pro Rata Pension” (or Mixed Contribution Pension) you need a minimum of 260 Paid A contributions (5 years).
So if the OP retired from the PS at age 60 and got an A Class job for 5 years (and may also qualify for Change of Status credits of up to 12 months) then they should qualify for a Mixed Rate Pension. But as mentioned above, this will be a modest State Pension , c€30pw.
 

Even a modest State Pension of €30 per week has a capital value of over €40,000. (I know there's no capital - just looking at how much it would cost in a private pension fund to produce the same result.) That's 5 years x €8,000 per year. On a salary of under €28,000 per year assuming 3 day week at current salary from first post. Assuming that it's not the only reason the OP is considering staying at work, it looks worthwhile.
 
extremely interested in this - no mention of this on my pre retirement course!! thks - I wonder does the A credit count towards the pro rata pension ?I work school year driving , sign on for A credits when schools off e.g summer thks
 
does the change of credits application go in , after the 260 paid A over 5 years is made> thanks conan
 
deco87 said:
does the change of credits application go in , after the 260 paid A over 5 years is made> thanks conan
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Ideally apply for the Change of Status Credit when you get the A Class job. Contact your local Intreo (SW ) office to organise.
 
Conan said:
Ideally apply for the Change of Status Credit when you get the A Class job. Contact your local Intreo (SW ) office to organise.
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Conan said:
Ideally apply for the Change of Status Credit when you get the A Class job. Contact your local Intreo (SW ) office to organise.
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I requested this and this is the reply -

Quote
“When you are signing during school breaks you are receiving full credits”
Unquote -
It’s basically you go in A RATE , in employment outside the public service - you pay A rate and are credited for A when not working - I think that’s right - does A credit count same as A credit for pro rota pension
 
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